Kicking off the Monetiser track at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #1, Fundamentally Games COO Ella Romanos led a panel on giving investors what they want for the Europe and Asia markets.
She was joined by:
- Harri Manninen, founding partner of Play Ventures
- Michael Cheung, general partner at Makers Fund, and
- Tony Zander, VP of product at Vectr Ventures
Zander started by saying that he prefers when developers pitch their "investment opportunity and not just their game", adding that studios need to think about their overall business that they're pitching, and not just the one initial product.
Align your vision
Manninen also felt that founding members of the team need to be aligned on what their story and vision is for the company, as well as "understanding who you're pitching too" and focusing more on who the founding team are instead of their advisors and "non-full-time board members".
Concerning the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Cheung said that companies should have a 24-month runway to keep them running, but also pointed out that there is a lot of opportunity to hire new development talent that may now be looking for work due to companies closing down.
As for extending that runway, Zander suggested raising funding now, noting that it could take even longer to raise money in the current climate, so companies should start as soon as possible.
"Get comfortable in terms of remote pitching," added Manninen, noting that developers should get comfortable with the idea of letting investors try out builds remotely, and prepare all their supporting documents in advance as they won't necessarily be able to talk through it as easily.
PG Connects Digital #1 is the best of our Pocket Gamer Connects conference in an online form, with an entire week of talks, meetings, and pitch events taking place from April 6th to the 10th. You can read up on all the tracks taking place through the week here.
