Vlad Micu, Head of Studio Critical Force Entertainment - The complete game startup turnoaround (How...
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Transcript of Vlad Micu, Head of Studio Critical Force Entertainment - The complete game startup turnoaround (How...
The Complete Game Startup Turnaround
HD Redux EditionHD Redux Edition
Tips and Tricks Tips and Tricks from the from the Trenches Trenches to (Re)Build Your to (Re)Build Your
Studio For Studio For The FutureThe Future
Slides: www.slideshare.net/VGVisionary
Question
How much are you willing to sacrifice to do something nobody else is doing?
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
Partners & Clients
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
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 sports team.
• 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
Adding the right people
Ben + Minh = 25+ years of game development experience
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
Solution: Funnel
CriticalStrikePortable.com
Early results
Success!
Now
2 Million users!
Earning us 19757.59 euros from Feb 25 – September 17th 2014
#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
Petsku from Zorg Entertainment sold his Transformers to fund his startup and game AG Drive
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
YouTubers
47+ YouTube videos from February – May 2014 with a total of 750.000+ views
Final Results
153 Reviews published after launch on Steam
#4 Is all of that enough for us to keep running?
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!?
Having everything in written
• Every important meeting
• E-mail followup
• Contracts, jezus!
#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/
The #1 Skill? Resilience
But be prepared
A support system helps
ColleaguesMentors &
PeersTherapist
FriendsA FUCKTON of books
Our result: we’re getting there
Progress, huzzah!
A closer look
We’re sustainable!
Take aways
Take aways
Take aways
Summary
•Team•Product•Funding•Vision•Pitching
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/
Bonus tip: watch my other lectures
www.youtube.com/vgvisionary
Contact me
• @vgvisionary
• Mail me at [email protected]
• Slides: www.slideshare.net/VGVisionary
#imlonely
Thanks!
Questions?