1. From College to Industry 20 Lessons for Getting the Most out of your Early Career

2. Me Jeff Ward Programmer

3. Why Me? Why now?

4. 20 LESSONS LEARNED In chronological order

5. FROM COLLEGE

6. Tons of contacts A tiny amount of respect A ton of knowledge

7. 1. GET INVOLVED

8. Andrew Plotkin aka Zarf “First, spend fifteen years working hard on projects with no reward but community good-will. I say that without either pride or resentment. It's objectively true. This is happening because I have a big list of freeware games that many people loved, and a big list of open-source projects that many people valued.”

9. Opportunities IGDA Forums SIGS Chapters Other Community Forums GameDev.NET PolyCount.com GameArtisans.org Open Source Tools / Engines Community Games Helping other students Run your own events!

10. 2. GET NETWORKING

11. Networking = Opportunities Networking = Advice Networking = Friendships

13. Networking = Opportunities Networking = Advice Networking = Friendships Networking keeps you in touch, it strengthens the industry.

14. Darius Effective Networking In the Game Industry: http://tinysubversions.com/effective- networking/

15. 3. LISTEN. LEARN EVERY LESSON YOU CAN (FROM ANYONE YOU CAN)

17. Why not? He has this experience, and, even if I never use it, it would be stupid of me not ask and learn what I can from his experience.

19. 4. YOU ARE NOT A DESIGNER

21. FROM BETHESDA

22. 5. TAKE THE TIME TO COMPLIMENT PEOPLE

23. Some Tips In critique Always start with the positive Make the positive genuine Be as specific in positive critique as you would with negative critique. In general Let people know that they’re appreciated Constantly.

24. 6. THE GAME INDUSTRY IS NOT SPECIAL

25. 7. THE GAME INDUSTRY IS SPECIAL

29. 8. DON’T BE A DICK

30. 9. BE A DICK

31. FROM ORBUS

32. 10. KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BUSINESS

33. Business I Wish I Knew Stock vs. Stock Options Vestment 1040 vs 1099 (Employee vs. Contractor) Implications of owning stock Stock holder agreements Implications of allocated vs. unallocated stock Partnerships, LLCs, C-Class, S-Class, Corporations

34. 11. MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS ON THE SAME PAGE

35. Things to Talk About How Long In Initial Start-up? What are the goals of the company? In 1 year? In 2 years? In 5 years? How will everyone be compensated? In the short term (money)? In the long term (stock)? How will we grow? When will we grow? What roles will everyone fill? What if our initial plans don’t work? What is our exit strategy?

36. 12. KNOW YOUR OWN GOALS

37. 13. MATCH YOUR GOALS TO YOUR COMPANY’S GOALS

38. On the previous three lessons…

39. FROM FIRE HOSE

40. 14. FOLLOW EVERY LEAD

41. 15. IT TAKES 5 PEOPLE TO RUN A STUDIO It takes 3 people to make a game,

44. Small Teams vs. Large Teams Communication Process Review “Agile-ness”

45. SMALL STUDIO PROBLEMS ARE DIFFERENT

46. 16. SOLVE ACTUAL PROBLEMS

48. SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO LEARN TO LET GO

49. 17. KNOW WHEN TO KILL YOUR BABIES

50. The Lessons From College 1.Get involved 2.Get networking 3.Listen. Learn Every Lesson you Can (From anyone you can) 4.You are not a designer From Bethesda 5.Take the time to Complement People 6.The Game Industry is not special 7.The Game Industry is special 8.Don’t Be a Dick (an awful person) 9.But still be a Dick (assertive) From Orbus 10.Know a little bit about business (enough to ask the right questions) 11.Know your own goals 12.Match goals to your company 13.Make sure everyone is on the same page From Fire Hose 14.Follow every lead (with vigor) 15.It takes 5 people to run a studio 16.Solve Actual Problems 17.Sometimes, you need to learn to let go

51. More Lessons

52. 18. NEVER STOP LEARNING

53. 19. TRY OUT NEW THINGS

54. 20. Who you know and what you know are equally important

55. Good luck (hopefully you won’t need it)

56. Questions? http://www.jeffongames.com jeffw@firehosegames.com Twitter: @Fuzzybinary http://www.firehosegames.com Twitter: @FireHoseGames