3 ms·

Would You Give This Kid $500,000?

16 points by Laurentvw 19y ago

Just 19, Jared Kim, of WeGame.com, had no problem finding money for his tiny internet startup. With more venture capital available than ever, even grade-schoolers can get a piece of the action.

edu 19y ago
Hard question, but probably no. First, I don't think a "youtube for games" will succeed, at least I wouldn't use it, but people keeps watching sports life/on TV and I find it quite boring so maybe in 5/10 years there are more pople watching the Final match of the Unreal Tournament World Series than the Superbowl. Second, $500k seems a way too much! I believe it's better to start small but be ready to scale. And more for a risky business like that. So, I wouldn't give him $500K, $25K to $50K yes but no more, at least until they have a public site and need the money to grow.
- danteembermage 19y ago
  One thing worth mentioning is that this sounds like fraps/youtube integrated not just a niche video site. If his video capturing technology is as good as he claims (I'm in the wait for the private beta so we'll see) he may have something here.
  - damien 19y ago
    Yea I was going to say the same thing, his company is more than just a "YouTube for gamers". His secret weapon seems to be his "software camera". I'm actually curious as to how he is implementing that without requiring the standard video capturing hardware. As far as I know, there is no good software-only solution that won't bring your gaming to a crawl.
- marcus 19y ago
  Why stop with tv shows? How about sports betting on unreal tournament matches?
  - edu 19y ago
    It sounds quite interesting, a real time bet system. The toughest would be to develop some kind of broadcasting system compatible with games made by different vendors and running on different platforms (i.e. bet on UT, on Halo, on strategy games, sports games...), and there maybe some legal problems with the vendors but if there's money everybody can agree.
- ido 19y ago
  $500K is nothing in venture capital terms.
terpua 19y ago
If only raising money were that easy.
sdpurtill 19y ago
I'd give Jared 500k any day

16 points by Laurentvw 19y ago

Just 19, Jared Kim, of WeGame.com, had no problem finding money for his tiny internet startup. With more venture capital available than ever, even grade-schoolers can get a piece of the action.

edu 19y ago

Hard question, but probably no. First, I don't think a "youtube for games" will succeed, at least I wouldn't use it, but people keeps watching sports life/on TV and I find it quite boring so maybe in 5/10 years there are more pople watching the Final match of the Unreal Tournament World Series than the Superbowl. Second, $500k seems a way too much! I believe it's better to start small but be ready to scale. And more for a risky business like that. So, I wouldn't give him $500K, $25K to $50K yes but no more, at least until they have a public site and need the money to grow.

danteembermage 19y ago
One thing worth mentioning is that this sounds like fraps/youtube integrated not just a niche video site. If his video capturing technology is as good as he claims (I'm in the wait for the private beta so we'll see) he may have something here.
- damien 19y ago
  Yea I was going to say the same thing, his company is more than just a "YouTube for gamers". His secret weapon seems to be his "software camera". I'm actually curious as to how he is implementing that without requiring the standard video capturing hardware. As far as I know, there is no good software-only solution that won't bring your gaming to a crawl.
marcus 19y ago
Why stop with tv shows? How about sports betting on unreal tournament matches?
- edu 19y ago
  It sounds quite interesting, a real time bet system. The toughest would be to develop some kind of broadcasting system compatible with games made by different vendors and running on different platforms (i.e. bet on UT, on Halo, on strategy games, sports games...), and there maybe some legal problems with the vendors but if there's money everybody can agree.
ido 19y ago
$500K is nothing in venture capital terms.

terpua 19y ago

If only raising money were that easy.

sdpurtill 19y ago

I'd give Jared 500k any day