Key Moments
Desining from Day One: Artists as Founders: Multiverse (S20) - YC Gaming Tech Talks 2020
Y CombinatorKey Moments
Artists, particularly those building independent followings on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, possess entrepreneurial skills comparable to tech founders, making them valuable assets for startups looking to create compelling content and test market appeal.
Key Insights
Multiverse, a gaming startup, aims to create a visual online experience for tabletop RPGs, akin to a mix between Dungeons & Dragons and Roblox.
Illustrators, especially those active on social media platforms, demonstrate entrepreneurial skills by earning significant income from commissions and crowdfunding, with Kickstarters raising millions and platforms like Patreon offering recurring revenue.
Artists from independent and 'scrappier' backgrounds (e.g., Twitch, YouTube creators) are often more suited for startup environments than those from large AAA studios, as they are accustomed to building audiences from scratch.
Including an artist with an entrepreneurial mindset on a founding team can significantly accelerate content creation, enabling rapid prototyping of visual assets like trailers to test audience engagement quickly and relatively cheaply.
Startup founders looking to recruit artists should seek them out on platforms like Twitter, ArtStation, Twitch, and YouTube, rather than solely relying on traditional professional networks like LinkedIn.
The financial compensation and creative control offered by tech startups can be highly appealing to freelance artists, often exceeding independent earnings and providing greater resources for high-production-value art.
Multiverse: Bridging tabletop RPGs with online experiences
Multiverse, a Y Combinator S20 alum, is developing a platform for next-generation tabletop role-playing games (RPGs). Their vision is to combine the narrative depth of games like Dungeons & Dragons with the visual interactivity of platforms like Roblox, creating an online, streamable experience for players. This involves not only building a platform but also creating content and a marketplace, enabling anyone to contribute their own stories and creations. The founding team, composed of two MIT engineers and Sarah, a world-class artist, aimed to share their unique experience of integrating an artist into a tech-focused founding team, questioning whether this model should be more widespread.
The unique challenges of game development in tech
Developing games presents distinct challenges for tech founders accustomed to traditional problem-solving and customer feedback loops. Unlike social products where immediate launch-and-test strategies are common, games are entertainment products that require a strong, compelling point of view from the outset. Foundational decisions must be made without immediate user reaction, demanding a high degree of intuition and trust in the vision. This is particularly true for companies aiming to build media-like entertainment franchises, where a deep understanding of entertainment value and artistic direction is crucial from day one. The success of entities like Riot Games, which also operates as a media company, underscores the importance of this aspect.
Artists as entrepreneurs: Beyond the canvas
Sarah, a co-founder and creative director at Multiverse, highlighted how artists, particularly illustrators, possess entrepreneurial skill sets often overlooked by the tech industry. She pointed out that many illustrators active on social media are effectively running their own businesses, earning significant income (e.g., $10k-$40k from comic cons) and successfully crowdfunding projects, with some Kickstarters yielding millions. Platforms like Patreon and Twitch subscriptions represent recurring revenue models that artists manage daily. These artists often maintain established audiences and networks within the creative community, providing startups with instant access to talent pools and community momentum. This perspective suggests that artists are not just content creators but active business operators.
Scrappy creators over AAA talent for startups
A key observation highlighted by Sarah is that artists with 'scrappier' backgrounds, those who build their own audiences on platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Instagram from scratch, often make more successful entrepreneurial partners than those coming from established AAA studios (e.g., artists from Riot or Blizzard). While AAA artists bring specialized skills, they are accustomed to large studio structures and established pipelines. In contrast, independent creators are adept at managing limited resources, directly engaging with their audience, and iterating rapidly – skills that align closely with the demands of a startup environment. For recruiting from small to mid-size teams, targeting these self-made creators is highly recommended.
Navigating the growing pains of interdisciplinary teams
Integrating an artist like Sarah into a tech-focused startup like Multiverse involved a period of adjustment for both parties. Sarah initially lacked the technical vocabulary common in startup circles, requiring her team to explain concepts like 'B2B SaaS' and acknowledge that she was unfamiliar with foundational figures in tech. For the artist transitioning from freelance to a company structure, the shift involved adapting to faster timelines, rapid decision-making, and accommodating a larger product development team. However, this process was mutually beneficial, as the artist's ability to quickly produce compelling visual assets like illustrations and trailers provided a crucial means for testing audience reception and validating product direction early on.
Art as a rapid validation tool for startups
The ability of artists to rapidly produce high-quality visual content, such as trailers and illustrations, offers a significant advantage for startups. These assets can be created relatively cheaply compared to full product development, enabling companies to gauge audience interest and product-market fit quickly. Multiverse found that investor interest was heavily swayed by their compelling trailer, demonstrating the power of visual marketing. This makes pre-production art not just about aesthetics but a strategic tool for validation and fundraising, significantly reducing the risk of developing the wrong product by testing concepts visually before committing extensive resources.
Financial incentives and talent acquisition channels
The transition to working at a tech startup offers considerable financial advantages for artists, with budgets and pay often significantly higher than in independent freelance work. For tech companies, this means they can often afford top-tier artistic talent and achieve high production values, which has been a major advantage for Multiverse. Furthermore, finding these artists requires looking beyond traditional platforms like LinkedIn, as many independent creators are not actively present or proficient there. Instead, founders should explore platforms where artists actively engage with their communities, such as Twitter, ArtStation, Twitch, and YouTube, and utilize relevant hashtags like #portfolio day, #womenartists, and #POCinplay to discover emerging talent.
Artists as co-founders: A strategic integration
The core argument presented by Multiverse is that illustrators and artists possess the same fundamental skills expected of tech founders: understanding what people want and delivering it. By integrating artists not just as employees but as co-founders ('on the cap table'), startups can leverage their unique perspectives and capabilities. This strategic inclusion fosters a more balanced and creative product development process, where artistic vision is integral from the inception of the company. The experience of Multiverse suggests that embracing artists as core team members can lead to compelling products, attract investment, and ultimately drive startup success.
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Artists as Founders: Key Takeaways
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Common Questions
Multiverse is creating next-generation tabletop RPGs, designed to be a blend of Dungeons & Dragons and Roblox. Their platform aims to offer a visual, online experience for games traditionally played on paper and in imagination, allowing friends to play and stream together.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
A platform used as a point of comparison for Multiverse's vision; Multiverse aims to be a mix between this platform and Dungeons & Dragons.
Identified as a platform where artists are typically not found; the speaker advises looking for artists on platforms where they build their own audiences instead.
A platform where artists often run their own businesses and build recurring revenue through fan support, similar to how tech companies consider recurring revenue.
A company creating next-generation tabletop RPGs, described as a mix between D&D and Roblox, aiming to turn imaginative games into visual online experiences for friends to stream and play. They are also building a marketplace and are the first creators on their platform.
Mentioned as an example of a company that, like Multiverse, also functions as a media and entertainment company, requiring strong entertainment value and an artist's intuition.
Sarah worked on projects for Marvel prior to co-founding Multiverse, showcasing her experience in the creative industry.
A startup accelerator program that Multiverse participated in during the W20 batch. Sarah mentions her growing pains in understanding startup terminology while being there, even not knowing who Paul Graham was.
A streaming platform mentioned as an example of a successful gaming company that is primarily a platform, not a content creator. It's also a place where artists build audiences and gain recognition.
A key platform where artists build their audiences and are discoverable for startups, recommended for recruitment. Hashtags like #PortfolioDay and #POCinPlay are mentioned.
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