Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackson Erminio.
Hi Jackson, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve been building and selling things since I was 14. I started by reselling shoes and clothes like Yeezys, Jordans, Supreme, BAPE, and vintage pieces. At the time, my entire goal was honestly just to be able to buy Chipotle after school every day. That phase taught me pricing, demand, branding, and how to actually move product. In high school, I took those same skills and launched my own clothing brand, which was my first real experience building something end to end.
When I got to Ole Miss, I met my co-founder Chris Labat, and we started a company called SOLIEX, later rebranded to startmystore (https://www.instagram.com/startmystore). We helped e-commerce brands scale through performance marketing and growth strategy. We grew the business to over $10M in client revenue and built our own social media presence to 200K+ followers organically, without paid ads. In September 2025, I sold my stake and decided to go all in on building something consumer-facing again.
That led to SPINA (https://playspina.com).We’re building a platform that lets people put real money on childhood games like chess, tic-tac-toe, Connect 4, and more, and play live against real people while talking to them. It’s simple, social, and skill-based, no house, just you versus them. I graduated from Ole Miss in December 2025 and am fully focused on building SPINA full-time.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been a smooth road at all, but it’s always been fun to me. There were definitely times where it got really ugly, especially while running startmystore. Cash flow was stressful at points, and managing a team of seven people at around 20 years old is a lot to handle. You’re learning leadership, accountability, and decision-making in real time, usually under pressure.
That experience taught me more than anything else I’ve done. It forced me to grow up fast, get comfortable with hard conversations, and take responsibility when things went wrong. Even with the stress, I wouldn’t change any of it. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
We’ve been impressed with SPINA, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
SPINA is a real-money, head-to-head skill gaming platform built around one simple idea: competition is more fun when it actually matters.
SPINA was built because I was sick of watching people get crushed by casinos. Games stacked against you, hidden odds, systems designed so the house always wins. That is not competition, it is extraction. We wanted to give people a better way.
We are the FIRST platform to let people put real money on mini-games and play live against another person while talking to them at the same time. Not turn-based. Not asynchronous. Not simulated. It is a real human on the other side, in a live match, with money on the line and voice chat on. That combination did not exist before SPINA.
Our games are fast, familiar, and purely skill-based. No house. No odds. No randomness. Both players put money in, play the game live, and the winner takes it. The platform never plays against users and never sets outcomes. It is simply a marketplace for skill.
What sets SPINA apart is that we turned casual mini-games into real competition without turning them into a casino. By keeping everything peer-to-peer and live, we created something that feels more like talking trash with a friend than gambling against a system. The pressure, the adrenaline, and the social element all happen in real time.
Brand wise, we are most proud that SPINA feels honest, bold, and instantly understandable. You open the site and you get it. Childhood games with adult stakes. That is not just a slogan, it is the experience. The name SPINA comes from the Latin word for backbone. It represents betting on yourself and having your own back.
What we want readers to know is that if you are bored, craving real competition, or want to make some extra cash off your skills, SPINA is the place to do it. You jump in, get matched with a real person, play live, talk in real time, and let the game decide. No house. No nonsense. Just skill, competition, and a payout when you win.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I think the biggest thing is just getting outside and not being afraid to talk to people. Most people way overthink networking, but in reality people love helping other people, especially when you are a younger entrepreneur actually trying to build something. The worst case is someone ignores you, which is fine.
TikTok has honestly been one of the best tools for me. You can post a video explaining what you are working on and even with a small following, the right people will find it. That is how I found my CTO and even my current roommate. The reach is insane if you are genuine and specific about what you are building.
LinkedIn is also underrated if you use it correctly. Do not spam people. Be direct, be human, and reach out to people in your industry who are a few steps ahead of you. Most of the advice and connections that actually mattered for me came from casual conversations, not formal “networking” events.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://playspina.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playspina
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/jacksonerminio
Image Credits
@wrldinvsn (the podcast clip image)
