QB54: From Backyard Prototype to Big-Box Shelves — Mike Silva’s Playbook for Building a Tailgate Phenomenon

The Boardroom Buzz: Grow, Sell, or Exit · Oct 2, 2025 · 57m

Part inventor, part hustler, part one-man media team—Mike Silva turned a Thanksgiving garbage-can game into QB54: a dual-purpose football game you play (then sit in). The Blue-Collar Twins dig into how he went from beach-day preorders to manufacturing at scale, survived COVID freight shocks, landed in 200 Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, and kept his family in the ride the whole way.

You’ll hear:

The origin story: buckets to chairs, a light-bulb prototype, and first cash-in-hand preorders on the Jersey Shore.

Testing before betting: small runs, tailgate demos, and learning to trust (but verify)…