In the video below, B. F. Skinner demonstrates his famous Operant Conditioning chamber and the shaping of behaviors in a pigeon.
Consider that red, peck-able light next time you “Do a Job” in Mafia Wars or feed your animals in Frontierville.
If you have ever wondered why games with poor game mechanics can still entertain players, it is perhaps because many poorly designed games are at least easy to play – and if they provide rewards according to a reliable schedule, they will entertain. As long as they keep providing rewards. Good game mechanics can aid a game by eliminating rough edges and inconsistencies, and some players (those who fit the template of our H1 and H2 clusters in particular; those with access to the Rational temperament) are actively drawn to elegant game mechanics – but it is the delivery of rewards, and not the quality of the game mechanics, which maintains a player’s interest.
I’ve recently had an infatuation with Frontierville and have had an even larger infatuation with what makes such a boring, simplistic, and repetitive game so engorssing (and monetizable).I think the above quote neatly sums up a major reason why this, and other, Zynga games are so popular.
- Rewards on a reliable schedule
- Easy to play – especially the first user experience.
- Consistent game mechanics – even if simplistic.
I found this to be an interesting take on the office work environment.
- Offices are built for distraction.
- Distraction leads to nothing getting done during the work day.
- Nothing getting done during the work day leads to working weekends and late nights.
I think this is true. I’ve worked inside of large corporations as a consultant and had such little space to get things done, I had to convince them to let me work from home.
A distributed work environment done right removes these distractions. Everyone is available by IM or email depending on the urgency. And each of those can be ignored dependent on the hierarchy:
I go out of my way to give my guys the space they need, but push them to contact me if they are blocked or I can help accelerate something. I can, and often do, need to ignore their request if I’m on a call or in the middle of something more urgent, but I expect them to respond to my requests quickly. And I think that makes everything work better and everyone happier.
Quality, default legal documentation; I wish there was more of it. That sums up the entirety of this post.
A startup has a massive hurdle to surmount when it comes to legal documents. Whether they are for founders, investors, employees, clients, or just the terms of service and privacy policies. Once these are in place, it’s not so expensive / time consuming to start with your standard form.
Fred pointed out a few template contracts for term sheets floating around from
TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents (by Cooley)
Y Combinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents (by WSGR)
Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet (by WSGR)
Series Seed Financing Documents (by Fenwick & West)
…but then went right on to point there limited value – all are missing something he wants to see in the terms.
And there are tons of sample contracts floating around the internet for other things… but they have similar or worse flaws. Start with a free template and chances are your going to need to start over or completely re-write it anyway.
I almost used an NDA once, that thankfully, I found was a big pile of unenforceable garbage before using. From the multi-page crap doc, we ended up with an easy to read, one-page document that worked.
A startup needs to be ultimately picky about bringing on upper management. The higher up the hierarchy, the harder it becomes to get rid of a bad pick, and this is order of magnitudes more important for a Founder. Serious due diligence is in order.
Some of the major considerations would be something like:
- What is the motivation for joining?
- What networks will be introduced?
- What will be the effect on company direction and momentum?
- What is a fair yet competitive equity allocation?
For motivation, money hunger is a good one, but there are others that may be even more important. Looking into my own motivations for founding a startup I recognize my own money hunger, but even more importantly is a deep desire to create something unique and create it well. There is a real sense of satisfaction I derive from a job well-done, and I like to see that mirrored in the people around me. Whether that’s the doing of the dishes, writing an Executive Summary, or expressing an orderly line of code.
Networks, what is there to say beyond, that Rolodex is your friend?
The effect of momentum is huge. Obviously someone who will only slow the momentum is a non-starter. Startups are a time crunch. As long as the startup nomenclature applies, you can assume it is on the razors edge of sufficient capital, sufficient business, sufficient development, and greatness or extinction. A startup is a balls-to-the-wall experience, truly.
However an accelerated momentum beyond the creativity and capacity of the team is just going to lead to pain, and shoddy execution. Know what is a comfortable momentum, and then make sure you have accelerators on your team that know how to nudge it a bit beyond comfort.
Company direction. Strategy. Everybody loves to strategize. Just make sure to bring on someone who is smarter than you at this, or don’t waste your time and just fill the role yourself. But opt for that smarter person.
And equity, everybody wants it. The C-Levels of the company need skin in the game and that’s equity allocation. Equity of 1-2% is pretty standard for a CEO level position in a company with a competitive salary. In a lean startup post financing, a lack of competitive salary has to be equalized with a larger stake, there’s no other way around it. Considering a $20 million valuation, 10% equity is generous. (If your working on the right problem with the right effort, it’s not too hard to get to a $20 million valuation.)
I really think we have amazing talent at Doubloon, by considering these questions on top of all the normal questions. Pick up great talent immediately, but when in doubt, feel pain and wait for talent.
Well, it’s time to crank out the blog again. I figure no one ever reads the first post, so I’ll just write out some fluff about myself.
Who am I? Well, my name is in the URL. It’s a unique combination of letters as far as names go, so I don’t have any identification problems like my friend Doug Wyatt.
I’ve worked in, or with, a number of startups over the years. I love startups. They are a balls-to-the-wall experience of challenge and growth.
Previously, I worked in various digital video, automated trading, security, and game development startups. Doubloon is my current love (startup) and it’s heavy enough on talent and light enough on bullshit to really make it big time.
I’ve had a number of blogs over the years. Like most of the 133 million + other blogs out there, I’ve written blogs for fame and fortune and have gained neither from the experience. I’m not foolish enough to think this time will be any different… but if it is I’ll welcome it with open arms and hubris.
I’m a nerd for tech, but who isn’t that writes a blog?
… what else can I say about myself? A lot, but if you’re interested you’ll just have to tuck the RSS feed away and read the posts as they come. The Olympics are on and Curling is bizarrely entertaining for having such a boring premise.