Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello,

 

I`m a college kid taking a break from school for financial reasons. I`m starting a multimedia company. I`m torn between trying to find a job in the industry and learning the ropes first or just going for it on my own. I know that my ultimate goal is to own my own game studio, the only problem with most game studios are that they want to own your ideas outright while you work for them. So my question is this:

 

Is it better to gain some experience in the industry first? I have been reading and learning on my own but I have no industry experience.

 

Do I realistically have any chance of starting a business without working for someone else in the same industry first?

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Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/

Game design?  If so, then no, you have no chance.  But, don`t get discouraged.  Life is long, get some experience, then give it a shot.  You have youth on your side. 

You`ll need mucho casho to pay for all those designers before ever putting out a game.  Nobody will give you cash for the start-up unless you are a proven game designer.  Can you start out small in that industry?  Probably not.  I suppose one could try develop games to be played on the iPhone.  That would also be expensive.

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Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC

--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--

Sometimes real wisdom means knowing what it is you don`t know. In this case, you seem clear in your understanding that experience is necessary and that for the moment, you have none.

The entertainment industry is one of the most brutal, although financial markets come in pretty close. Your experience isn`t going to be about how to run a business. Anyone can learn that from books, or by trial and error.

Instead, the experience you would gain working for the end-goal type of company is how to *survive* within such rabidly shark-infested waters. It`s like playing in a band as a sideman before starting your own. You learn a massive wealth of information about the real-world problems of scams, cons, ripoffs, and so forth.

You can read a book about how to have sex. But that doesn`t at all prepare you for how to work in a marriage. :-) Right?

I do have project experience does that count for anything? To answer MNGrillguy`s question, yes you can start small in the game industry. I`m starting as an indie developer, the barrier to entry is much lower. With the new technology out I can work on games on everything from the Cellphone and PC to the Xbox360. The market is also increasing.

So let me pose a different question. How many people have started a business with little experience in thier chosen industry?

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Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/

I think if you could develop a game to be played on the iPhone that is different, edgy, or maybe politically incorrect it could create a good market buzz and you could find yourself in a great position.  Personally, if I had the talent I`d make a game that somehow exploits the 2008 elections.  That is all we are gonna be hearing about for the next two years.  It`s just the type of thing a national news network would do a story on to fill the last minute of a broadcast.   

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Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC

--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--

I have an idea for a game---the music business. :-) It`d work like those football games, but you`d start with a template for various players, and choose how many people in the band. Then they`d play various ways, go out into the business, and see if they could succeed.

It`d offer the player a way to integrate music they like, as their sim band works its way up from garages into clubs, raves, parties, and so on. There`d be all the various challenges, and levels would mirror the career levels in the entertainment business.

The goal would be to get a recording contract, then play big venues. The challenges would be fame, indulgence, pride, and so forth.

I`m starting to see a pattern here. The last 2 posts prove that there may be a market for a software toy/ program that lets you make your own game. There are some now but none are what I`d call mass market friendly.

 

But let`s focus on the original question people. I was somewhat unclear about my experience. I`ve worked in the customer service industry for 5+ years now. Since I plan to start a service business I think that may help. But I just lack hardcore project experience for web development and game development though.

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Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/

What if you did both? Why not begin to develop the game in your own time, while working in the game industry to gain experience in sales, marketing, and management? Not to mention getting the funds to pay the rent, eat, run a car, and otherwise, keep body and soul together?

thats the new plan I`m starting to develop. Only problem is that the game industry is notorious for not allowing their workers to work on outside projects. Usually they even can claim any work you complete outside the office. Although that`s if you tell them about it.

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Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/

Not only that, but you wouldn`t have to work as a developer for a competing game company. Instead, you could work in many associated areas of the game company.

In fact, "games is games." You could probably get some exellent experience working in places like big arcades, where the end-user for the games are handled. There`s that big one...name escapes me....it`s two guys` names, like Ben and Jerry, but obviously not. They`re a huge place, with a bar and restaurant, and have all kinds of electronic games.

If you worked for a place like this, you`d get an even closer handle on the customers as you were building your game, right?