I Joined A Gaming Startup Accelerator. Here’s What I Learned.
Practical advice on pitching, networking, and mentoring
If you have a gaming startup, you probably already heard something about the world of startup accelerators. They usually help with working spaces, mentoring, and money.
Usually, when you are a first-time entrepreneur, you don’t have any money or experience. Having mentors guiding you is very helpful. It is also excellent not to pay for working spaces and get money to pay yourself and invest in your company.
Startup accelerators may sound like a dream for most entrepreneurs.
I found a gaming company in 2012 and in 2015 I joined Game Founders. Joining the program helped me build a profitable business.
Game Founders is an accelerator program focused only on gaming startups that lasts for three months. The program helps companies with working spaces, mentoring, and invests money (US$15,000 for 9% equity). It started in Estonia and moved to Malaysia a few years later.
Pitching
If you want to get resources for your company and your games, you need to learn how to pitch. By pitching, you can show people what you’ve been doing and convince them that you are a good fit for them.
At Game Founders, we had pitch training every week. We had three challenging minutes to talk to convince others to invest in our companies. As we received feedback, we could work to improve our presentations.
When you pitch, you must talk about the:
- Problem
- Solution
- Market
- Business model
- Traction
- Team
- What you need (money, publishing, etc…)
Joining a startup accelerator gives you the opportunity to meet investors. The program has connections and that can make things easier for you. I met many investors in my entrepreneurial journey thanks to that.
In 2017 I raised US$1 million. I met my investor during the first week at Game Founders. I’ve joined another startup accelerator before and I’ve been practicing how to pitch for a while. I knew how to make a good presentation. I already have practiced for many hours.
The investor saw my presentation and said that he would invest US$1 million in our company if we achieved some numbers. It took us 18 months to reach those numbers, but we did.
Learning how to pitch can help your gaming company achieve much more. Money is the fuel of your company. Without it, you can’t survive. Pitching can help you attain the resources that you need for your company. Practice the most you can.
Networking
It’s true what they say about who you know is more important than what you know. Knowing the right people can help you get resources for your company, close partnerships, hire more people, etc.
Human beings are social beings. It’s hard to build a relationship with someone you never see. That is one of the mains reasons that it is hard to have a long-distance relationship. You have to get out of your room or office to get to know more people and start to build a relationship with them.
However, is what you know that helps you with that. Startup accelerators help businesses that already have achieved something (what they know). They later help you to know more people so you can keep growing.
Thanks to Game Founders I met many big names from the games industry. Once you know more people, it’s by showing what you know that you help grow your relationship with them.
Attending conferences is also a good investment for your business if you have a clear goal of what you want. I had a mentor that always remind me about that.
Most of the conferences I attended were outside my country. I live in Brazil, and most of them are in the US or Europe. I attend conferences like GDC (US), PG Connects (UK), Casual Connect (Holland). I couldn’t waste any money.
A goal for a conference can be the number of people you want to meet and talk to. That will help you organize your calendar.
The more people you know, the easiest is to know more people. Remember that who you know is very important. Start building your network now.
Mentoring
If there were one hack to shortcut in your path to success, it would be to find mentors. You can learn from people who have already done what you are trying to do instead of trying to come up with every single solution yourself. There isn’t enough time in the world for you to try to do everything by yourself.
Joining a gaming startup accelerator helped me to have access to many different mentors. We had 30 minutes to talk to them during the program and we could keep in touch with the ones that made more sense to our companies.
Asking for advice is a great way to build your networking too. However, don’t ask questions that you can find the answer to on Google. That will make you look stupid.
Ask for advice on key strategic decisions. Ask questions like:
- What are your thoughts about X?
- I’m considering doing Y. Do you have any experience with that?
- How did you solve Z problem at your company?
Not only ask for advice but declare your intention to do something about what the mentor recommends. You can later share how you did. That will keep the conversation going and help you build a relationship with him.
As I said before, I met my investor in the first week of the Game Founders program in 2015. He was a mentor for me before investing in my company in 2017. I learned a lot with him by asking for advice, which allowed me to grow my company.
At the end of 2016, we broke revenue records for ten weeks in a row. Every business update I sent was a new victory. I couldn’t have done that if I haven’t had mentors by my side.
After sending the 10th email, this investor said he wanted to talk to me. Two months later, he invested US$1 million in my company.
Try to get mentors around you. They can help you grow your business much faster than you trying by yourself.
Final thoughts
Accelerators are useful, but you have to play your part too. They will not make anything happened for you if you don’t ask them. If you want something, you have to say it.
Be clear about what are your goals and how they could help you. Otherwise, you will spend time in the program and will not fully enjoy its benefits.
After the Game Founders program was over, I kept in touch with its partners. They were mentors for me and helped me through the challenges my company was facing. It was nice to have someone with more experience supporting me.
Achieving success in the games industry is much more than building good games. Remember to train your pitch, build your network, and get mentors around you.
