Jabit

So your an inventor but are you an entrepreneur? You can develop the technology but can you commercialise it? Lets say we’re talking about a computer game here (an apt example seeing that Tipperary Institute is the home of Robocode Ireland) and lets assume that the game you have developed is actually really good. So where do you go from here?
First things first, having a really good game (even the best game ever) isn’t worth diddly squat unless you can actually commercialise it. You basically have two choices, go it alone or find a partner. Going it alone will require you to develop business skills (namely marketing, sales and finance) and getting your hands on a lot of cash. This is what is known as the closed innovation model - doing it all yourself. The other option is finding a partner that will commercialise your product for you. This is known as the open innovation model, where companies acquire your technology and commercialise it. This is a model that is being used more and more by companies today as they realise that they can’t possibly come up with all the good ideas and that they need to be open to accepting ideas from outside their company. Selecting the right partner isn’t easy. Some potential partners will show high interest, then stall (which Guy Kawasaki, in his book Art of the Start, calls “S-H-I-T-S” tactics). Why would a potential partner use such tactics? For a number of reasons but mainly due to the fact that they like your idea, they don’t want the idea going anywhere else but they don’t have the time/resources to do anything with it just now. If they can stall you long enough the value of the idea may lessen and with it its potential threat.
So what’s the moral of the story? Know what you know, know what you don’t know and know what you need to know. Be patient and prudent. Plan for failure, that’s not the same as planing to fail but if you do fail then learn from it and move on. If you want to make money from your game their is a time at which you will have to concentrate less on the game and more on the gaming business. Remember there is no such thing as a free lunch. Believe in your abilities, get help where necessary, and if you make millions, which I genuinely hope you do, remember who gave you this advice.