Interview with DrReli: CEO of Kestrel, largest corporation on Roblox
On the evening of Sunday, January 4th, we had the liberty of interviewing DrReli (Philip Haynes), the former Vice President of the United States, incumbent Secretary of State, and Chief Executive Officer of Roblox's largest corporation, Kestrel.
His story is a somewhat revolutionizing and inspiring one, and a thrilling tale of the rise of one of America's most prominent political and economic figures.
Give us a brief synopsis of your history in Kestrel.
DrReli: When Kestrel was founded, I was one of it's founding fathers alongside
FighterAce and SuperRed64 and xTonish. After FighterAce left, Kestrel had roughly 2,800 members. And we were struggling being, I had taken over and yet FighterAce wanted to [continue to] own the homestore and all the clothing.
So, we struggled and for weeks we lacked any form of income. Until, prsho built V2 [Homestore] and I became holder . . . [the homestore] also earned a Roblox Bloxy Award in the Hall of Fame in 2013, which really gave us a popularity boost.
Then led to the building of V3, in which we had 5,000 members. V3 is/was our most successful homestore to date. We went from 5,000 to 18,000 members. Within a month, business was booming, and Kestrel had become the largest clothing store in Roblox.
Then came Homestore V4, in which we had the largest launch turnout to date, with over 437+ users trying to get in-game. V4 was the big change in homestores for customers, being V3 was so [much] more simple. But V4 was complex and hard for many customers to adjust to.
Then now, the V5 homestore, in which Kestrel now sits atop the business world with over 37,000 members. Throughout all our struggles and hatred garnished towards us, we excelled and beat the odds. Many thought, after Ace, we'd fail and die out. But I promised to not let that happen, and promised to make us larger than ever. I have, and I still am. The goal is 60,000 members by the end of 2015.
We have all seen the ads that Kestrel launched in a series of campaigns against Tiger. Tell us about your struggles with Tiger, and where it lands on all the challenges that Kestrel has come across.
DrReli: Well, early on, in both of our company's careers, Kestrel vs. Tiger was the face of Ro-Business. Kestrel had originally been larger than Tiger. But with us not having a homestore, difficulties became inevitable. And then, Tiger had a more structured and communicative team of builders, while Kestrel had myself. So, we struggled with that, which is what led to Tiger surpassing us with group members.
Which for Kestrel, was the largest disgrace in our history. We were always "number one", and to have "number two" surpass us was a shame to what we founded, to what we built, it's what we wanted for the future. So, Kestrel went under huge reforms. We reformed a dev team, constructed reform within our own ranks, fired and hired employees, and became a real competition to Tiger. Especially with Homestore V3. Homestore V3 was that icing on the cake that we really needed to take back the throne.
I used that momentum to launch ads, saying "when you take a shot at the king, you better not miss". That ad was our most popular ad to date, with over 70,000 clicks in just a week. At the time, Kestrel had 5,000 members with Homestore V3 out. Tiger had 8,000 members. By the end of Kestrel's V3 tenure, we had 18,000 members and Tiger only had 9,000. For us, it was a time of rejoice to be "on top" again. But recently, Tiger has died out due to Nightgaladeld taking it and essentially killing it. So Kestrel doesn't really have much competition left. We are capable of battling other companies and continuously staying in fashion and active thanks to groups like Tiger.
Even through the dirty things we've done to both companies - they've made hate shirts, we've made hate shirts. We've leaked their homestores, they've made hate ads. So, the competition has always been brutal. But, of course, I'm glad to say that Kestrel still sits upon the throne of Ro-Businesses.
When, and why, did you choose to become involved in politics? Specifically, why did you come to AmericanPatron's USA instead of Night's?
DrReli: Well, it's simple. l wanted an actual form of government, and Night's USA wasn't that. But, if we're taking it back to my history, I originated in politics under the name ojo1234, under TheFoundingFather's USA, before Kestrel and the business world. And, to date, I am the only gamer left within the United States that has held every position in power within the United States of America. I saw Ro-Politics as a chance to make real change on this game. A chance to feel how it is to be a politician. To have the power in your hands. To be able to determine what happens and what doesn't.
Which is what led me back to AmericanPatron's USA after all these years. I saw this fire within this country that no other USA had. The drive to be successful, while still benefiting the people that you serve. And throughout my experience in Ro-Nations, no country has changed me as much as the USA has affected me - and the way I act towards people - it's an entirely different world, which is what I like. It's made me more diligent, more attentive, more unique, more diverse, and more aware, and more capable of dealing with issues I face in real life too.
Throughout my experiences in Ro-politics, it's led me to want to study political sciences in college. So, you see, this game is more than just a game to me. It's like a pre-gateway to success, being that you don't always succeed like I was lucky to. Many have their ups and downs, many fail and prevail in different aspects of the Ro-Nation world. But only a very few are able to grab that key and unlock the door to true success. And I am glad that I have been able to become one of those very few Robloxians, that have not only succeeded in the Ro-Nation world, but have succeeded in the Ro-Business world, and my legacy is not finished yet.
If you wanted one word, or one phrase to summarize your whole story on Roblox, what would it be?
DrReli: Frank Underwood. I know many of you are wondering why I say Frank Underwood. It's because he is the epitome of "hard success", he resembles someone that has started off small, started of being cheated, lied to, not seen, as important, but discredited.
Yet through all his misfortunes and downfalls, he's risen up to become the most powerful man in the United States, and for me that resembles everything I've struggled to do and seek to accomplish.
For me, Frank Underwood's life is not only a game of chess played in an extended sequel, it's a game of true compassion and true failure, something you have to live and endure to say you've come out of, and I, my friends, have suffered within Roblox a lot.
I haven't always been the rich DrReli, I struggled like most robloxians today, but how did I get here? I worked for every penny i make, I devoted my time and sweat to my success and that is why I am capable of being the man I am.
I am cold hearted I am a jerk, I am cocky, and I am ingnorant, but it is because of my experiences throughout this game, that has brought me to become the great Robloxian i am today.
Don't you think that you're "tooting your own horn" a bit? What do you believe the readers will think?
DrReli: They can think what they want. I'm rich.
We would like to thank the Cable News Network for allowing us to use their recording studio to host this interview.
POLITICO Business & Finance (updated 8:09 PM EDT, 2015/1/6)