Follow Simple Lifeforms

• RSS
• Email
• FriendFeed
• Twitter
• MySpace
• Facebook

Archive for the ‘Startup Diary’ Category

Startup Diary – Fund Raising for a Video Game Company

Posted by Alan O'Dea | Jul 10, 2009 | Filed under Simple Lifeforms, Startup Diary

Setting up a company is always tough but has been made even more difficult for Simple Lifeforms because of two factors. One is obviously the current financial market which is truly terrible for all start-ups and continues to be so and the second is the fact we decided to make Social Games which is an entirely new games sector which a lot of investors really don’t know anything about yet. So for this start up diary I wanted to talk about the good, bad and ugly of fund raising for a games company as the biggest financial bomb in living memory blew up the investment market.

[ Read More ]

Startup Diary – Marketing Tools

Posted by Tadhg | Mar 27, 2009 | Filed under Press, Startup Diary

Marketing for an internet startup (whether it be social games or some other venture) is a complex challenge. While the ease and cost of communication has fallen through the floor because of the internet it is becoming harder to reach an audience. There are many companies using the same free channels that we do to try and get their message across, and so the Internet creates a wall-of-noise.

Marketing is also not just broadcasting, it is research: Where are your audience, how do you find them? How do you engage with them? How does a social games startup manage its marketing, spread its message and engage with users?

This is an article about some ideas we’re trying out and how we’re looking to approach users.

[ Read More ]

Startup Diary – Communication Tools

Posted by Alan O'Dea | Feb 4, 2009 | Filed under Personal, Startup Diary

Starting a games company is rarely cheap even in the best economic climates. Game development is often expensive and depending on the platform you choose can easily run to multi-million figures. The questions of cost control, cash flow and opportunities can hang heavy in the air. So how does a new social game company in a bad economic recession stay alive, cut costs, make money and still make quality games?

A good place to start is communication tools. There are many ways that a new company can avoid spending heavily, remain agile and yet still have a viable infrastructure. Many companies now provide free or nearly-free services to startups like us and these services are often very powerful.

This is a short article about how we communicate and do business for free. We hope you find it useful.

[ Read More ]

Startup Diary – Bootstrapping a Games Company

Posted by Tadhg | Jan 23, 2009 | Filed under Startup Diary

You have to be prepared to kill your babies. One of the key lessons of creating a startup company, regardless of its size or purpose, is that you have to be able to change and refocus all the time. Startups have the advantage of being flexible, sure, but they also have the reality of having very little money behind them. This is a short article about the tug of war between passion and perspective and how it shapes how we as a company operate.

[ Read More ]

Startup Diary – Tadhg’s Story

Posted by Tadhg | Jan 14, 2009 | Filed under Personal, Simple Lifeforms, Startup Diary

And lo! It begins!

A few weeks ago, I resigned my position as Senior Game Development Manager working for British Sky Broadcasting. It was a good position, working with good people, as a producer over a whole line of interactive TV games, working with great clients such as Denki. I was leaving behind career prospects, a great salary and a benefits package, to join up with a tiny new company named Simple Lifeforms. Simple Lifeforms was formed under the most interesting financial circumstances that have been seen for a generation, with banks collapsing, vast Ponzi schemes being unearthed and the entire world terrified by the prospect of President Palin. It was not what any sane person would regard as a normal time for starting up a company.

There never is a normal time. Alan O’Dea (my oldest friend, harshest critic, soon-to-be best man and co-partner) and I spent many years working on, dreaming of, and occasionally trying to start a company. Yet there was always something in the way:  A realisation that the target market was too small, a lack of skills, a lack of confidence, lack of financing, etc. The time was never right. We knew that we wanted to form a company, control our own destiny and make great games. It was a question of how and when.

[ Read More ]

Startup Diary – Alan’s Story

Posted by Alan O'Dea | Sep 27, 2008 | Filed under News, Personal, Simple Lifeforms, Startup Diary

I found myself reading an article entitled Starting a Games Company in Recession by Brett Terrill. The article is personally relevant as I have recently left my role as Business Development Director at Online Game, Virtual World, and Technology developer Monumental Games to form a new start-up company Simple Lifeforms.

Some may question my sanity at leaving such a uniquely rewarding position, certainly when working at Monumental was a dream job where I got to work with an unbelievable team of people which I am glad to all call my friends. Ok you may all question my sanity but leave I did. A fundamental reason for my departure is my belief that social gaming, i.e. games that blend the best features of online games and social networks represent a massive step change and industry shift in the future development of online games.

[ Read More ]