Margaret Wallace Co-Founder / CEO margaret@rebelmonkey

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Margaret Wallace Co-Founder / CEO margaret@rebelmonkey.com. Rebel Monkey. Casual Game House. Founded in 2007. Based in New York City. Focus on the “evolution of casual games”. Co-Founded by Nicholas Fortugno. 15-person studio on-site. Before Rebel Monkey. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Margaret WallaceCo-Founder / CEO

margaret@rebelmonkey.com

Founded in 2007Casual Game House

Focus on the “evolution of casual games”

Based in New York City

Co-Founded by Nicholas Fortugno15-person studio on-site

Rebel Monkey

Founding Member and CEO of Skunk Studios, San Francisco

Shockwave.com

Involved in Casual Games since 1997.

Before Rebel Monkey

Mattel, Mindscape, PF.Magic

• Casual Game Industry came out of DotCom bust. Online advertising had tanked – a few innovative people were trying different things to monetize content.

• Created the conditions whereby people had to figure out other ways to monetize content.

• Downloadables were one of those things and turned out to be hugely successful

• For a content maker, it was possible to make pretty excellent revenues on downloadable games.

• Touch on ways that content is funded routed in models developed around this time.

Shifting Landscape: Then

Shifting Landscape: Now• The space has become crowded, focusing generally on

the same audience with generally the same games.

• The production values are getting higher.

• Downloadable games are more expensive to make.

• The “shelf life” of downloadable games is down.

• Consolidation

• Easy Cloning

• Traditional funding models are not allowing content creators to try as many new things as they might like.

Funding Strategies• Boot-Strap

• Work-for-Hire

• Traditional Publishing

Funding Strategies

• Strategic Partnership

• Angel Investment

• Venture Capital

In Rebel Monkey’s Case…• Strategic Partnership for Downloadable

Games….

• But had a vision for a new product that focuses on a new audience and also on different monetization models.

• Pursued all the “likely suspects” to forge a partnership around this content –

• -- to no end…

What Did We Do?Raised a $1 Million Series A Round of Venture Financing

Global Venture Capital StatisticsSource: Adeo Ressi, Founder, TheFunded.com

• US$60 Billion Annually Invested Worldwide– America, Europe, Middle East, Asia

• 3,000 Companies Funded Annually

• 3,800 VC Firms

• 16,500 Professional Venture Capitalists

Why Redpoint Ventures?Excellent Track Record in Consumer-Facing Products

Extremely knowledgeable about our industry

Asked Tough but Informed Questions

Bring Enormous Amount of Expertise to Table

Deal Terms were Fair

Up Front & Honest

Why Redpoint Ventures?We like them!

They like us!

Passed the “The Camping Test”

Can you go camping for 3 days with your VC (or any business partner) and not want to kill each other?

Fouad ElNaggar, Principal, Redpoint

14

Low HighManagement Effort

25% 50%

Time to Close 4 mn 12 mnVCs Pitched 10 60Offers Received 1 5Equity Dilution 20% 45%Amount Raised $0.5 MM > $10 MM

Raising Venture CapitalSource: Adeo Ressi, Founder, TheFunded.com

Raising Venture CapitalExpect to take anywhere from a couple of months to 1 year to raise venture capital

Expect to talk with anywhere from 10 to 30 VCs

Your elevator pitch will definitely need refining and polishing. Have a few “practice” pitches with friendly VCs before hitting the road.

Expect everyone you’ve dealt with in the game industry will be asked for a reference.

Ideally, try to have more than 1 set of deal terms to choose from

Raising Venture CapitalFind a Good Attorney

Expect to pay both your attorney and your VC’s attorney

It’s better to be introduced than to cold-call

Be as educated as possible on all the terms – do not rely on your attorney

How Will VC Money Change the Landscape?

Foster innovation

Create independence

Grow the industry

Displace the traditional hierarchies

More Information on VCsCheck out TheFunded.com

Margaret WallaceCo-Founder / CEO

margaret@rebelmonkey.com

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