the complete game startup turnaround - when even 27 million downloads and 300.000 dau can’t keep...
TRANSCRIPT
The Complete Game Startup Turnaround
HD Redux Edition
When even 27 million downloads and 300.000 DAU can’t keep us safe
Slides: www.slideshare.net/VGVisionary
Table of contents• The story of Critical Force Entertainment
• What does a damn game startup turnaround look like?
• The lessons we’ve learned so you don’t have to go through this crap
• Summary
• Questions
Who am I?This is a talk by
Vlad MicuHead of Studio at
Critical Force Entertainment
Used to be the PR Manager of
Grambleworld.com
Did production, game design and creative direction for
arkavis Siam co. ltd. in Thailand
Wrote for many other international outlets includingGamesauce.org, TechInAsia.com,
PocketGamer.biz, Control Magazine, Gamer.nl, XBLAFans.com, Casual Connect
Magazine and many more.
@vgvisionary
Where does this all come from?• 600+ developers
interviewed
• Personal start-up experience
• Advising multiple international studios & getting tons of advice
• Reading a BUTTLOAD on the interwebz & listening to other devs.
Not enough to succeed!The past 9 months looked like this: • (A) Post traumatic stress from
layoffs, • (B) then just hoping the wheels
don’t fall entirely off the car, • (C) then investing in product
pipeline, • (D) then on-boarding new team
members and leads, then — and this is the place we’re at now —
• (E) solving for a repeatable viable business model.
Coincidence• Jason Gold
This talk is inspired by a blogpost on Startup Turnaround by Jason Goldberg, Founder and CEO of Fab (betashop.com)
He took a lot of words right of my mouth…
“The experience we will gain in this turnaround will be the most valuable experience of our lives.”
– Random Fab Employee
Our challenge: A complete startup turnaround
• Team Culture• Legal Concerns• Funding• Staying alive• Investors
#1 What is our culture?• Team = Not a family, but
a well-oiled machine.
• Responsibility > Authority
• The ‘24H bother’-rule
• Weekly reports
• Shareholder agreement“I can say with confidence that Fab will win or lose based on our ability
to assemble and manage the right people for right now.” – Jason Goldberg, Founder and CEO of Fab
Do we foster young talent the right way?
• First month of intensive research & training
• Giving them more responsibility
• The simple rule: make informed decisions based on proven practices.
Free or Unpaid internships?
#2 Do we optimally exploit our own products?
300+ websites iframed the web version of Critical Strike Portablefrom Kongregate.com
#3 How are we handling our budget?
• Monthly burn-rate: +- 20.000 euros• Major budget cuts!• Improve our existing
revenue sources– ad optimization – IAP design
• Find alternative sources of revenue
Bootstrapping: my example
• No salary• Living in the office• Travel costs covered
as a speaker• Computers from
university• Collected cans on the
street for ‘pant’ (Finnish for change)
http://blog.kurtvarner.com
Kurt Varner lived in his car for 4 months, renting a coworking space and using a gym subscription to shower
http://i.imgur.com/yacucU1.jpg
The BetaDwarf team lived in a university classroom for 7 months before getting discovered and kicked out
= Perfectly alligned jobs that allow you to work on/prepare for your own dreams
(Smart) Work for Hire
Early results
“The Last Tinker is particularly eye-catching for being so colorful in a Viva Piñata-esque manner” – Destructoid
At first, I thought The Last Tinker: City of Colors was a childish game. It turned out to be the game that has made me smile the most in the past year. – TheDailyChill.co.uk
"The Last Tinker is a colorful and truly beautiful game." - IndieMag.fr
“Although The Last Tinker feels like a blending of different genres and earlier games, the gorgeous art style and creative story offer a vibrant new appeal.” – VentureBeat
115 Preview articles from February – April 2014
Focus > Growth• Different platforms
• Reskinning
• Growing audience
• 3rd party devices
• SDKs SDKs SDKs
We’re a fucking start-up!“What is Fab right now? Right now it’s a fucking startup. It’s really hard. It’s intense. It’s a struggle. It’s ambiguous. It
changes a lot. It’s all consuming. It’s a lot of sausage making. It’s working weekends to hit numbers and dates. It’s stretching people
beyond their comfort zone. It’s insisting on doing it better even when it’s already pretty good. It’s being brutally honest about gaps and weaknesses. It’s one day you’re headed in one direction and the next day another, because the first move wasn’t the best move. It’s
being ok with things not working because that creates opportunities to learn how to fix it.
It’s a fucking startup.”
– Jason Goldberg, Founder and CEO of Fab
Vision: become the Riot Games of Scandinavia!
Company Mantra: Become market leader of real-time multiplayer mobile
games with a competitive e-sports community
Different attitude & vocabulary
Get standardized legal documents for your startup here: http://seriesseed.fi/
• Sustainable traction – who’s ever used that word?
• Cash flow positive– or this one?
• Share holders agreement
• Business plan!?
#5 Pitching = Knowing thyself• Know who you are and
who you aren’t
• Know what the other person wants and doesn’t have
• Use that to disarm your opponent and put him/her in the defensive
• Make yourself rare/scarceLearn from Eminem!
http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/18/how-to-get-an-mba-from-eminem/
Further reading• http://www.businessinsider.com/kurt-varner-lived-out-of-his-car-for-4-months-in-silicon-valley-2014-8• https://eliademy.com/catalog/appcademy-online/appcademy-dealing-with-investors.html• http://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/174030515/making-mistakes• http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/13/how-to-get-funding-as-told-by-august-capital-video/• http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-greylock/• http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/06/24/the-margin-manifesto-11-tenets-for-reaching-or-doubling-profitability-in-3-months/• http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/how-five-men-are-changing-the-business-and-size-of-game-publishing• http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2014/08/whats-it-like-to-lose-100000000-at-facebook/• http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-08-06-dan-adelmans-advice-for-indies• http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2013/10/28/business-mentorship-and-muses/• http://www.businessinsider.com/if-someone-handed-steve-jobs-a-pen-this-is-how-he-wouldve-sold-it-2014-8 • http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-influence-anyone-2014-8 • https://medium.com/@morganb/ten-things-i-learned-researching-ten-of-the-worlds-fastest-growing-startups-
a53106e2599a• http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-entrepreneurs-creed-inner-beliefs-of-true-entrepreneurs.html• http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/06/24/the-margin-manifesto-11-tenets-for-reaching-or-doubling-
profitability-in-3-months/• http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/how-to-negotiate/• http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/18/how-to-get-an-mba-from-eminem/• http://betashop.com/post/83367408084/its-a-fucking-startup-why-are-you-here• http://www.incomediary.com/decoded-17-secrets-to-jay-zs-entrepreneurial-success• http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/03/26/the-psychology-of-automation-building-a-bulletproof-personal-
finance-system/#more-1528• http://lifehacker.com/make-46-meals-for-under-100-in-4-hours-1480339310• http://blog.readyforzero.com/how-to-create-a-budget/• http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/04/the-top-22-mistakes-of-first-time-ceos/• http://www.zef.fi/building-incredible-company-culture-buying-tesla-wont-salvation/ • http://www.businessinsider.com/etsy-chad-dickerson-blameless-post-mortem-2012-5• http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2013/05/10/5-things-founders-dont-talk-about/• http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2013/06/07/70-disengagement-3-ways-to-engage-those-who-arent/?
utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter • http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/22/on-trust-founder-fall-outs-and-6-steps-to-getting-things-back-on-track/
Contact me
• @vgvisionary
• Mail me at [email protected]
• Slides: www.slideshare.net/VGVisionary
#imlonely