1. 10 Things to Think About When Starting your First Company Jon Radoff, CEO, GuildCafe.com April 10, 2008 Atwater-Kent Labs, WPI

2. Who is this Jon Radoff dude? Serial entrepreneur with experience starting four companies – all in either games or interactive media Bootstrapped two Raised venture capital twice Took a company public on NASDAQ Hopelessly addicted to startups

3. #1 Do you really want to do the thing that will be the most stressful, creative, gut- wrenching, financially crazy, hard, fun and awesome thing you’ll ever do?

4. #2 Love what you do and surround yourself with talented people who share your passion.

5. #3 Network with people who have done this before and find mentors.

6. #4 Get the best talent you can find. If you can’t convince the best talent to join you, start a different company.

7. #5 Avoid the unhappy and unlucky.

8. #6 Communicate, communicate, communicate!

9. #7 Seek appropriate financing.

10. #8 Don’t skimp on professional services like accountants and lawyers.

11. #9 Think about marketing and product as part of one continuum. Successful game products are fundamentally driven by good marketing ideas.

12. #10 Break some rules! Ignore the naysayers. You know your customer best.

13. Questions? Jon Radoff may be reached at: jradoff AT guildcafe DOT com