VC or not VC…

That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind so suffer the slings and arrows of creative freedoms or to take up arms with a business partner who might oppose and end them. The dirty subject of filthy lucre is one any independent must face. The question whether or not to try and find venture capital is one I have not yet found a satisfactory answer to.

The case for
I am not as arrogant as to believe it’s all about the creativity. Game development is a business and though I have some experience in that area, a knowledgeable partner from the field of business can most definitely be a very strong asset, if not requirement, even.
Having some money to fund us will relieve a lot of stress from the early stages of development. We could focus on what we need to do without worrying so much about the short-term cash issues.
Though we have a pretty strong focus, a lot of the work we are doing between us right now could be sped up tremendously by hiring one or two more experienced people. Having some office space and much needed new hardware would be really helpful too.
Preparing for venture capital means having to work out a business plan and solidify your approaches. Just doing this is helpful, if even for your own sense, so it’s something I’m working on now. If investment was never an option, it’s little but massively important things like these that could slip under the radar as we focused on development alone.

The case against
We are currently building up something with our blood, sweat and tears. Why would we hand over a chunk of that to someone simply because they have a chequebook? If we manage to work it all out without investment, everything we build will belong to us, so any value we create is one for us alone to enjoy.
Finding an investor with the right mindset is as important as it is difficult. Can we find someone who shares our softly, softly, easy, squeezy approach? The goal for investors is, after all, to get a return and a profit as soon as possible, and not so much to focus on long term growth and stability. Getting the wrong kind of business-minded person in too soon can lead us down the usual path of rapid growth, over-achievement, lacklustre product and eventual bankruptcy; that is, after all, the norm these days. We’re not in it for the riches, but simply to finally do the work the way we want to and feel ought to. We want to create a stable, profitable system where we are comfortable, not so much to create a mega-corporation so we can buy private jets (though that would be nice).
Game development is perceived as a risky business; invest tons, hope for a rare mega-hit and retire on the profits. I personally don’t think it needs to be this way. A more conservative, realistic approach to development could form a very secure, stable company with decent profits, if maybe not Croesus-level riches. We all know, however, that the world economy is a little peaky these days, and investors may not know what they want, if they want to invest at all. The blurb “invest in us; you won’t get mega-rich but you won’t get poor either!” isn’t exactly one that eases the purse-strings.
Being based in Japan may or may not work in our favour. I doubt very much we could entice any Japanese investors because, quite frankly, we are dirty foreigners. Obviously we’d either escape the country with all the investment money stowed away in burlap sacks with a dollar sign on them, or we’d squander it all on Japanese women and drugs. Foreign investors looking at Japan might have different concerns and priorities. To be honest, I have no idea if it is even possible to entice foreign money to such a venture in such an inscrutable country.

There are alternatives, of course, like personal loans and continued freelance work for extra coin. The problem with the former is that I’m personally liable and, as stated previously, a dirty foreigner. The problem with the latter is that it distracts me from what I really want to focus my attention on 24/7. I haven’t figured it all out yet, but in the meantime I’m going to pretend I’m seriously looking for investment; that way I force myself to write a solid business plan, work out business strategies and approaches and get realistic – something that cannot be a bad thing, even if I end up staying self-funded, which is honestly something I’d prefer.