A few months ago while in the very early stages of startup mode I was talking to the CEO of a large, publicly traded medical devices company. I showed him the business plan and asked for some advice. “Do whatever it takes,” he said. You knock on every door and you turn over every rock. You do whatever it takes to make your business go. You can spend months writing the perfect business plan, but nothing ever goes as planned. Being flexible enough to capitalize on opportunities when they arise is crucial.
Knock on every door. Investors can appear from the most unlikely places as I realized simply getting to know my neighbors. Putting some time in the relationships you’d classify as “acquaintances” can go a long way. I run a local industry event every month that brings out developers looking to socialize. It takes effort, is time consuming, and I’m often exhausted before the event even begins, but I feel it’s something I need to maintain. The majority of attendees aren’t business guys, they are in the trenches developers. It’s important to stay grounded even as I transition away from development. You never know when one of them is going to turn up having a rich uncle looking to invest!
Turn over every rock. This has led me to rekindling old relationships from half a world a way. Putting together our Japanese investor package has really helped me distill the true essence of our business proposition and realize how bloated the English package was.
Be flexible. According to our business plan we shouldn’t need to talk to publishers for another year. When they approach you, however, there’s no harm in listening. I’m surprised how quickly we’ve been approached by 3 of the top publishers in the world so early in development.
This is going to be a very exciting year. Our core gameplay prototype is really coming together. In fact, I’m off to hop in a playtest now!
