London Venture Partner项目经理谈游戏团队在准备融资时应注意什么

原作者：Iain Harris 译者：Vivian Xue

电子游戏行业也许是一个创意性的行业，但它需要资金来推动。每项创意性的商业活动都需要资金支持，无论是一个独立的游戏项目还是一家考虑扩张的公司。

我们联系了London Venture Partners的项目经理Jon Bellamy以深入了解投资者对游戏工作室的要求，以及开发者如何才能在激烈的竞争中最大化他们获得投资的机会。

PocketGamer.Biz：您能为我们介绍一下London Venture Partners（LVP）以及您在其中担任的角色吗？

Jon Bellamy：LVP是一个与众不同的风险投资种子基金——我们的人都是游戏领域的运营专家并且我们只在游戏圈内投资。

这意味着我们拥有实操经验和对行业深刻的了解。我们拥有一致的观点、分享相同的案例，理解相同的挑战——并且我们坚守共同的愿景。

我们经历过“两人在车库创业”的艰难阶段。我们帮助规划粗略的公司发展成数十亿美元的大企业。对我们来说这不是一个谜，并且我们衷心希望从战略和运营上为你提供帮助。

我们有幸成为了Supercell、Unity、Playfish、NaturalMotion和许多其它令人惊叹的游戏公司的最早的投资者之一，这些公司已经创造了超过130亿美元的价值。

我在LVP的主要工作是和游戏行业内最卓越、最具野心的团队见面沟通。尽管如此，我们是一个精简的团队并且我们每个人都会接触到LVP基金运作的各个方面。

因此，我的大量时间都在帮助我们投资的公司，特别是在指标/数据分析、用户获取和交易结构(并购、融资等)方面。

clash_of_clans_logo(from supercell)

PocketGamer：从投资者的角度来看，你对行业过去12个月有什么看法？

Jon Bellamy：这是有趣的一年！原本火热的PC游戏分销渠道竞争开始加剧，来自其它垂直行业的老牌游戏公司和雄心勃勃的创业公司都将目光投向Steam商店。

我们还看到，随着人们逐渐认同“未来是直播的天下”，游戏行业内外的巨头们开始付诸行动向内容直播领域投钱。

PocketGamer：你预测未来12个月的大趋势会是如何？

Jon Bellamy：对PC游戏制造商来说，“商店大战”只会给他们带来好处，比如各大商店降低收入抽成比、优化曝光度，或是推出更多/更优质的功能。

在游戏直播方面，随着直播受众的扩大，为了留住玩家，游戏的早期体验设计将更加注重趣味性。从其它平台的游戏中寻找手游设计的灵感。

此外，如同手游纷纷通过RPG化来延长玩家的终身价值一样，早期迹象显示超级休闲游戏和放置类游戏成为如今开发者的新关注点并将成为下一个数量增长的游戏类型。
PocketGamer：如今投资者在寻找游戏开发商和/或游戏时看重什么？

Jon Bellamy：杰出的、雄心勃勃的且合适的团队，能够用具有粘性的产品吸引大量玩家。

在我看来越来越重要的是，团队必须拥有很强的商业头脑，并且能深入准确地理解指标的要求、驱动因素和影响。

那些老牌的、一流的手游开发商/发行商真正的出众的地方在于他们能够，在一定规模的基础上，有效地管理和优化关键绩效指标，把握CPI和LTV的比值。

PocketGame：您认为这个标准明年会变吗？

Jon Bellamy：我认为在如今成熟的市场中，它已经成为了游戏公司必须具备的水准并且得到越来越多人的认可。

一些新兴的市场——比如Messenger平台游戏和语音游戏——在短期内可能不需要这么严格的量化管理，但随着这类垂直行业竞争的加剧，我预计未来他们很大程度要依靠这类技能来提升自身的竞争力。

PocketGamer：你会为开发者提供哪些建议来帮助他们提高融资推介的能力？

Jon Bellamy：尽你所能，简洁地说明为什么你们是市场上制作这类游戏最优秀的团队。

游戏开发的门槛比以往任何时候都低，市场上现有的游戏公司地位比任何时候都稳固。一条清晰的发展道路加上一个能够实现这个计划的优秀的团队才能吸引投资方的注意。

PocketGamer：开发者在推介中会犯哪些常见错误？

Jon Bellamy：我经常会遇到一些优秀团队，他们做的项目很有趣，但他们的目标设置太低了。在LVP，我们喜欢目标远大的卓越团队。

此外，由于我们(和其他种子投资者)投资的是公司，而不是游戏项目，我们主要关注点是创业团队的质量、经验、聚焦点以及种子期公司核心价值的创造者。

当然我们会审查你正在进行的项目，但你不能只介绍项目，我们是投资方，不是发行商。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

The video games industry may be a creative one, but it’s a vehicle fuelled through funding. Every creative venture requires some backing, be it an individual game project or a company looking to upscale.

The murky waters of investment are, however, uncharted territory for many developers. We’re looking to bring creators and investors together at Pocket Gamer Connects London (January 21st to 22nd) through our side-event Investor Connector.

With said event a mere month away, we reached out to London Venture Partners associate Jon Bellamy to garner some insight into what investors look for in games studios and how developers can maximise their chances in a competitive market.

PocketGamer.Biz: Can you tell us a bit about LVP and what your role entails?

Jon Bellamy: LVP is a venture capital seed fund with a difference – we’re operating experts in the games sector and we only ever invest in the games ecosystem.

That means we bring real experience and deep understanding. We speak the same language, share the same references, understand the same challenges – and we believe in the same vision.

We’ve done our two-guys-in-a-garage start-up. We’ve helped companies transition from back-of-an-envelope vision to multi-billion-dollar powerhouse. It isn’t a mystery to us and our passion is to help you strategically and operationally.

We’ve been privileged to be among the earliest investors in Supercell, Unity, Playfish, NaturalMotion and a host of other amazing games companies that have created over $13 billion in value.

My role at LVP primarily involves meeting the most extraordinary, ambitious founding teams in the games industry. That said, we’re a lean team and we are each exposed to all aspects of running the LVP funds.

As such, I spend a chunk of my time helping our portfolio companies, particularly regarding metric/data analysis, user acquisition and deal structuring (M&A, fundraising, etcetera).

PocketGamer.biz: From an investor standpoint, what are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

Jon Bellamy: It’s been an interesting year! The competitive landscape in PC distribution is really starting to heat up, with established players from other industry verticals and ambitious start-ups alike focusing their sights on Steam.

We’ve also seen the big players in games and beyond beginning to put their money where their mouths are on the content streaming front, as we start to see a consensus forming around the streaming-first future.

PocketGamer.biz: What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

Jon Bellamy: The PC ‘Store Wars’ can only mean good things for PC game makers, whether they be lower revenue share standards, better discovery solutions, or increased attribution/better features availability.

On the game-streaming front, as the barriers to entry for would-be gamers diminish, we’ll see a game design shift in ‘time to fun’ – the point in a game’s early experience designed to lock in players. Look for mobile game design cues in games that would have otherwise been designed for dedicated hardware.

Additionally, in the way the mobile game industry has benefitted from the ‘RPG-ification’ of genres to bolster player lifetime values, we’re now seeing early signs of games designers looking to hyper-casual and idle titles for the next wave of genre augmentation.

PocketGamer.biz: What are investors looking for in games developers and/ or games right now?

Jon Bellamy: Exceptional, ambitious and uniquely qualified teams approaching large audiences with sticky products.

For me, it’s increasingly important that the team has strong commercial acumen, and critically, excellent understanding of metric requirements, drivers and impact.

What really distinguishes the established, leading developers/publishers on mobile, is their collective ability to, at scale, meaningfully manage and optimise KPIs on both sides of the cost per install (CPI): lifetime value (LTV) ratio.

PocketGamer.biz: Do you see that criteria changing over the next year?

Jon Bellamy: I see this required level of sophistication becoming increasingly accepted in the established markets of today.

Emerging markets such as messenger games and voice games may not demand such quantitative rigour in the very short-term, but as competition heats up within said verticals, I expect to see competitiveness driven in large part by these skills.

PocketGamer.biz: What tips would you give to any developer to help them improve their pitching skills?

Jon Bellamy: As best as you can, demonstrate simply and concisely why your team is the most uniquely qualified team in the market to build what you’re building.

The barriers to entry for game development are lower than ever before, and the market incumbents more established than ever before. A clear path to scale and an exceptional team that is well-positioned to deliver on this plan make for a compelling pitch.

PocketGamer.biz: Are there any mistakes you see different developers making frequently?

Jon Bellamy: Frequently I meet with great teams working on interesting projects, but who are aiming too low. At LVP, we love to back extraordinary people working on moon-shot ideas.

In addition, as we (and other seed investors) invest in companies, not projects, we primarily look at the quality, experience, and focus of the founding team; the core value creators in a company at the seed stage.

While we certainly look closely at the project(s) you’re working on, pitching only this part of the company may make more sense to a publisher than an equity investor.（source：PocketGamer.biz）