ByMartina Di Licosa,
Forbes Staff.
B
efore founding on-the-go breakfast company Oats Overnight, Brian Tate spent most of his twenties as a professional poker player, frequently entering No-Limit events in Las Vegas casinos and playing private cash games around the country. By the time he retired from the scene at 29, he claims to have banked nearly $10 million in winnings. That’s when he started dreaming up his next big score. “There wasn't anywhere else to go with poker. I was at the highest level and I wanted another mountain to climb,” he says.
Much to his poker buddies’ amazement, he focused on the food he relied on during some of those marathon poker sessions. “Efficiency is really the passion here,” says Tate, who is now 38. “With poker, you're running to different games, you're sitting at a table for 12-plus hours a day. It's really important to eat well.” So, in 2016, he searched the market for a pre-made version of his homemade oatmeal shakes, and when he couldn’t find one, he bet $500,000 of his winnings to set up a manufacturing facility in Tempe, Arizona, for what became Oats Overnight.
