Hey i'm curious as to what is the best method for funding (prototyping and then seeking a publisher?) and what is expected from you or the start-up you work for (headcount, whether your employees/team work remotely or in one location, etc) from a publisher/VC.

Obligatory Tom Sloper link.

You need to have your own cash to get started. The bigger your starup, the more money you need. Just establishing a business entity and registering with the various government entities can cost a few hundred bucks.

If you wanted to hire an employee or two you must have a few lawyers help you out in advance, and you'll need to pay for things like unemployment insurance, taxes, various government programs, and so on. Publishers don't like to give cash advances and tend to drag their feet with payments, so you should also have enough cash on hand to survive and pay your employees for several months.

Ok thanks for the info, I also checked out that site, VERY HANDY! Thanks!

VCs invest in 1) saavy management, 2) a huge and rapidly growing market and 3) a killer value proposition that captures a big chunk of that market. In that order. Game studios typically fail on (2) and (3) unless they happen to sell technology on the side besides games (ex: Valve).

-cb

Quote:

Original post by diprinzio Hey i'm curious as to what is the best method for funding (prototyping and then seeking a publisher?) and what is expected from you or the start-up you work for (headcount, whether your employees/team work remotely or in one location, etc) from a publisher/VC.

This article preparing a pitch lists what you need in order to secure publisher funding. Unfortunately the main one is proven industry experience. If you don't have that then you will either have to self fund your project or build up experience by doing outsource projects.

[Edited by - Obscure on January 30, 2009 10:09:22 AM]