Justin Herrick / JAH2488 Desire.Design.Develop

                                          

I just finished watching the above video on Innovation in the game's industry and I could not agree more. I love the indie game scene, and although I'm not anywhere near accomplished, I have dabbled in creating a few games myself. There is an insane amount of passion and ability in that scene. The most difficult part for the developers seems to be seeing any amount of revenue from their projects. (With a few notable exceptions). 

It seems to me that eventually the two industries will begin to work together, but I also feel that so much of the issue deals with people's perceptions and egos. As the video says in the first half, these two sides continue to fight over some fairly petty details. Each side feels superior to the other, and everyone suffers.

Furthermore, I have a feeling that consumers are the biggest problem, even beyond the indie game dev scene are those who play those games. Those gamers are quick to move on to the next game and rarely seem to build up a loyalty to a developer or style. Everything becomes old-hat for them very quickly. If this crowd was to somehow change their perception, it could really help things. (Sadly I think we'll just have to wait for that to happen naturally)

Everything said about the AAA industry is just as true, but going back to the consumers I feel we have another problem. Lots of my friends who only play the console AAA games will complain to no end if a game is too different from another. One friend in particular wont play an unreal engine game because the physics bother him. He is not familiar with that style, and is not as good with it. They become so accustom to being good at a particular style that change angers them and they equate the change with sub-par quality. I feel if they were to change their perception, games with a few quirks would be more widely accepted.

So in the end we are left with an indie scene without a sense of pride and loyalty, and we have a mainstream scene that abhors change. I think if they could learn from one another, both accepting change, but still maintaining a sense of loyalty to a team and genre. The monetary end will start to straighten out, and things will be better for everyone. 

Just thought I'd share a few thoughts. 

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I just recently got finished reading Mark Suster's blog post called, Doing the right things is more important than doing things right.. Where he basically speaks about the importance of a targeted campaign, of a focused team, and of a CEO who knows how to manage and direct a team. He speaks about how many CEOs simply get into the habit or 'rut' of just producing work from their team, and they lose sight of why are doing it to begin with. 

 

This post got me thinking about how people can get into that place to begin with. I mean its obvious no company can last very long at all without proper direction and leadership, but then I began to think about the results. I don't think it matters much if your a 'top-down' thinker or a 'bottom-up' thinker, all humans live by the results. Either the rewards or penalties of our actions, and we choose how to act from then out out based on those results. However, when the results seem positive, its hard to justify a change without a strong sense of direction and insight.

 

 

It reminds me of the time before medical science saw its breakthroughs, when entirely rational people would drain blood from their bodies to get rid of a cold or fever. The results showed the person getting better, so they had no reason to assume it was the wrong thing to do, but what they did not realize was that it was never the blood that was making them get better. It was the rest. I think in many companies and startups today, its easy to get caught up in your own hype, or just in the hype and rivalry of the industry. There is a distinct style of stardom and fame associated with the tech scene, and I can see how easy that could cause a company to get distracted. They end up producing work to get their next techcrunch article, they do a viral campaign to get to 1million uniques first, or their ceo goes crazy on twitter to get some attention, but have they produced anything positive?

 

Pictured: Startup Super Star

The results from that may be positive, they have new features, more page views, and more attention, but they haven't asked themselves if this is the correct way to get that success (or even if those metrics are worth anything at all). I think this may come back to the founding team specifically. They need to have a vision, they need to be committed to that vision, and they need to have the ability to both manage and execute effectively. They need to ask themselves why they are doing what they are doing, and they need to ask if these results are the best that they could be.

Thanks for reading,

Justin

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hiten:

The Social Network Movie Trailer via The Official Site

 

Well, I for one am very interested in seeing exactly how this turns out. It could be a very enlightening and interesting look into a side of the internet and tech life that most people don't see, but I know hollywood too well. The majority of it will be dribble, unneeded exaggerations, and superflous dramatic situations. I'd rather see something with facts than something thats been twisted. That being said, it looks cool and I can't wait to see it.

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Overall,

I am much more excited for the “Kinect” after the e3 demo today. They really did show off a wide range of features that it brings to the system.

I still have some issues with the games though. I have always liked the wii, and as such I think games like kinect sports and kinect adventures will be a ton of fun, but they still lack depth.

I wasn’t too excited about Turismo, Star Wars, or MGS, they seemed so gimmicky and I honestly don’t think I’d want to play those for extended periods of time.

It seems to me that the real key is now in the hands of developers. If they can replicate what Nintendo has done with their line up, and produce top notch games along side this new technology. Then it has some real power moving forward.

 

What Microsoft has shown is an outstanding piece of hardware with some great potential behind it, I actually feel it has more potential then the Wii due to the backing of the xbox community, xbox hardware, and xbox developers. It all depends on what games are released, otherwise its just a fancy add on for some menu manipulation.

Just moments ago Ubisoft demoed Child of Eden : Rez 2, or something like that. It looks great, and if more companies make games like this, instead of just minigame packages, then there is hope for Kinect. Obviously its only day 1, and its not even released yet, so its too soon to pass judgement, but I am optimistic. 

 

 

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Perhaps I should start this by swearing I will follow up on my first post about TechCrunch Disrupt. The conference was absolutely amazing and I am still blown away that I had been there and was presented with all those opportunities. My sincerest thanks go out to Jason Calacanis, Michael Arrington, and Florian Seroussi, without them I would never have been able to go. This post isn't really about Disrupt so I wont linger on that much longer. I wanted to mention that because it simply has been too long since I brought it up. This post is more about my current situation and how I am to change it. 

I've always felt being honest was one of the most important things in any situation. I am not the most talented or experienced web developer in the world, but that is not for a lack of trying, but only for a lack of time. Give me some more time and you will be pleasantly surprised, but that still leaves my position now. I could freelance myself out to startups and individuals wanting work done for their sites, but this has never really driven me, and I feel is more suited to someone who is an expert in a field. Normally when working freelance you are spread to thin and asked to do to many tasks. There is no dream or vision to get behind other than the paycheck, and there is no team to work with. Without a goal and team, it is hard to strive those long days and nights, motivation begins to fade. I could apply for a job as a junior developer at a startup, give my 220% every day. I could learn and grow with the company, strive day and night to not only complete my job, but to go above and beyond to ensure the product itself is the best out there. That is what is in my DNA and it is what I want to do. Of course the third option, the one I am avoiding, is to continue my part time web dev work/learning while waiting tables in order to pay the bills. The figurative shift of putting my dreams on the shelf while reality has its course, but that is not a future I want to go for.

 

So how does someone in my situation pitch themselves to a company? Currently I think I am trying my best, but its still a hard thing to accomplish. I have recently applied for a job at a class A startup and finished my 2nd interview with a rep from them. Although I do not think I did bad, I feel that my skills didn't shine. It is extremely difficult to show a character trait such as hard-work or resourcefulness or the ability to learn a new skill quickly, in a 30 min over the phone interview. Those are things that are brought up and reinforced through time, and without the references in those high up places to give you a good word, even harder. Its just an uphill battle, and its one I do not intend on losing. Everyone from the company is extremely nice, professional, and understanding. 

 

So what do you do when your interview goes less than stellar? Do you follow up with an email that explains you can do better? That you simply had a lapse in memory or was nervous? No, those could all look bad, but something must still be done. Perhaps a pet project, or perhaps something else. I am not sure of the answer, but I'm making a second try for it. Just dont call it a come back.

 

That, and this.

 

 

-Justin

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I opened up a google wave for possible discussion and fun for this second day of TC:Disrupt. If people join up and and it works it could be useful if not just a fun distraction. I"ve embedded it below, but you can also follow this link, or email me asking for an invite. 

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Today was amazing, it was amazing for several reasons, but one of those was just the fact that I am here in NYC in the same room with all these brilliant minds and successful people. There are many people I really wanted to just go up and talk to, but having nothing more to say than, "I follow you on twitter" or "I read your blog its great" I opted to just leave them to their conversations. However, if you leave those few behind, I felt like I was talking it up all day. Great times had when connecting with likeminded individuals. Startup ally was probably my favorite spot of the entire event today. I was even able to give some insight to a few companies, and hopefully in some small way that helps them. On to the more import stuff.

 

I nearly won an ipad today from the guys and lovely ladies at Way Connected, sadly I did not, and I was heartbroken when they told me they just gave it to someone else. Alright, now I'm on to the real important stuff, the actual conference. The entire thing is live-streamed and now cataloged and available on techcrunch.com/disrupt incase you'd like to view it. So you obviously no longer need my blow by blow as to what went down, but I still have a few opinions on what happened.

 

First of all = Michael Arrington was hilarious, informative, and asked the right questions. 

It seemed that he was not only willing to ask the hard questions of people, but had no problem at all upsetting them and putting them on the spot. It made for a great experience whenever he had someone on stage with him. Some people could simply handle his quips better than others, but what it showed was his real understanding for what is going on. I wish he had been around for more, because things got bad at some of the other panels.

 

Second of all = Panelists with old ideas and older birthdays

I'm not here to rag on the elderly of the tech industry, or to just ignore the wisdom, and experience they have. However, this is a conference named Disrupt, its about disruption in some way or form, and when you get a bunch of newspaper executives up there talking about how Apple's control of their products is hurting their revenue model, it upsets me. When you have an VC yelling about how downloading a movie is the exact same as taking a movie from the shelf of a walmart and society has deemed piracy as okay, it upsets me. When panelists act as if they've done something radical, but then talk about how they still pay hollywood actors their going rate for an online sketch, it upsets me. Where is the disruption? Where is the panic? Where is the passion in any of it? It seems so many of these people are looking (desperately in some cases) to avoid disruption rather than cause it.

So these are my thoughts on those panelists, and how I wish I had had the guts to run up to the mic (wherever it was, i was too far back to figure that out) and give them a piece of my mind.

 

 

To the man who gave a tirade against piracy today,

  You are repeating a ten year old argument to a situation that has long since evolved. I don't download movies illegally, I dont have the time, but I know people who do, and they do not think its alright. Society has not labeled the piracy of movies to be "okay". Do you ever wonder why people take those movies? Because they feel like the big media companies are constantly stealing from them, a 15 dollar movie ticket, followed by a 20 dollar blue ray of the movie. They see a company that has failed to adapt to the disruptions in its own environment, and now it is grasping at straws in an attempt to stop the monetary leakage. Piracy is an infringement on copywrite and intellectual property, it is not an issue of theft. When you steal a DVD from walmart you have physically removed that item so that noone in existence may have it, when you pirate a movie you have a digital copy which exists now in multiple locations. I dont have the answers, but I know that yours are outdated.

 

To the old men discussing apple and the print industry.

  I dont mean to offend you, but I honestly dont think you have an idea what you are all talking about. You may know the newspaper industry, the print media industry, and its history, but thats only because you lived it. You seem to know nothing of the future of it, the future of the web, or of the iPad. Do not get upset or blame apple for being too closed down simply because you have failed to adapt to what is going on in a realistic way. Do you even realize what is possible through RESTful practices? Have you allocated R&D money to work on CocoaTouch and HTML5 apps which are optimized for every browser? Why do you need a list of credit cards, taht is the old model, let go of it. Micro-transactions, premium ads, premium content. You have all the power of your brands and their names behind you and you are falling behind to some kids from arizona who know what people want. I may not know exactly what to do, but there has to be something better than this.

 

 

Alright I made this a lot longer than I had wanted to, but I got a little heated. I'm sure i'll write some more tomorrow about all the startups I was able to talk to and meet. Have a great night

 

Justin

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So the time is finally here, TechCrunch Disrupt starts in less than 12 hours. I've made it from Fort Myers to New York City. I'm checked into the lovely and "cozy" Jane Hotel. I took a stroll down to the Disrupt conference center to see everyone busily assembling for tomorrow morning. Its been a long and exciting day. 

 

I have to say, starting your day at 3:00am leaves you very tired when 10:00pm rolls around. I assume that I wouldn't have had any of the issues that I did today if I flew more than once a decade. Security, plus baggage claim, plus connecting flights, and then layovers and then gate changes. Overall it was a stressful experience, but in the end I made it to NYC with my baggage and dignity intact. Nothing to complain about. 

 

The last time I was in NYC the world was a different place, or at the least it seems that was considering I was only 14 at the time. That being said, I can basically say that I've never been to New York before, its an entirely new experience. It was nice being able to walk around and explore a bit, but this trip is about the conference and not about sightseeing. I can really see myself enjoying this city, but I can also see how I'd need a lot more money to stay here for any length of time. I love eating more than drinking, so I think the most of my time (and money) will be spent on finding delicious and interesting places to eat. Today's organic smoked chicken sandwich with a arugula and walnet salad was superb, while the chicken sandwich and fries from popburger was less than great. 

 

Now i'm relaxing in my hotel room, watching a Mythbusters marathon, and getting ready for tomorrow morning. Lets hope this blogpost is coherent as i'm beyond tired. I'll be tweeting and blogging all the great things coming out of Disrupt. Stay tuned if you want my personalized updates. On another note, if you are still looking for the agenda to the event visit the google calendar I made just for the event. http://bit.ly/b4RCDB

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Its nearly time now, in less than 36 hours I will be boarding my flight for NewYork for TC:Disrupt and what a roller coaster ride this entire week has been. There are some that say you can't have ups unless you also have downs and that seems to always be the case. My part time employer decided it was time to let me go and I am now officially unemployed, but I have placed that behind me, because the future is in front of me. I suppose that is just another incentive to do this week right. My nervous excitement has faded away into just plain excitement as I count down the hours. 

 

 

I have made it my mission and my entire determination to not miss a single event of Disrupt, not miss a single opportunity or insight. Then every night I can pass along the best of the best here for everyone to read, along with my misadventures of the day. To ensure I dont miss anything at all, I have created a public calendar on google with the entire agenda for disrupt. Anyone will be able to follow the calendar, which is viewable here, and is also embedded below. 

 

I'm not sure what this week has in store for me, but I'm going to take it all and run with it. As I have heard many say before, Its all about the hussel. Its all about that sweat equity. Obviously this isn't my company (yet), but this is my chance. If you are going to be in NYC for TC:Disrupt you should call me or send me an email. 

 

Take Care,

- Justin 

- # 239.244.1559

- Contact@justinherrick.com

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Wow, I have to say I am blown away by this video from Steve Blank. Its little bit on the long side at 40 mins, but it was entirely worth my time. This informative talk touches on everything from the history of startups, the current state of entrepreneurship, and where entrepreneurship education will be going in the future. Not to mention a few good tips for founders in between. TCDisrupt is only 5 days away and I am way to excited to be there. I haven't even left yet and the amount of people I've met and been in contact with (over email obviously) has been astonishing. 

 

The full video and article can be found on Steve Blank's blog. I dont really have much more to say about it other than its a great video to watch. 

 

-Justin

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