Since 1988, when I began working, I’ve been part of three multinational firms (National Semi 1988-96, Synopsys ’99-2000, SiRF 2006-08), two startups (Microcon 96-97, Sasken 97-99), started two companies (Impulsesoft ’99-2006, Zebu – 2009-’11) and one non-profit (NEN, 2011-14). Between 2006-2011 I also invested or advised a variety of startups, a few of whom have thrived and a few died. Most of course are hanging in there. You’d have thought I’d have learned a few things over these 26 years and I have. Yet, doing a gaming startup has brought home loud and clear how much more there is to learn.

Follow The Dots

In mid November, my partners and I began working with a young man, for now code-named Don Knuth to pivot Zebu Communications – our originally marketing automation, then marketing consulting startup – to be a gaming studio. Since then we’ve launched two games on Android HomeBound and Follow the Dots and one on iOS. This post is a quick summary of 4 Lessons that I’ve learned (some granted needed reminding). Some of these are true for all startups but particularly relevant when embarking on a startup outside your own area of domain expertise.

Act fast and often I’ve never stop to be amazed to discover how much I STILL don’t know – not just about game mechanics, App Store Optimization or customer acquisition, monetization or mobile eco-system and even doing press releases. I’m sure there’s more stuff that I don’t even know that I know nothing about. Yet whatever I know, that I need to know, came from doing things. We got our first Android game out the door in 3 weeks – sure it didn’t set the world on fire (yet) – but I’ve learned more in this time, that’ll keep us rolling for the next one year. Reading is good (and I’m a big proponent of it) but acting fast and often, especially when it’s a new domain is very important.

Business first Doing a startup, particularly a gaming one, is loads of fun – there’s ton’s to do – games to play, code to write, logos to design – it’s very easy to keep busy. And as you learn stuff (see above) there’s even more stuff to do. Of course all the things that involve product development (concept, design, coding, testing, competitive analysis) are all in your “control” and feels like “real” work. So there’s a real risk that you’ll spend all your time doing these “fun” things and its easy to lose sight of the fact that you are a business – in other words you need customers – who’ll generate revenue for you – whether by paying you, through ads or other purchases. So spend as much time thinking about how you will make money and validating that – fast and often. We are yet to figure this out, but think about it and try things every day.

Consult others Luckily both the entrepreneurial community and gaming in particular is quite giving and willing to share. There are so many unknowns in building a gaming business that it is both an opportunity and a risk. So talk to people who are in the business. For instance a friend introduced me to Rajesh Rao, founder of Dhruv Interactive – India’s oldest game development company. They’ve been through the whole cycle – game development as a service, product development, to game incubator and Rajesh was sweet enough to take the time to give us an unvarnished view of the pluses and minuses. Others whether Vishal Gondal or Alok Kejriwal have been active speakers, writers and supporters of the gaming scene in India. Numerous indies have been forthcoming in sharing their time and insights locally and globally. It would be a huge mistake to try to do this – for any startup – on your own without consulting others and seeking their counsel.

Do your own thing Of course having sought others counsel, you still need to do your own thing – at least you’ll be well-informed. The challenge when you consult others is that you will get a lot of seemingly contradictory advice – do this, don’t do this. If we went completely by what others said – and I’ve done that more than once – we’ll come to rue it. What they said was most likely true – for them and at that time – the very opposite may be true now or for you. So getting to know what you need to know and what others have tried or not – regardless of whether it worked or not for them – is important but beyond that you gotta do your own thing. We were told that interstitial ads work better, but we found text ads worked better for us. Of course we may find video ads work even better or not. So do your own thing to verify.

Once a quarter, I will share our learnings as we embark on yet another startup journey. Meanwhile – support us by downloading our games, reviewing them and spreading the word. Thanks.