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开发者应该为融资而放弃主导权吗?

发布时间:2013-11-28 15:59:25 Tags:,,,

作者:Keith Andrew

眼下正值投资热,全球的开发者,以及移动领域的其他角逐者都在四处寻找融资,以便壮大自己的公司,实现各自目标。

但这真的是工作室扩大规模的唯一途径吗?

开发者应该自然发展,把握自己的运营控制权,还是为融资而作出一点牺牲?

angel-investors(from alleywatch.com)

angel-investors(from alleywatch.com)

我们的问题就是:

你是否认为现在正是融资的好时机?更进一步讲,现在就是工作室为长期发展而融资的关键时刻?

Harry Holmwood(MAQL Europe)

当投资者对行业,尤其是你的公司极有兴趣的时候就是融资的好时机,这时候的合作更令人愉快。

眼前一些令人兴奋的IPO,Supercell投资以及与日俱增的并购现象,都表明这是投资者再度进入这个市场的积极形势。所以,如果你有一家前途光明的游戏公司,现在就是融资的好时机。

但我也不确定对于小型、尚未盈利的初创公司来说,现在融资究竟会不会更容易——投资者一般会支持大型、已经取得成功的公司,并认为他们的资金能够帮助这些公司反复获得成功。

所以,如果你可以得到资金,并且更重要的是,你确信自己需要资金,那么现在就是一个好时机。但要确定你真的需要钱——投资者的需求并不一定就是你的需求。

经营一家由VC支持的公司,或者一家上市公司与只是制造游戏来谋生的小型工作室截然不同。因为这要求公司不断发展,而不是追求艺术。所以要注意自己的需求究竟是什么,在接受投资之前要先实现可以让自己快乐的目标。

人们很容易认为融资就是自己的终极目标,但这实际上只是一段漫长而艰难的旅程的开端。

Jon Hare(Tower Studios)

现在我百分百同意Harry的观点,确实是妙人妙语。

Oscar Clark(Applifier)

我也认为还处于概念阶段的初创公司仍将遇到麻烦,并主要通过亲友/“傻子”获得投资,但如果你有收益或者下载量来支撑运营理念,那么你也有可能赢得投资者的青睐。

我知道许多工作室,尤其是那些拥有F2P经验的公司,就经常收到投资者的要约。

Harry所述的风险也非常现实——如何在公司业务范围不让步或者不丧失太多主导权的情况下,获得实现发展愿景的资金。

对于小型工作室来说,这是一个进行融资的有趣机遇。

Paul Virapen(Big Pixel Studios)

一家工作室除非已经有了具备相当下载量及收益,呈现出发展潜力,否则就难以筹到资金。

但也未必就完全不可能。最近App Store热作《QuizUp》的开发公司就在该游戏发布仅数天时间内,就通过A轮融资筹得200万美元。

那么现在是时候扩大融资吗?他们又能否筹到更多资金,还是必须等到这些下载量和产品已经获得明确的成就才能实现?

John Ozimek(Dimoso)

我们也许可以从另一个不同的角度看待这个问题,即打算融资的公司能否在当前市场上获得准确的估值。融资现象会一直存在,只是融资额有所不同罢了。

Harry关于融资要以自由为代价的观点是正确的,所以任何公司在决定融资之前都要三思。

就我去年与数家初创公司的合作情况来看,大家对与移动相关的领域都很感兴趣,这反映了投资者欲以相当小的数额进行投资的迫切心情(像Supercell这种规模的投资交易毕竟是少数),但却怀有高风险/高回报的期望。

我觉得这与之前关于“游戏即服务”的话题存在某种联系,能够呈现可扩展性的公司看上去当然比拥有出色想法的工作室更靠谱。

当所有的资金都流向某公司时,该公司都会被认为是“下一个重大现象”。

在数天之前,一项有趣的调查显示,将近50%的天使投资人实际上很后悔自己今年的投资决定。最大的原因就在于过分乐观的估值。

鉴于成为全球性热作的手机游戏如此之少的现实,现在也许是开发者融资的绝佳时机,但对投资者来说,这也应该是一个让他们捂紧口袋,投资更为谨慎的时期。

Jared Steffes(Furywing)

Harry总结得非常到位。

因为我是初创企业顾问,所以同一些打算融资的公司往来密切。在我看来,在美国你能筹到多少资金,以及融资的难度要取决于你所在的地区。

从种子/天使投资角度来看,资金主要流向了那些离开成功的游戏公司并自立门户的开发者。如果你是筹集可兑现的资金,那么你的估值就不太重要了,因为多数人都在同一条船上。

而在美国中部地区,那些已经具有相当估值的公司更容易获得融资,因为天使投资者并没有那么精明。如果你在中西部地区能够为一款应用筹到足够的资金,并打算继续留在中西部,那么你应该就不会过得太困难。

这个市场充满大量之前已经融资的社交游戏工作室,而新一轮的投资资金则主要瞄准那些能够通过IPO或者大型收购捞回本的公司。

大型交易是吸引天使投资者涌向某一领域的重要因素,并且人们在公共场合对此讨论得越多,这些公司就越容易获得投资者的信心。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Is it worth developers sacrificing their freedom to foster funding?

by Keith Andrew

It appears to be the season for investment, with developers around the globe – and, indeed, other major players in the mobile market – seeking funding left, right and centre to grow their businesses and pursue their respective goals.

But is this the only way studios can look to expand?

Should developers instead be looking to grow organically, holding on to complete control of their operations, or is this a sacrifice worth making?

We asked the Mavens:

Do you think now is the right time to be raising more money? And, furthermore, is it now essential for studios looking for longterm growth to raise money along the way?

Harry Holmwood, MAQL Europe

The right time to be raising money is while investors are excited about the sector and your business in particular, so the deals are more palatable.

Seeing some exciting IPOs on the horizon, new deals like the Supercell investment and increased M&A has shown that there’s a lot of upside for investors to get into the right businesses again. So, if you have a promising games business, now looks like a good time to raise money.

That said, I’m not sure it’s getting easier for smaller, pre-revenue startups to raise money for game development – the funds are going towards the huge, proven success stories, from investors that, rightly or wrongly, think their cash will help those companies replicate those successes.

So, if you can get money and – more importantly, you’re sure you want it – now should be a good time. But be sure you want it – investors don’t necessarily want what you want.

Running a VC-backed company or one on the public markets is a very different life from making games for a living. It’s all about the growth, not the art. So be careful what you wish for, and work out what really makes you happy before you jump in.

It’s easy to think that raising money is the end goal when, in fact, it’s just the start of a very long and arduous journey.

Jon Hare, Tower Studios

This time I am in 100 percent agreement with Harry. Wise words indeed.

Oscar Clark, Applifier

There does seem to be a lot of interest (and the associated concerns) as Harry has stated.

I agree that the concept stage startups will continue to have problems and need friends/family/fools for investment (hence why I’m not doing RocketLolly any more), but if you have revenue or downloads to show substance behind the concept then you may well be courted.

I know a number of studios, especially those with F2P experience, that are actively being courted.

The risks Harry talks about are very real – how to get the money you need to realise your vision without compromising your scope or too much control.

Interesting times to be involved in a small studio.

Paul Virapen, Big Pixel Studios

I’d agree that unless a studio has existing products with considerable downloads and revenue which shows potential for growth, or previous success with free-to-play, they’ll find it difficult to raise funds.

That being said, it’s not impossible. The company behind the recent App Store hit QuizUp raised $2m in Series A funding just a few days before the release of their game. It went on to hit number one in the free charts and is continuing to do very well a few weeks later.

Was this the right time to take further investment? Or would they have been able to raise significantly more had they waited until they had those few million downloads and a product that is clearly a success.

John Ozimek, Dimoso

Perhaps a different way to look at the question is whether companies looking to raise funding will get the correct valuation in the present market. There is always going to be funding available – it just depends at what price you are willing to take it.

Harry is right that funding also comes with handcuffs as well as freedom – so it’s a big decision for any company to take.

Having worked with a couple of early stage companies in the past year, there does seem to be plenty of interest for anything mobile related, which reflects the keenness of investors to spend what are relatively small amounts – there will be few deals in the Supercell scale of things – but on a high risk/reward outlook.

I do feel some of this is connected to last weeks Maven’s thread about gaming as a service; the companies who are able to show a scalable business look a better bet than a studio with one great idea.

Often it’s what is deemed to be the ‘next big thing’ is where all the funding will gravitate; witness the amount of money still being thrown at anything social, as the investors that didn’t see Facebook coming try to get into that space any way they can.

Just a few days ago there was an interesting survey published that showed almost 50 percent of Angel investors actually regretted investments they had made this year. The biggest reason was an overly optimistic valuation.

I do wonder whether, with so few mobile games becoming the kind of global hits that investors expect, it may be a great time to raise money, but for investors, it’s also a time to be more diligent with their cash to prevent a bubble forming (or, if you are a cynic, expanding the existing one).

Jared Steffes, Furywing

Harry summed up the whole situation very nicely.

I am close to a lot of folks raising money all the time because I consult/advise startups while building my own. Depending on the area in the US you are located defines how much, and how easy it will be to raise money for an app/game.

On the seed/angel front, the money is primarily going to people that have left successful game companies and starting a new one. The valuation doesn’t matter if you are raising on a convertible note, which most people are on the coasts.

In the heartland – middle USA – deals are likely done with a valuation built in because the angel investors are not as savvy yet. If you are lucky enough to get money for an app in the midwest, and want to stay in the midwest, you would probably be okay with it.

The market is saturated with a lot of previously funded social game studios, and the new investment money is looking for that public IPO or big acquisition return.

The big deals are what attract angels to an area and the more we talk about them in public the easier it is for companies doing something similar to explain their business model to investors.(source:pocketgamer


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