waru

Thanks for replying. So income that is not revenue. That makes sense.

Some backers chose to receive nothing, though, so for them its not even a transaction, just a donation, I guess. It's more complicated than just selling items, even though it looks like that on the surface.

This is not exactly what you're looking for, but 99designs.com is a neat site.

I used to enjoy conceptart.org, too, but haven't checked it much lately.

To clarify, I don't think marketing or a business model are optional, and I don't expect to have a hit or a small successful business without them. I would like to try something unconventional, so we'll see.

Well, I didn't necessarily mean being a rock star or the next Angry Birds, but there is a general sweet spot of "cool, desirable product" that I want to hit.

You mean that with a good marketing strategy and a self-sustaining business model, we don't need to have "the next big thing" in order to support ourselves and do this full-time, right?

Do you know any small indie games that succeeded because of an amazing marketing strategy and NOT because of word-of-mouth/social media and the fact that their game is really, really fun?

Contacting webcomics was a good idea; thanks. I have already been thinking about cross-promotion through webcomics, too.

It is kind of an all-or-nothing proposition. We just have to hit that sweet spot of a really cool product/game/characters.

And I agree that being a "cool start-up" has some advantage over corporations, too.

Well, games can't be priced less than 50 cents. What you're suggesting seems to be strictly prohibited by Apple, so that developers can't get around it. They always get 30%, it seems.

I don't expect our first game to necessarily be a hit, but we'll be working towards what I explained above. It'll probably take time to build up to your 1, 2, and 3 (unless we get lucky and they all resolve in our favor).

Still working on that, but making a really fun game seems more important than anything else, since popular iPhone games spread quickly by word of mouth and social networks.

I don't expect to jump straight to the level of Japanese corporate networks, but it's an area that deserves further exploration. I think that the "cross-platform mega-success" and "merchandise of awesome characters" model can be used at lower levels, too.

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

That looks awesome. Is there a resource online to find all the start-up/tech incubators in Europe, or the world? I'll be traveling in Europe soon and would love to visit more places like this. Thank you!

That's funny, I'm in Kyoto now and just saw his "Eggs of Moebius" on Youtube. Thanks.

I had never thought about it in exactly that kind of way, of artists being researchers just like scientists, but I have to say I totally agree. Thanks for the links; Lights On! was mesmerizing.

Thanks, I'm not in the Bay Area now but planning to move there in the next year. I'll definitely be looking more into both of those.

Thanks, I appreciate all the links and information. Flight404 looks really neat.

Could you explain what you mean about YC not "fitting" with what a video game developer needs?

That looks like a really interesting company, thanks!

I don't want to get downvoted, but is it ok to post just to say thank you, even though it doesn't add to the discussion?

kickstarter.com is full of people and projects that need many small investments like that. You usually get lots of goodies from them in the process, too. Good luck, and thanks for your generosity!

Sorry, to post on a days old topic, but I found it! The Y Combinator of art is this: http://creative-capital.org/aboutus/mission

The only thing is that you need a few years working as a professional artist to qualify, but besides that it sounds like it fits the bill.

"The Amber Chronicles" by Roger Zelazny (It's actually a series of 10 novels, but they can be bought together in one massive book. It's the most original and creatively exciting thing I've ever read.)

"The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Giving the artist money and maybe introducing them to people in the art world would be great, but what would the Y Combinator of art do in place of the start-up bootcamp for three months? What would artist bootcamp be?

I think it would be pretty difficult to come up with some kind of three month course to improve the quality of your art (that is as productive as what happens in the real YC), but you could teach artists how to market themselves, I guess. Lots of artists aren't good at that.

I think it would work for artists interested in working commercially, to help them get skills for whatever field they wanna go into, learning how to market themselves, and getting connections. For fine artists who just want to show their stuff in galleries and museums, I don't know how useful it would be, besides the money.

What were you imagining for the "YC of art"?

I have lived in three cities in Japan for the last three years, and strongly recommend Kyoto. I think most people want to live in Tokyo if they come to Japan, but I think Kyoto is one of the best cities in the world. It's beautiful, has an amazing laid-back atmosphere, and is full of interesting events and things as it is the cultural capital of Japan.

The only problem is that you get a lot more out of Japan if you speak Japanese. Not many people here are very good at English. There's plenty of expats, though. Everyone I know who has visited Kyoto temporarily as a tourist or student has loved it and wanted to stay as long as possible.

There are English teaching jobs aplenty in Japan, but many have low pay and not so great conditions. As long as you're not from America, you can come on a working holiday. (I'm American so I came here with a job on the JET (Japan Exchange Teaching) Program. It pays a lot but usually places you in the country-side, not a sweet place like Kyoto.)

Personally, I think living abroad is one of the best, most educational things you can do for yourself. If I could run my own country, I'd require all citizens to live abroad for at least one year.

Good luck, and have fun on your adventure!

Well, the powerful thing about intuition is that you actually can intuit something totally new. Of course it draws on past experiences, but it can connect past experiences and solutions in new ways, to create a brand new solution. So, I think intuition is not as simple as being a faster way of pulling out an old solution.

I, for one, often struggle to explain to others why my gut feeling is right, but it often is.