Making a startup
polycounter lvl 18
I know a few people on these boards are involved in start-up comapnies. It has always been a dream of mine and I am not looking to do it anytime soon, but it would be my ten year goal you could say.
But the question is, where the hell do you start?
I allready know that in order to get good funding for a game idea you have, you should probably walk in with a polished demo featuring your main core features of the game. That's a no brainer. But where do you go from there?
Like, hiring people? I work in the industry, but outside of the art side of the business, I have no clue what is needed to efficiently make a full working team. Sure, I could take a look at my company, but we do mostly console FPSs. Which, the structure might be different on the programming side depending on what type of game you are making. Enough of that, I think ya get me point.
Just wanted to hear from some other people, how they got involved in a startup. or how they made their own startup.
It would at least be cool to hear about.
Maybe it will never happen, but it's good to at least have some goals.
Thanks guys,
-Jeremy
But the question is, where the hell do you start?
I allready know that in order to get good funding for a game idea you have, you should probably walk in with a polished demo featuring your main core features of the game. That's a no brainer. But where do you go from there?
Like, hiring people? I work in the industry, but outside of the art side of the business, I have no clue what is needed to efficiently make a full working team. Sure, I could take a look at my company, but we do mostly console FPSs. Which, the structure might be different on the programming side depending on what type of game you are making. Enough of that, I think ya get me point.
Just wanted to hear from some other people, how they got involved in a startup. or how they made their own startup.
It would at least be cool to hear about.
Maybe it will never happen, but it's good to at least have some goals.
Thanks guys,
-Jeremy
Replies
Who you need to hire and numbers entirely depends on what you plan to make and your business model. Never EVER involve your buds just because they are. Only get involved with people who are at the top of their game. Be very careful about who you hire. Slack or crappy people can hide in big companies just fine, but they stick out like sore thumbs when there's 12 of you sat in a room making a game.
Never ever underestimate how much work is involved in making a videogame from scratch. Middleware is often a good idea.
That just got me thinking - how easy would be to develop a game using purely open source software? You could run linux machines, but since most PCs come with Windows installed...
Anyway, as Daz mentioned, middleware. Middleware and tools are vital - http://www.rsart.co.uk/2006/09/15/roll-your-own-engine-roll-your-own-problems/
I've known quite a few people with limited experience who want to start a company, and to be honest the mind boggles at their lack of understanding of the fundamentals. Not every game needs to be a triple A title, but I've know people who thought they could make such a game in 9 months writing their own engine.
A pool of ideas would be a good thing to go in with too - nothing too rigid, as team members (and market forces) will shape the product - but some starting points would be good.
So if you had a small team of say 10 people with a low average salary of $4000 a month, that would be $40,000. Plus add in maybe $5000 more for rent, utilities, software licenses, hardware, internet connection, etc. That would add up to roughly $45,000 in operating expenses per month. So, if you wanted to be able to cover costs for six months if a client/publisher is slow on payment, then you should have $270,000 in the bank.
There will be delays in payment for the company at some point. You must be prepared to keep things afloat, or risk your employees suing you for back pay. So, be sure to save up a quarter million, or more likely take out a small business loan to cover this expense. Just be aware that if the whole thing blows up, the loan must still be payed. So be prepared to put up your house as collateral.
Personally, I'd try to just make a game off of a mod, guerilla-style. It'll cut down on the expense of a programming team writing an engine from scratch, and you'll figure out very quickly just what kind of man power you'll need to script functionality and create art assets for the game.
I'd try to do one entire small level with near full functionality, which I could use as a demo to pitch to a publisher. Once they provided funding, I could then get a legitimate license of the engine, make additional staff hires, and quickly ramp up into full production, knowing exactly the kind of work that will need to get done.
You know who would really know the answer to this... Slayerjerman would, he did just do this very thing not more than a year ago.
Seems he would be a very good person to ask as it says his companys is dead... Nothing is more useful to know than what to watch out for to keep a new company afloat.
I started a company several years back and it's a very difficult process. I've successfully worked with some artist from the polycount community so I think it's important for me to try and give you any helpful information.
It's hard to get funding even with a full polished demo these days. Collective resumes don't add as much weight as one might hope. I say this because some of the guys I work with have several AAA games as leads on their resume. DaZ is right though, if you have a big name, you're way more likely to get funding.
Your best bet, by far, is to create and release several small games. Consider creating Innovative game play and small amounts of content. You will build a portfolio of products that future investors/publishers will be able to see. You can also do this while keeping your day job. Going fulltime right away is a dangerous move.
In terms of game design, you should make games that people wan to play, not games that you think are "really cool". Keep in mind that if you want to have a company, your goal must be to make money from your products. Make great games, games you are proud to make, but make sure you keep the business side of things in mind. Make games for a market, don't make a game and then go searching for a market.
Also, please consider your corporate structure and taxes ahead of time. Incorporate as soon as you can. S-corporations or "pass through" entities might seem like a good idea because you don't get "double taxed" (company once, personal once) but be careful because they require you to pay yourself a "reasonable" salary. So if you're not making money to pay yourself a salary, you run into paperwork issues. A good CPA is a must. Keep a record of all your expenditures, including any driving you do for work related tasks. You get $.41/mile for work driving, and 80% of your gas costs can be written off. If you use a home office, you can also claim a part of your rent/mortgage as an expense. Lastly, meeting people is the best way to get yourself and your company known. Go to networking meetings, trade shows, and participate in as much online activities as you can. Don't do so with the intent of making business contacts, do so for personal enrichment and involvement in the community that you are a part of. Business contacts will soon follow.
I hope I've been helpful. I could write about this subject for a week, but hopefully some of these high level ideas can help you on your path. Good luck.
Also, be very careful of employment taxes, you can easily be spending 2x your salary costs covering FICA, un employment and other taxes. This is a good reason to use contractors and have all employees treated as such, in which case you file tax form 1099's against their pay.
Another consideration is that you will need atleast 2 years operational costs to start up, as mentioned before, to cover costs when the money isnt coming in.
I could also go on and on....I found running running a biz had very little to do with making games themselves.
I just look at games like project offset and am so amazed and just wonder, how the hell? I mean, they obviously have a lot going for them. Even the company I work for would be very uniterested in taking suggestions for new game ideas. They seem to like sticking with FPSs.
Well, this is a long way off, but I think I'll still keep plugging away in my free time with my ideas and who knows, maybe it'll happen. But then again, that money aspect literally scares me to death. seems like you could run your whole family into the ground if things went south.
Thanks again for all the input. I'm going to save all these replies somewhere for future reference.