Want to be the next Zynga? If your answer is yes, you're not alone.
Just ask Philip Holt. He's the president and CEO of the Orlando, Fla.-based game development studio called Row Sham Bow, which plans to debut its first effort -- Woodland Heroes -- on Facebook this Tuesday.
Holt says Heroes is an action strategy game that mixes story, drama and humor, along with some "riveting gameplay." Here's what Holt learned about starting a gaming company and working with Facebook:
1. Get smart fast.
The Woodland Heroes team hit the deck running by reading articles, analyst reports, news stories, collecting daily headlines, purchasing target research, talking with a hundred industry sources. Ultimately, they focused on Facebook as their gaming platform because it has a highly engaged audience, among other benefits.
2. Create competitive advantages.
Holt says 50 percent of his job has been hiring, because a competitive edge always starts with a stellar team. He hires for intelligence, problem solving, passion, hunger, and team work over specific technology skills. The reason? Technologies change and you don't want to be swapping your team out.
Then make sure your team knows your core strengths and principles -- the things that are unique to your company and aren't altered by platform limitations, market conditions or competitive influences. Stay true to those strengths and principles and make sure your product clearly represents them.
3. Find the right advisors.
This first-time entrepreneur says his mentors are venture capitalists who provide guidance on what to look for in an investor, feedback on negotiation tactics, deal terms, board recruiting and equity participation for early employees. He says you have to add mentors and guides to your team that can level the playing field. For example, his team established a formal board of advisors to guide and advise in areas where his staff lacked expertise or required access to deep, critical thinking and research.
4. Partner with the right money.
Taking an investor's money is kind of like getting married. It requires courtship so you can get to know each other and see if you can live with each other, share the same goals and values. You need someone who believes in your vision, will support your decisions and goals -- especially when you are pitching to such a huge company as Facebook.
5. Build and pitch the company you always wanted to work for.
When it comes to workplace culture, Holt says you just can't out-Apple Apple or out-Google Google. Such esteemed cultural traits should define your company and your behavior, whether it's the freedom to be creative, becoming a member of a team that works well together or receiving support and encouragement from a key mentor or manager. It's the environment that creates the success.
What other keys to business success would you add? Leave a comment and let us know.
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Comments:
I really like number 4. It often seems like entrepreneurs think that pumping money into their business would cure all ails, but where that money comes from and what you do with it matters. When you receive an investment, you become accountable to those investors, as well as their expectations and needs, so choosing the right investors and maintaining a positive partnership seems crucial.
Such task has never been so fast and easy as long as you know where in the Internet you should be. To sell games for cash in a fast-paced, changing, and product-oriented environment, all a marketer has to do is to look for a place in the Internet that he knows will be the best medium or site to attract his customers. Anyway, didn't they say that the medium is the message? The most popular online shop is eBay, which works as an online auction, selling the item to the highest bidder.
All good "keys" for any business. Games is a hits driven business. Separating yourself from the clutter is necessary. Creating engaging characters and dynamic, fun gameplay is necessary. You can acquire players with enough capital. Hooking them and pulling in the "whales," those who actually PAY to play games is a different story. Doing it more than once is the true test and it's not just about analytics. You increase your opportunity by surrounding yourself with the best but it is not a guarantee in an artistic field. Again, a successful starting business strategy is not necessarily about the necessary fundamental steps towards making great "sticky" games.If success is about raising capital then they have done well. If it's about positioning yourself for acquisition, they have done well. If it's about making great games - we have yet to see. I would love to see Row Sham Bow succeed in creating compelling games. It will be fun to watch.
I like that part where you mentioned building the company that you want to work for. Yes, you are your own boss, but there are instances when you yourself don't like what you're running. You should be confident so that you could push your gaming company to the top. Don't let other companies intimidate you. This doesn't work on just gaming companys; this applies to all types of businesses. -- Ray
And if you want to be successful, also ask from Rovio -team (Yeah, the angry birds guys) how to brand your games...
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Zynga is not a good name for any gaming company.
However the point 3 is the key and should be taken very seriously when it comes to building a game successful organizations.
Marketing a product has always been a competitive task. With that being said point #3 is the key & should be taken very seriously when it comes to build a successful Gaming Organization.
"Build and pitch the company you always wanted to work for" - this point has been very well narrated. It seems quite relevant. Thanks for sharing. Warm Regards, Shubhajit Bose HR -Larsen & Toubro
Row Sham Bow opened its doors six months ago in a devastated economy...one of the worst in the country in fact. They managed to not only acquire $3.5 million in venture capital from a company that's never invested in the gaming industry before, but also put together a team consisting of some of the best artists, engineers, designers and developers in the business. These guys are from EA, Disney, Cartoon Network...it's no joke. They have worked on Guitar Hero, Madden, NCAA, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, etc. It's only been six months and they are launching their first game. I think that's pretty successful for having just started up, don't you?
Interesting that one of the points emphasized in this article is staffing and recruiting. The gaming industries definitely relies on this, as its success depends on assembling creatives and techies to innovate and create.
I like all of them. And will be working towards them.
I don't understand this article. The subject is about building a successful gaming company, but Row Sham Bow hasn't even make a penny yet. How do we know if Row's game will be a successful....just saying.
I like the fact that he spends 50% of his time on recruitment. Finding and retaining talent is everything in a business that is collaborative/creative. Even in this economy the search for talent is extremely competitive and having a good narrative and reasons to motivate developers to sign on are crucial.
#6. Give it an awesome name. An appealing appellation can help you attract the money and talent you need, whereas an abominable moniker can prevent those good things from ever happening.
I think #2 was my favorite. It made a great point about how swapping out people due to the changes in technology would be troublesome.
Excellent article! It's very interesting to see how to stay competitive in a market as large as Facebook and an industry as dominant as social gaming.
Mike, great article. Love #5.