From Laid off to CEO: Building a Multi-Million Dollar Software Company [Progress Thread]

[EmotionEngine]

After nearly four years of service at a software company trying to go all in on the crypto gaming space, I was laid off today, right before Christmas with a weak severance package.

This turn of events has kickstarted my move to creating a multi-million dollar game company with just $5,000 of start-up capital. I'm a reflective and sentimental person, and I know that I could never live with the regret of not having taken this chance. Also, I cannot and will not go back to working for folks that do this to people!

I will be documenting this journey here, sharing my milestones and failures periodically so that you can see the process unfold. My first project will be a unique puzzle game with a captivating theme and a surprising twist. Featuring my own artwork, it will combine vibrant 2D sprites with 3D backgrounds to create a visually striking experience. I'm aiming for a 2024 release.

As the sole project owner, I will handle art, design, and programming myself, leveraging my diverse skillset. Music will be licensed, and I will hire contractors for specific tasks as needed. Generative AI will also play a role in development, assisting with code review and providing feedback.

The first steps include forming an LLC, obtaining developer tool licenses, securing trademarks, and designing a logo. I've been contemplating names for this venture for months and have narrowed it down to a few finalists. My goal is to choose a fun and memorable name that resonates with players of all ages.

Plan:
Year 1:

• Make games that people want to play. Create a franchise that becomes a household name.
• Survive by producing value and breaking rules. I have no choice but to win.

Year 2 - 9

• 100+ million units sold of high quality and fun software. $1 billion annual profit. We become a direct competitor to Zynga, Rovio, King. We constantly attack and exploit their weaknesses for massive damage. We’re constantly draining their market shares.
• We employ 200-500 talented artists, programmers and designers. We’re a small group that works well together and gets stuff done. We keep it small to remain flexible and nimble. We never bite off more than we can chew but we also do more than we think.

Year 10

• Exit time. Entered acquisition talks with multiple large software publishers.

Thanks for reading.

 

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[freek]

$1 billion annual profit

That's a big goal brody, good luck, will be following.

The first steps include forming an LLC, obtaining developer tool licenses, securing trademarks, and designing a logo. I've been contemplating names for this venture for months and have narrowed it down to a few finalists. My goal is to choose a fun and memorable name that resonates with players of all ages.

This will get you some criticism on here haha

 

[EmotionEngine]

That's a big goal brody, good luck, will be following.

This will get you some criticism on here haha

A big goal in the future under "Plan". I never said tomorrow.

I'm sure they will but you need to realize that in order to get apps on Google Play or iOS App Stores as a business entity they need your EIN.

This isn't action faking. I already have the project (the product) running in engine with code I wrote and art assets I've designed.

Criticism is a part of this forum and it's usually good. I expect no less.

 

[ZackerySprague]

Good luck!

 

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[biophase]

After nearly four years of service at a software company trying to go all in on the crypto gaming space, I was laid off today, right before Christmas with a weak severance package.

This turn of events has kickstarted my move to creating a multi-million dollar game company with just $5,000 of start-up capital. I'm a reflective and sentimental person, and I know that I could never live with the regret of not having taken this chance. Also, I cannot and will not go back to working for folks that do this to people!

I will be documenting this journey here, sharing my milestones and failures periodically so that you can see the process unfold. My first project will be a unique puzzle game with a captivating theme and a surprising twist. Featuring my own artwork, it will combine vibrant 2D sprites with 3D backgrounds to create a visually striking experience. I'm aiming for a 2024 release.

As the sole project owner, I will handle art, design, and programming myself, leveraging my diverse skillset. Music will be licensed, and I will hire contractors for specific tasks as needed. Generative AI will also play a role in development, assisting with code review and providing feedback.

The first steps include forming an LLC, obtaining developer tool licenses, securing trademarks, and designing a logo. I've been contemplating names for this venture for months and have narrowed it down to a few finalists. My goal is to choose a fun and memorable name that resonates with players of all ages.

Plan:
Year 1:

• Make games that people want to play. Create a franchise that becomes a household name.
• Survive by producing value and breaking rules. I have no choice but to win.

Year 2 - 9

• 100+ million units sold of high quality and fun software. $1 billion annual profit. We become a direct competitor to Zynga, Rovio, King. We constantly attack and exploit their weaknesses for massive damage. We’re constantly draining their market shares.
• We employ 200-500 talented artists, programmers and designers. We’re a small group that works well together and gets stuff done. We keep it small to remain flexible and nimble. We never bite off more than we can chew but we also do more than we think.

Year 10

• Exit time. Entered acquisition talks with multiple large software publishers.

Thanks for reading.

I think your goal should be, year 1: make a game that people want to play and will pay for.

Years 2-10… whatever happens happens

All you need is to create LLC and get an EIN. No need for trademarks and logos.

 

[turt]

As the sole project owner, I will handle art, design, and programming myself, leveraging my diverse skillset. Music will be licensed, and I will hire contractors for specific tasks as needed. Generative AI will also play a role in development, assisting with code review and providing feedback.

Do you already know how to make art, design, and program games? I'm not trying to critique here but it seems like a lot to handle for just one person. Might end up being spread too thin... I just want to know what are your thoughts on it though?

Anyways, thanks for sharing!

 

[Plushy]

Welcome to the fast lane

I am doing the same too (all art and programming myself) really, game design and software is one of the last places you can make a lot of money with few capital other than hard work. Yes, it is a lot of work, but it's not impossible.

I look forward to your updates! Thank you for inspiring me to keep going today. You are not alone in your audacious goals.

 

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[EmotionEngine]

Do you already know how to make art, design, and program games? I'm not trying to critique here but it seems like a lot to handle for just one person. Might end up being spread too thin... I just want to know what are your thoughts on it though?

Anyways, thanks for sharing!

No offense taken. I know how to develop applications by myself. I know how to program, create art assets, and design. It took years to gain those skills. I've even demonstrated it here on this forum by working on a retro style project for fun. I stopped working on it to do other things. OFF-TOPIC - I Created A Videogame Based On The UNSCRIPTED Book [Fan Project]

Edit: Also, I'm not creating a AAA $200 million next call of duty game that needs 200 employees by myself. I'm working on a small indie mobile title.

 

[twiddlez]

I'm at a similar stage. Looking forward to your updates. Good luck!

 

[FullTimePreneur]

Reminds me a bit of this documentary and the guys who made Super Meat Boy.

Indie Game: The Movie (2012) ⭐ 7.6 | Documentary, Drama

1h 43m | Not Rated

m.imdb.com

Following along!

 

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[MagickDust]

This was exciting to read. I love when people dream big and pursue their dreams. I also love games so I am wishing you well on your journey.

 

[EmotionEngine]

12/20/23 Update #2

Didn't form the LLC yet because I'm working on the product. Literally that is what matters and I got ahead of myself. I'll do that when my product reaches Beta and playable end to end. Also, filed for unemployment since my company was so kind to lay me off a couple weeks before Christmas. The goal is not to hook back into the matrix though.

Process (What I've been doing):
- The artist hat is on. I've been working on drawing 2d art assets for days in the sprite editor. Characters, backgrounds, items etc. I should have a good chunk done by end of next week.

 

[EmotionEngine]

Reminds me a bit of this documentary and the guys who made Super Meat Boy.

Indie Game: The Movie (2012) ⭐ 7.6 | Documentary, Drama

1h 43m | Not Rated

m.imdb.com

Following along!

Here is a photo to document the start of the process. I have no documentary crew but here is the one man game company setup that will make the multi-million seller.

 

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[David Whittlin]

After nearly four years of service at a software company trying to go all in on the crypto gaming space, I was laid off today, right before Christmas with a weak severance package.

This turn of events has kickstarted my move to creating a multi-million dollar game company with just $5,000 of start-up capital. I'm a reflective and sentimental person, and I know that I could never live with the regret of not having taken this chance. Also, I cannot and will not go back to working for folks that do this to people!

I will be documenting this journey here, sharing my milestones and failures periodically so that you can see the process unfold. My first project will be a unique puzzle game with a captivating theme and a surprising twist. Featuring my own artwork, it will combine vibrant 2D sprites with 3D backgrounds to create a visually striking experience. I'm aiming for a 2024 release.

As the sole project owner, I will handle art, design, and programming myself, leveraging my diverse skillset. Music will be licensed, and I will hire contractors for specific tasks as needed. Generative AI will also play a role in development, assisting with code review and providing feedback.

The first steps include forming an LLC, obtaining developer tool licenses, securing trademarks, and designing a logo. I've been contemplating names for this venture for months and have narrowed it down to a few finalists. My goal is to choose a fun and memorable name that resonates with players of all ages.

Plan:
Year 1:

• Make games that people want to play. Create a franchise that becomes a household name.
• Survive by producing value and breaking rules. I have no choice but to win.

Year 2 - 9

• 100+ million units sold of high quality and fun software. $1 billion annual profit. We become a direct competitor to Zynga, Rovio, King. We constantly attack and exploit their weaknesses for massive damage. We’re constantly draining their market shares.
• We employ 200-500 talented artists, programmers and designers. We’re a small group that works well together and gets stuff done. We keep it small to remain flexible and nimble. We never bite off more than we can chew but we also do more than we think.

Year 10

• Exit time. Entered acquisition talks with multiple large software publishers.

Thanks for reading.

I'm new here and your message caught my attention. 15 years ago I was in your exact same position. I had just been laid off and ventured out on creating a multi-milliion dollar business i.e. "startup." So, I thought I'd share some advice that I wish I I received at the time.....

Kudos on the 10-year plan. They say it takes at least 5 years for a business to succeed. Yet, too many people expect results in a year or two and throw in the towel at the first major hurdle. I'm glad you have a long-term mindset going in.

Don’t give up. You're going to hit roadblocks, no doubt. But don’t give up. Take a step back, pivot and/or regroup if you will, but just keep at it. I've seen too many give up on their ideas over the years and fall back on a 9-5 that they absolutely hate.

Create what people want. I think it’s great that you mentioned you want to develop games that people want to play. But take it one step further. Speak to people and actually find out what those games are and create them.

Listen. You are going to get a lot of advice/opinions on your project. Some good, some not so much. Have an open mind and listen to it all. Try to separate the evaluation phase from the decision process. Then decide for yourself what really makes sense. In retrospect, I brushed off so many great ideas because I had tunnel vision and thought I had all the answers. I was so focused on my ideas and goals that I didn’t listen. Although, not sure if I really could. Try not to let that happen you.

Start like a business. Creating a multimillion-dollar business or "startup" is very hard. The success stories we read about are for a small fraction that make it through. However, creating a successful business is much easier. And guess what? With a successful business, you can still generate enough income to have a very comfortable lifestyle. Besides, once you have a successful business, evolving into a multimillion-dollar business is much easier. So, start like a business and do what businesses do. Focusing on getting a product to market as soon as possible, talk and listen to potential customers, spend more time selling than creating, watch your costs, network within your industry, be prepared to bootstrap, seek small business loans and grants to get your idea up and running. Don’t worry about venture funding and your business being able to scale at the onset. Focus on growing your business one customer at a time. Don’t get caught up in the “startup” hoopla. Your goal is to exist and be profitable, and it's easier to achieve this with a real business first. Once you've got that, creating a multi-million dollar business or startup will be much easier. Trust me; this approach is less risky and stressful.

Just some thoughts based on my own journey. I'm no guru, just sharing advice I wish I recieved early on. Hope it resonates with you.

 

[El1mination]

Here is a photo to document the start of the process. I have no documentary crew but here is the one man game company setup that will make the multi-million seller.
View attachment 53111

aww I wanted to see Unreal Engine but I commend you for using Unity

 

[EmotionEngine]

01/05/24 Update #3

I won't sugar coat stuff. I'm pretty depressed right now with being laid off. I'm officially on unemployment now to preserve what little savings I do have and keep the funds necessary for the LLC in the future once the software is ready to go. Of course being on employment requires me to actively look for work which I'm doing as well.

Process (What I've been doing):
- Created a full flow chart in Figma of the entire gameplay experience. Never used Figma before and it turned out really well. A giant flow system starting app, title screen, gameplay loop, etc.
- Placeholder splash screen, title-screen, placeholder first time cinematic and level start is implemented.
- Most of my time though is basically pure coding. I thought I would be working more on art but I've been working on game state management and fighting errors such as null reference exceptions and the like. The flowchart is helping so I don't just design systems off the cuff like I did on my side projects.

Possibly Up Next:
*I use the word "possibly" because there's just so much to be done and no "correct" order.
- Logic for save game creation (for first-time user launch), loading and deletion of those save files.
- Level intro sequence. May need to do some art there as well.
- A way for the user to exit back to title from game.

Here is a simple image showing the game running at the title-screen. As you can see the I wrote the game managers and the others and they are running now.

 

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[El1mination]

01/05/24 Update #3

I won't sugar coat stuff. I'm pretty depressed right now with being laid off. I'm officially on unemployment now to preserve what little savings I do have and keep the funds necessary for the LLC in the future once the software is ready to go. Of course being on employment requires me to actively look for work which I'm doing as well.

Process (What I've been doing):
- Created a full flow chart in Figma of the entire gameplay experience. Never used Figma before and it turned out really well. A giant flow system starting app, title screen, gameplay loop, etc.
- Placeholder splash screen, title-screen, placeholder first time cinematic and level start is implemented.
- Most of my time though is basically pure coding. I thought I would be working more on art but I've been working on game state management and fighting errors such as null reference exceptions and the like. The flowchart is helping so I don't just design systems off the cuff like I did on my side projects.

Possibly Up Next:
*I use the word "possibly" because there's just so much to be done and no "correct" order.
- Logic for save game creation (for first-time user launch), loading and deletion of those save files.
- Level intro sequence. May need to do some art there as well.
- A way for the user to exit back to title from game.

Here is a simple image showing the game running at the title-screen. As you can see the I wrote the game managers and the others and they are running now.
View attachment 53369

This is the test to see what you are made of, remember to enjoy the little milestones along the way. As you keep building your game, you will see what I'm talking about. Good luck to you and right now it looks nice. I could be wrong but I think the phone might be upside down though.

 

[EmotionEngine]

This is the test to see what you are made of, remember to enjoy the little milestones along the way. As you keep building your game, you will see what I'm talking about. Good luck to you and right now it looks nice. I could be wrong but I think the phone might be upside down though.

Fixed the image. I was rotating it during development so it just happened to be upside down when I took the screenshot.

 

[Splitlight]

I spent a long time when I was much younger dabbling in game dev.

Using unity for 3D stuff, and then I learned c++ and SFML for 2D simulations.. Didn't carry on with the games because it was a giant time sink, if it's anything but basic it takes a vast amount of time to make one.

Hopefully this is the next angry birds and it takes off, you never know. Good luck!

 

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[EmotionEngine]

I spent a long time when I was much younger dabbling in game dev.

Using unity for 3D stuff, and then I learned c++ and SFML for 2D simulations.. Didn't carry on with the games because it was a giant time sink, if it's anything but basic it takes a vast amount of time to make one.

Hopefully this is the next angry birds and it takes off, you never know. Good luck!

Well, I was just laid off from a multi-million dollar backed game company which is failing as well. If I fail at this it will also be a personal disaster in efforts to be Unscripted . I have no golden parachute either. No one will be saving me.

 

[heavy_industry]

Year 2 - 9

• 100+ million units sold of high quality and fun software. $1 billion annual profit.

A very ambitious goal, but not unheard of in the software industry.

Edit: Never mind, I've checked the numbers. $1B / year in profits is ludicrous. $10M is a more reasonable target.

I won't sugar coat stuff. I'm pretty depressed right now with being laid off.

This might be the biggest bottleneck in the system that needs to be addressed immediately.

As long as you have the technical skills to produce the software, and solid business skills to sell it, success is almost a mathematical certainty - it's only a matter of time.

If, however, you let depression get the best of you, it's game over - pun intended. This will render you unable to perform on the high level that you need in order to meet these goals.

---

Here's what I would do:

It's great to have big goals, but handle the basics first.

Make the business profitable as soon as possible. It doesn't have to be $1M / year at first. Just enough money to make you stop thinking about the money, and focus 100% on product development and business strategy.

Seek crowdfunding for every single game you develop. Post everything on youtube. Build an audience early.

 

[FastNAwesome]

I got no advice - just wanna say - rooting for you!

 

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[El1mination]

A very ambitious goal, but not unheard of in the software industry.

Edit: Never mind, I've checked the numbers. $1B / year in profits is ludicrous. $10M is a more reasonable target.


This might be the biggest bottleneck in the system that needs to be addressed immediately.

As long as you have the technical skills to produce the software, and solid business skills to sell it, success is almost a mathematical certainty - it's only a matter of time.

If, however, you let depression get the best of you, it's game over - pun intended. This will render you unable to perform on the high level that you need in order to meet these goals.

---

Here's what I would do:

It's great to have big goals, but handle the basics first.

Make the business profitable as soon as possible. It doesn't have to be $1M / year at first. Just enough money to make you stop thinking about the money, and focus 100% on product development and business strategy.

Seek crowdfunding for every single game you develop. Post everything on youtube. Build an audience early.

Ohh yeah that's actually something I 100 percent back up. Do you know of the YouTuber Ponty Pants? He managed to create a game that was very successful and got the funds for it only because he started uploading Developer logs to YouTube. If you don't know him I recommend you check him out because he put a lot of work and effort into his game.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FABrTIkl74

 

[DonyaSze]

A very ambitious goal, but not unheard of in the software industry.

Edit: Never mind, I've checked the numbers. $1B / year in profits is ludicrous. $10M is a more reasonable target.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. You can enjoy life in the fast lane with a few million, too.
I actually have the same story, I didn’t write it in my own thread (because I didn’t think of it) but I was laid off from my own 3D animator job and got depressed, I still have the depression but I’m not letting it stop me from making my dreams come true!
Nice work so far.
I’m rooting for you!

 

[DonyaSze]

I think to become a billionaire you first have to become successful, then become a millionaire. Then build a bunch of extra companies and sell them and keep building and selling until you have billions.
I want to become a billionaire too, once I become successful in game dev, I’ll make more games and once I’m done three successful games, I’ll move forever with more plans for more companies. Just as an example.

 

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[DarkKnight]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. You can enjoy life in the fast lane with a few million, too.
I actually have the same story, I didn’t write it in my own thread (because I didn’t think of it) but I was laid off from my own 3D animator job and got depressed, I still have the depression but I’m not letting it stop me from making my dreams come true!
Nice work so far.
I’m rooting for you!

Why not tell us your story?

 

[EmotionEngine]

Why not tell us your story?

DonyaSze did yesterday in this thread: EXECUTION - Video game development is my passion and I’m making it my fast lane strategy.

 

[DonyaSze]

DonyaSze did yesterday in this thread: EXECUTION - Video game development is my passion and I’m making it my fast lane strategy.

Thank you Emotion Engine!

 

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[heavy_industry]

You can enjoy life in the fast lane with a few million, too.

You can and should enjoy life starting from $100k / year, or whatever number covers your expenses and gives you a baseline of freedom.

More money is better - but only if you have the wisdom to know what to do with it.

But that's beside the point:

The word "billionaire" gets thrown around a lot in our culture, and most people simply don't have the mathematical comprehension of what this number actually looks like (unless your username is @Jon822 ).

• A million is a thousand thousand - quite achievable for the average smart person.
• But a billion is a thousand million.

A billion is 3 orders of magnitude greater than a million. You'll need to become a millionaire 1000 times to reach $1B.

And in all likelihood, nothing is going to happen when you reach this milestone. It's an arbitrary number that doesn't tell you very much.

Starting your first company and wanting to become a billionaire is like starting lifting weights and wanting to become an Olympic.

It can be achieved - at least theoretically - but this kind of goal entails an incomprehensible amount of effort for a beginner who is just getting started.

Aim for the low-hanging fruit at first.

Make the company profitable. And do it quickly.

 

[Jon822]

The word "billionaire" gets thrown around a lot in our culture, and most people simply don't have the mathematical comprehension of what this number actually looks like (unless your username is @Jon822 ).

To put this into perspective: if there were one billion people and you had a 5 second conversation with all of them, it would take you about 158.44 years to do it. We have no intuition about numbers this large (or extremely small numbers) because they served no evolutionary purpose for our ancestors.

The secret to obtaining some internal grasp for numbers like these was given by my organic chemistry teacher: "The best way to make any number more intuitive is to put a dollar sign in front of it."

It can be achieved - at least theoretically - but this kind of goal entails an incomprehensible amount of effort for a beginner who is just getting started.

Mark Cuban is a great example of this. His first company sold for millions which made working on his second company easier. His second company then sold for billions.

I am a huge fan of this type of progression, even if becoming a billionaire is not likely with only a second company.