WHAT IT TAKES TO BOOTSTRAP

I apologize for not being able to post the last few weeks I've been super busy teaching and getting my start ups minimum viable product ready for investors to try out.

Anyways I wanted to share what it's been like bootstrapping a start up. As you know it's been a few years from when I wanted to build a mobile game company all the way to where I am now building a line of competitive multiplayer arcade games designed to interact with a social tournament style web application. That's a lot of words to write and it's a been a challenging and fun project to work on.

Anyways to get to this point I had to learn to bootstrap. That's means I've had to make sacrifices and live like a poor student and learn to survive on very little. It's a great thing to go through and experience because you learn what's important. Before this I valued materials and after a while you learn that it's a life that doesn't make you happy. Now I value family, education, innovation, religion, things that money cannot buy.

It's only when I started following my dream of building a game changing company that life really became different for me. My perspective had changed. I no longer cared about cars, buying the most expensive stuff. It forced me to be around good supporting people, family members, and forced me to learn to survive on very little. There are a lot of free resources in the city to help you survive if you actually looked.

I went to a lot of free events to get free food like pizza, chicken, wine, h'orderves. A lot of entrepreneur centers had workshops that gave things like battery chargers and notebooks. Any time I needed a book I would go to the library. I used as many beta programs and trial periods to get the software I needed for my start up. Once you learn a lot of these things, you start to understand that you don't need that much money to survive. At first it took time to get used to but I realized if your resourceful enough you can solve a lot of problems. Too many people take the easy way out. By also taking a part time job you love you can earn money to live while using those survival methods and still build your company. No matter what there is sacrifice involved.

I've barely spent anything and I have a team of 20 people and a lawyer from RIM. My start up team consists of people from Microsoft, IMAX, Mercury Filmworks, RIM, SEGA Amusement, Waterloo, Seneca College and OPSEU Pension Trust. I've been able to problem solve to build great teams. Not everything happened all at once and I did have to go through my ups and downs. Bootstrapping requires you to live smart but it doesn't mean you have to go hungry. Hope this advice helps!!!

Best,

A.

WANNA SEE WHAT MY TEAM IS DEVELOPING?

I thought I would do a different blog post today. In light of my absence because I was so busy with my start up, I thought I would share some UI images of what we're building. It's a competitive eSports platform. Our team is focused on building multiplayer league games. With a team of roughly 15 people and bootstrapping from nothing, we will have something to show to investors waiting by the end of December. What we will have is a minimum viable product which is an early demo for early adopters to try. Bare with the sub in images as our concept artists create our own. Hope you like it. My team definitely looks forward to future users playing our competitive league games.

Here's a sneak peak:

JUST ASK!

As an entrepreneur, I've faced enormous obstacles. Just imagine yourself on a very steep hill trying to push up a boulder 10 times your size. Why do I say that? Because that's what building a company feels like. People think that entrepreneurship is glamorous when it's really not. It takes a significant amount of time. It also requires you to pitch to ask for money to put into your idea. It's risky. However it is also rewarding. I pitched my companies idea through email and in person in the thousands. I kept all the 4000 rejection letters I've sent out. What did I get out of it? A little bit of feedback, some perspective, and I grew a very thick skin.

As a non-technical founder, I come from digital media from the creative side. One thing that a big chunk of investors look for is a technical founder. I've had to recruit and build my start up in a different way. One of the things I've learned is to simply ask people for help. Not all of the time you will get a yes from people but the worse thing that can happen is that you will get a no or a maybe. That's not so bad right? So one of the most valuable lessons I've learned is to just ask. It has led me to  meet the top people at Microsoft, the Founder and CEO of Electronic Arts and so much more.

So just ask.

WHAT MAKES A GREAT COMPANY GREAT?!?

Sorry it's been a week, I've been busy recruiting new members to build out my eSports gaming prototype. I think we're actually gonna have something working completely and built in the next 3-4 months so I'm super excited.

Anyways, here is my vision for a good place to work at. I also think it's the future of business.

1) A place that care's for it's employees and know's that the employee's are right at the top of the list with customers

2) A place that let's employees fail

3) A deep and caring mission

4) A company that knows how to have fun

5) A company that does not have crazy politics that stops the best employees from innovating

6) A goal whose benefits once achieved will benefit everyone

7) Great companies care about the environment

8) A company that is outstanding has a great vision that is bigger that everyone in the company

9) A good company consists of management that supports all employees from top to bottom

10) A great company cares deeply about it's relationship with it's customers. That's why I believe great customer service is still important today and it always will be.

MY TOP 5 LESSONS FOR SURVIVING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL LIFE

Wanting to build your own company is chaotic and tough yet still rewarding. I have been living the life of an entrepreneur for over 15 years now and I've learned quite a bit of lessons to really survive. Here are my top 5 lessons.

#1 - Never try to do everything by yourself

You need a team of people to do big things. Find people around you who can see your vision and support you through thick and thin. Also being alone means that investors can't really give you money because there is no company or team to invest in. Build the best team you can, go after a big market, and go through the ups and downs of being a company together. 


#2 - Maintain your focus 

Focus on tasks that give you the greatest value in return for your time spent. Create a strategy for yourself that can help you get the best outcomes. Sometimes we can be at a desk drifting into lalaland and sometimes if we're not mindful, we start doing what we think is an important task when it's really not. Snap of it, and focus!

#3 - Think! 

This world is busy and noisy. We really live in a time where we are being bombarded with email offers, people on the street trying to get your money, advertisements on Facebook, the subway, buses, television, radio, and billboards. We get thousands of ads proposed to us in a single day even if we're not paying attention. On top of that your probably getting texts from your friends or colleagues throughout the day. With this vibrating noise in your work and family life, it can sometimes blow your mind. To manage this, take the time to plug out for a few hours, go for a walk, and just take the time to think. Take 2 hours in the morning and just sit. This can really help you figure out what to do with your day, gives you a chance to dream while your awake, and gives you a chance to just breath and think before your day gets crazy. It also gives you a chance to re-calibrate your sense of purpose and gives you an opportunity to simply think for yourself. 

#4 - Put real value back in your relationships

I know we live in a time where we have Facebook, Google +, Twitter, and Instagram. However, while this gives us information quickly, it does not beat spending quality time with people in person without a computer screen in between you, your family, or your colleagues. I believe a distance was created when people started using social media. It is the reason I left Facebook for years before returning and creating a new account. Take the time to go out with your friends, hang out, play a board game. Go for a hike with your friends and play ultimate Frisbee. Nothing beats being in the physical presence of people and being at a concert live. It's an amazing experience. So go out there, value relationships, and spend quality time with colleagues, friends, and family. Put the value back into your relationships. 

#5 - Exercise!

Being an entrepreneur is a 24/7 job. You always have to be ready for anything. However, there are down times in your day and I believe it is important to allocate a chunk of your time to exercising. It is important to maintain your physical health so you have the mental and physical energy to put into your most challenging tasks throughout the day. You also feel better when you maintain exercise everyday. I have made the mistake of yoyoing by putting more time into business and less on exercise and when this happens, I feel and look like shit. So, I am going to make the effort to eat the right foods, drink lots of water, and do exercises that I love. I recommend the same for you as building a business is more of a marathon and not a sprint. So remember, make the time to exercise.