It's not all about Funding…

Entrepreneurship without Funding session by Alexander L. Fernandez, CEO, Streamline Studios had some interesting insights on the challenges faced by startups that are without funding or ‘Starveups’ (A coinage by Alexander). He spoke from his experience of being part of the founding team of Streamline Studios which was started with zero capital eight years ago and today has more than 60 AAA productions to its credit and content developed by the company has featured in titles that have garnered sales of USD 500 billion in US alone.

Alexander says, “Startups are beautiful, fun and exciting and they are of two types. There are ones who come with some capital investment even if it is small and others are the ones which start with no funding at all, these are primarily the Starveups, companies with no money and only time. And the reality is that there are very few start ups in the animation and gaming.”

So how do you start? Alexander says firstly get a place with internet access. Use everything you have and manage to have minimal to no overhead which also means no salary. There will be things for which you will need to allot money for example business trips, so save up. Starveup companies follow the rules of good enough in regards to asset purchases until they can afford to spend more, no high end machines are needed when you don’t have enough work to support it. As long as it gets the work done, it’s good enough.

“Breaking mental chains is one of the most imperative things. It’s not people but you yourself who can stop you. When you start a business it will be slow and with zero comfort. When we started Streamline Studios we didn’t know anybody, we were five guys living in Amsterdam. The business we intended to have was floating in Japan, England and the United States. We initiated the business development process with emails and phone calls to people we had never met, waiting for answers and this was grind for six months before we got any response. When you start a company it’s everything that you don’t know that’s going to fall in your way, you got to be open to learn.”

Alexander says its critical to have a core team which shares the madness of seeing the company through, these are the people who will pull each other out of the low phases and who also form the backbone of the company. He says it’s important to know everything in the business, though you will more than likely start only knowing your competency and therefore need to learn new skills all the time. “We tend to think insular in our industry which doesn’t help, one should know what’s is happening in the rest of world because it effects you and the business. Read business books and learn from other businesses as well what you can apply into your own. I came from IT industry and applied my learning in that sector towards Streamline’s growth.”

Marketing is one of the key needs of any business. “You need to sell yourself as no one will do that for you. For this you need to understand who will buy it and make your product desirable. Also it’s important to be in loop with what is happening in your business ecosystem and for that one should read industry news. It gives you knowledge of what is happening and what is going to happen,” he added.

Building meaningful relationships both personally and professionally is essential always as business is all about networking. “Also when you are new and can hardly afford your travelling expenses, it helps to have friends at different places who would let you stay during your business visits. Couch surfing is the way to go for Starveups.”

“One should always strive to be the best. When we started we were these four people who had the vision of working with the world’s best video game developers and publishers. Many people laughed at us saying that outsourcing in games is something that will never happen. But we kept coming back with our stuff again and again asking for work and it didn’t work with some but with others it did. Business conversions like everything else has a cycle and you need to understand it. Also it’s an ongoing process so one should keep looking for work all the time. You should be aware of market trends like when do people go to markets, when do they buy content, when do they hear pitches and so on. Its very important to have one person in the team who is good in face to face communication and it’s a full time job,” shared Alexander.

Even after you have started getting business its not going to be a smooth journey all the time. Alexander says that as a startup you are like a small boat in the ocean and there will be rogue waves time and again which will make you feel that you are not going to survive this one each time. You are going to be tested at every step but one should face everything head on.

“And most importantly you should love what you are doing, because as a starveup you are going through a lot of pain in achieving it so it is better be something you love. Yes, you are not investing any money but you are giving your time which is more precious than money. If you truly believe in what you are doing, you will always find people who would want to believe or would just want to help. Most people don’t take chances in life but might want to take one with you. And in the end all this trouble is worth it because its an amazing feeling to know that your working for something that is your own,” concluded Alexander.