5 ms·

Your points are all valid, but many of these apply to other industries too, and other industries also have their own subset of problems. You could basically su

Your points are all valid, but many of these apply to other industries too, and other industries also have their own subset of problems. You could basically sum it up by saying 'Startups are risky. Angel Investors are brave'. All the risks are why Angels/VCs (including PG in his essays) are always saying they look for promising founders rather than good ideas. There are so many risks that can derail a great idea, what's important is that you can trust the people at the wheel to make the right moves. There are a lot of technical problems in making a game, but if John Carmack is doing the coding, I'd trust him to solve them. There are a lot of gameplay problems in making a game, but if Soren Johnson is doing the design, I'd trust him to solve them.

nihilocrat 16y ago
"they look for promising founders rather than good ideas." This is even more true in the gaming world. Everyone that's played a game has an idea for a game, a small number of them are actually very good ideas, a tiny fraction have been written into well thought-out designs, and a miniscule sliver of those ideas come from minds that can actually manage to create those games.
dieterrams 16y ago
> Your points are all valid, but Stop right there. You haven't added anything substantive to support your "but". And saying that you'd trust John Carmack to solve technical problems is pointless. If John Carmack was on your team, you'd get funding even if your startup was about making cupcakes. The probability that you have someone at the very top of their field is extremely low. Finding someone who can solve the technical programs of your game may not be a huge deal, but gameplay and creative both give you massive amounts of rope to hang yourself with. Moreover, they can completely upend all the work you've done if things don't pan out. This isn't quite like the web startup world, where if you've got a decent amount of sense, you can predict what will be useful, release a minimal version and iterate post-launch.
ultrasaurus 16y ago
That's still not a risk-free approach, you could trust John Romero and get Daikatana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikatana http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikatana
- daniel-cussen 16y ago
  "John Romero's about to make you his bitch...Suck it down."

nihilocrat 16y ago

"they look for promising founders rather than good ideas." This is even more true in the gaming world. Everyone that's played a game has an idea for a game, a small number of them are actually very good ideas, a tiny fraction have been written into well thought-out designs, and a miniscule sliver of those ideas come from minds that can actually manage to create those games.

dieterrams 16y ago

> Your points are all valid, but Stop right there. You haven't added anything substantive to support your "but". And saying that you'd trust John Carmack to solve technical problems is pointless. If John Carmack was on your team, you'd get funding even if your startup was about making cupcakes. The probability that you have someone at the very top of their field is extremely low. Finding someone who can solve the technical programs of your game may not be a huge deal, but gameplay and creative both give you massive amounts of rope to hang yourself with. Moreover, they can completely upend all the work you've done if things don't pan out. This isn't quite like the web startup world, where if you've got a decent amount of sense, you can predict what will be useful, release a minimal version and iterate post-launch.

ultrasaurus 16y ago

That's still not a risk-free approach, you could trust John Romero and get Daikatana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikatana http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikatana

daniel-cussen 16y ago
"John Romero's about to make you his bitch...Suck it down."