The Risk Taker
by Glenn Thomas · 09/09/2007 (6:29 pm) · 16 comments
What's up Garage Games community! I've finally made the leap in my life and I feel great about it. A short story about me. I always been the guy with so much potential that never meets the expectations that everyone expects of me. It's been this way all my life with teachers, friends, coaches, and family. I've lived a happy life but one I can't extremely call successful. Those are to things I had confused my whole life and the confusion of these two things are what has held me back.
Every time in my life when I could of been successful and failed was do to me being happy or content. Whether it was not reaching my potential as a student, track star, basketball star, artist, soldier, music artist, model, actor, musician, music producer, and now a game designer. That's a long list and that is the very same list of things that I quit on myself in. Each of those positions I had the potential to exceed all of my peers but I didn't. In each of those positions I had peers that looked upon me as a leader. I even knew what I needed to do but didn't for fear or happiness and sometimes even both.
I'm a dreamer, an inspirer, and a muse and when one meets that type of person they think that's great. Why wouldn't they, this type of person will motivate them to be successful. After creating successes out of someone else in everyone of those positions mentioned and not myself you begin to feel like you may never make it. I had to determine what success really was and that led me to questions about life itself. I came to the conclusion that the meaning of life was to be happy. Many people agree with that term but it's way too vague. Bums are happy, criminals are happy, rich people are happy, at some point everyone is happy so does that make them a success at life? No because they're not free, they are restricted by fear in someway or another.
So if happiness isn't the key to success then what is? Is it the absence of fear? Nope, I tried that too and that will get you into more trouble than a the pursuit of happiness. People without fear never assess risks and life now becomes a gamble. You begin to fall further and further into a bottomless pit because your may be coasting at onetime but something always sets you back. Since you don't assess the risks the big ones that are easily avoided hit you and they hit you hard. In three years I've struggled, ruined my credit, moved 5 times, lived in a one bedroom hotel for a month with a family of 5, had 5 cars, lost 4 cars, and exposed my family to it all. I even thought about selling drugs to get by at one time. No fear will lead you into disaster.
So if happiness makes you avoid risks out fear, fear makes you neglect risks, and both make you avoid true success what is a person to do? The answer is to learn to take risks the right way so you can reach success. I sound like one of those late night infomercials right now. Would you by a book for the answer I would give if stopped right now? No need to because this info is free. I would never wish the things I went through on another person and if people deal with worse they really need a potential way out. Back on subject though.
You have to define what success truly is and the answer is simple. To be free to do what you want to do everyday for the rest of your life without restriction. So how do you do that, most say that they need to be filthy rich for it to happen. But look at the rich people, they are so plagued with tiresome schedules, needy fans, loss of privacy and freedom that they can barely find time to do what they want and when they get a chance to do so they have to use secret channels like slaves hiding in the underground railroad. If that's your idea of being a success then go for it you don't even need talent. Just seek attention, now how to command attention, never accept the word "no", never give up, and be ready to bask in the attention. That is what you need to be star.
Maybe big business is the way to success? That's close but most end up a fat person with a Lamborghini (pick your rich person car of choice). They work too hard to have time for the things that make them happy, so they buy a nice car, eat good food, automate their the rest of their life with nannies and such, and neglect their appearance unless it necessary to make more money. They have too much fear to let there business fall that it takes over their life. So that's another dead end but there's a lot of things that are right in this situation. Those are business and automation. The other keys are trust and the ability to give.
Your business must be successful and it must have the ability to be automated with as little of your presence as possible. In order for that to happen you need to have trust in your employees and they must be given big rewards for helping you become successful. The next question is how successful must your business be? Mosts start thinking huge numbers like making millions a year. That mentality is what puts fear in our hearts and we never achieve that much. If you had 10,000 dollars spending money a month would that make you a success in my definition? To help you think about it a Lamborghini is only $2600 a month if you wanted one. A large 7 bedroom house in Phoenix can be mortgaged for under $2100 a month. I haven't even been able to break into half the amount of money you receive in a month.
That's works out to be about 120,000 dollars a year. A successful Indy game makes that in a weekend. I've done my research and those are the numbers and they even get higher using the right portals. With a team of 5 people it takes experienced teams about 3-6 months to finish a well thought out title. If you make two titles a year and they both make 100,000 dollars for the year. That 40,000 dollars a year split even between your teammates. That's enough to get you to quit your job at least and increase the amount of product you release. Small games sell more, because consumers buy on impulse. Can you make a short game that is addictive enough to strike an impulse buy? You never know unless you try.
This is my path and my risk. This is my first step in being a success in life. I don't have all the answers but hopefully I continue to carry the inspiration that makes me a muse. I wanna see you all on the top. I want you all to be a success. I'm currently teaching my daughter what it truly means to be successful and hopefully she'll have her own business before she even finishes school.
This is my first entry I hope you come back to see the many things that go on in both my mind and life.
Every time in my life when I could of been successful and failed was do to me being happy or content. Whether it was not reaching my potential as a student, track star, basketball star, artist, soldier, music artist, model, actor, musician, music producer, and now a game designer. That's a long list and that is the very same list of things that I quit on myself in. Each of those positions I had the potential to exceed all of my peers but I didn't. In each of those positions I had peers that looked upon me as a leader. I even knew what I needed to do but didn't for fear or happiness and sometimes even both.
I'm a dreamer, an inspirer, and a muse and when one meets that type of person they think that's great. Why wouldn't they, this type of person will motivate them to be successful. After creating successes out of someone else in everyone of those positions mentioned and not myself you begin to feel like you may never make it. I had to determine what success really was and that led me to questions about life itself. I came to the conclusion that the meaning of life was to be happy. Many people agree with that term but it's way too vague. Bums are happy, criminals are happy, rich people are happy, at some point everyone is happy so does that make them a success at life? No because they're not free, they are restricted by fear in someway or another.
So if happiness isn't the key to success then what is? Is it the absence of fear? Nope, I tried that too and that will get you into more trouble than a the pursuit of happiness. People without fear never assess risks and life now becomes a gamble. You begin to fall further and further into a bottomless pit because your may be coasting at onetime but something always sets you back. Since you don't assess the risks the big ones that are easily avoided hit you and they hit you hard. In three years I've struggled, ruined my credit, moved 5 times, lived in a one bedroom hotel for a month with a family of 5, had 5 cars, lost 4 cars, and exposed my family to it all. I even thought about selling drugs to get by at one time. No fear will lead you into disaster.
So if happiness makes you avoid risks out fear, fear makes you neglect risks, and both make you avoid true success what is a person to do? The answer is to learn to take risks the right way so you can reach success. I sound like one of those late night infomercials right now. Would you by a book for the answer I would give if stopped right now? No need to because this info is free. I would never wish the things I went through on another person and if people deal with worse they really need a potential way out. Back on subject though.
You have to define what success truly is and the answer is simple. To be free to do what you want to do everyday for the rest of your life without restriction. So how do you do that, most say that they need to be filthy rich for it to happen. But look at the rich people, they are so plagued with tiresome schedules, needy fans, loss of privacy and freedom that they can barely find time to do what they want and when they get a chance to do so they have to use secret channels like slaves hiding in the underground railroad. If that's your idea of being a success then go for it you don't even need talent. Just seek attention, now how to command attention, never accept the word "no", never give up, and be ready to bask in the attention. That is what you need to be star.
Maybe big business is the way to success? That's close but most end up a fat person with a Lamborghini (pick your rich person car of choice). They work too hard to have time for the things that make them happy, so they buy a nice car, eat good food, automate their the rest of their life with nannies and such, and neglect their appearance unless it necessary to make more money. They have too much fear to let there business fall that it takes over their life. So that's another dead end but there's a lot of things that are right in this situation. Those are business and automation. The other keys are trust and the ability to give.
Your business must be successful and it must have the ability to be automated with as little of your presence as possible. In order for that to happen you need to have trust in your employees and they must be given big rewards for helping you become successful. The next question is how successful must your business be? Mosts start thinking huge numbers like making millions a year. That mentality is what puts fear in our hearts and we never achieve that much. If you had 10,000 dollars spending money a month would that make you a success in my definition? To help you think about it a Lamborghini is only $2600 a month if you wanted one. A large 7 bedroom house in Phoenix can be mortgaged for under $2100 a month. I haven't even been able to break into half the amount of money you receive in a month.
That's works out to be about 120,000 dollars a year. A successful Indy game makes that in a weekend. I've done my research and those are the numbers and they even get higher using the right portals. With a team of 5 people it takes experienced teams about 3-6 months to finish a well thought out title. If you make two titles a year and they both make 100,000 dollars for the year. That 40,000 dollars a year split even between your teammates. That's enough to get you to quit your job at least and increase the amount of product you release. Small games sell more, because consumers buy on impulse. Can you make a short game that is addictive enough to strike an impulse buy? You never know unless you try.
This is my path and my risk. This is my first step in being a success in life. I don't have all the answers but hopefully I continue to carry the inspiration that makes me a muse. I wanna see you all on the top. I want you all to be a success. I'm currently teaching my daughter what it truly means to be successful and hopefully she'll have her own business before she even finishes school.
This is my first entry I hope you come back to see the many things that go on in both my mind and life.
#2
http://www.gameproducer.net/category/sales-statistics/
09/09/2007 (7:34 pm)
You should check here for some real sales statistics.http://www.gameproducer.net/category/sales-statistics/
#3
09/09/2007 (7:58 pm)
By successful I was referring to the cream of the crop not the average sales numbers. I've worked in sales and as with everything it's the rule of percentages. 90/10, 80/20, 99/1 whatever your fraction or percentage that the majority will never reach the success of the minority. That is the gap difference of those who make those numbers, whether it's through hard work, positive mind state, luck or all of the above. People reach those numbers by quality or quantity. It doesn't have to be a good game to sell and production could be shorter. One game 60,000 in sales total with one month of production between 8 people total. If they produced 6 games of the same caliber in six months the number becomes 360,000. Is it that easy? No it's not will all games become a success? No they won't. In extreme cases Azada would be the cream of the crop for games on the site. est. to sell about 250,000 in sales in one month. Could you produce a game of that caliber and how big of a team would you need. That's for you to determine. This blog is to motivate not discourage. It would be easy if I sat here and said I'm a success and this is how I did it, but I'm in the same if not in a deeper trench that the most of you. I just wanted to get people thinking and people can become a success in this industry will you become filthy rich probably not but what's stopping you. 
#4
09/09/2007 (8:12 pm)
Good luck with your plan, man!
#5
09/09/2007 (8:49 pm)
Thanks much appreciated. 
#6
As Sublime sings "I had a million dollars and I spent it all".
Welcome and good luck. You seem to have the right attitude to do well in the business.
09/09/2007 (11:01 pm)
If you make a game(s) that's pulling in six figures put most of it in the bank. Cash is fleeting..As Sublime sings "I had a million dollars and I spent it all".
Welcome and good luck. You seem to have the right attitude to do well in the business.
#7
09/10/2007 (12:18 am)
Yeah, that's good advice. I actually scared to make that kind of money. I told my partners that we're gonna need an accountant and a surplus to put towards the company once we reach a certain figure. 
#8
09/10/2007 (6:44 am)
Glenn I like your approach to the business and it sounds pretty solid. Making smaller games at first will also help you find the right team members. One thing I learn over the past year is that it is very difficult to find someone with the same passion and drive as yourself. Use your skills in motivation and inspiration to help influence your employees and try above all else to not let friendships get in the way of a good business decision.
#9
I'm not an indie game developer, but from my own feelings and aspirations, success isn't necessarily measured by money. I'm sure many indies would define success as a released game, or 10,000 downloads of their from a site.
It boils down to drive, ambition, risk, effort and many other factors, none of which I have anymore. We're all dreamers; most don't do anything about it. So good luck with your dreams. :)
09/10/2007 (5:55 pm)
"If you had 10,000 dollars spending money a month would that make you a success in my definition? To help you think about it a Lamborghini is only $2600 a month if you wanted one. A large 7 bedroom house in Phoenix can be mortgaged for under $2100 a month. I haven't even been able to break into half the amount of money you receive in a month."I'm not an indie game developer, but from my own feelings and aspirations, success isn't necessarily measured by money. I'm sure many indies would define success as a released game, or 10,000 downloads of their from a site.
It boils down to drive, ambition, risk, effort and many other factors, none of which I have anymore. We're all dreamers; most don't do anything about it. So good luck with your dreams. :)
#10
09/10/2007 (11:18 pm)
Good .plan and good luck with it. Don't let negative thinkers bring down your great goals! :)
#11
@Mike - Thanks, and I don't believe success is measured by money either but having a revolving income, that you can automate with the least amount of your presence, allows you to be free to enjoy life the way you want to at least. If you can achieve that status I'd call you a success. Check out a book called the four hour work week. It's can be inspiring.
@Oliver - Thanks for the comment! I won't let 'em get to me but I also know that the majority need proof before execution or even inspiration. Hopefully one us reach a successful life.
09/11/2007 (5:57 pm)
@Donald - I ended learning that the hard way on my first two projects and I won't soon forget it. Thanks for the read and I'm glad you enjoyed it@Mike - Thanks, and I don't believe success is measured by money either but having a revolving income, that you can automate with the least amount of your presence, allows you to be free to enjoy life the way you want to at least. If you can achieve that status I'd call you a success. Check out a book called the four hour work week. It's can be inspiring.
@Oliver - Thanks for the comment! I won't let 'em get to me but I also know that the majority need proof before execution or even inspiration. Hopefully one us reach a successful life.
#12
I recently read this free ebook from Seth Godin (business/public speaker) and think it's pretty good read for any budding indies and would be entrepreneurs out there www.changethis.com/8.BootstrappersBible
09/12/2007 (5:09 pm)
Yep, nothing wrong with dreaming big, good wishes to you Glenn (you make your own luck as they say!) :0)I recently read this free ebook from Seth Godin (business/public speaker) and think it's pretty good read for any budding indies and would be entrepreneurs out there www.changethis.com/8.BootstrappersBible
#13
09/14/2007 (3:27 am)
@Leroy that's a good little book but it wasn't offered on the site you linked but I googled it and found another site hosting the PDF.
#14
If you search google video, there's also a seth godin video on the 'purple cow' syndrome (a talk he did for/stroke at google believe it or not!), I found this a good watch too! :)
09/14/2007 (4:27 am)
Hey Glenn, glad you liked it! I tried the link and it seems to work for me, you simple click the big orange button with 'Download this pdf' text. Anyhow, I'm glad your one of those people that have the sense and knowhow to use google and find something independently, a rare breed it seems these days! :SIf you search google video, there's also a seth godin video on the 'purple cow' syndrome (a talk he did for/stroke at google believe it or not!), I found this a good watch too! :)
#15
09/14/2007 (11:31 am)
@Leroy Yeah that is an excellent resource as well gave me a better approach on marketing. I see why Garage Games are such a success as well now. I wanna thank you for pointing me in the direction of this information you've given me two resources for free that I normally pay for.
#16
09/14/2007 (11:56 am)
No problem! :0) It definitely opens your mind regarding marketing and why some products/campaigns work better then others! Food for thought as they say...
Torque Owner Tim Heldna