One of the big question marks I have always had about a website like conrohl.com is; how do you monetize it?

There are a few options; you can charge people to play it, you can depend on add revenue, or you can do a hybrid of "pay to play." With any of these options you will see benefits and drawbacks.

If you charge to play the drawback is rather obvious. It is going to be incredibly difficult to be a start up game with no name brand and get people to try it for free. If we charged people to play it would pretty much insure that we never got off the ground. Longer term if the game catches on we may be able to toy with a pay to play model on the game and on any future game we create.

Google makes it relatively easy for websites like ours to make money through selling ad space...once you have traffic going to the site. Obviously we will not be able to count on any add revenue anytime soon. We do think we will take advantage of this model at some point, but we do not think it will be our primary revenue source.

The final option is a hybrid of pay to play. This is really what we want to do. You will be able to play the game for free if you want, but you will be able to pay for things that will give you an advantage over the free-players. This is a dangerous model and it needs to be done correctly. We could very easily scare away many users if they think you have to pay something to have a chance to be successful in the game. The advantage gained in paying has to be enough to entice people to use is but not so much that it scares people away from trying the game.

Making money on the game will likely be an iterative process with some trial and error involved but we are confident we are taking the best approach there is.

-Brett

Just a heads up to everyone that I am currently developing around the leader contract creation and completion which takes place in the Academy and Intel buildings. So beware the bugs when in those areas.

-frizzle

So I am actually simultaneously working on a few companies. I started a blog on the process of starting a company at scrubadoo.com/blog and this is one of the posts from it. I thought it was very applicable for conrohl.com as well.

Before I get into this I realize that classifying anything into two groups is very difficult and there are always going to be those people that are both, none, or any combination of the two. That being said I have had the distinct opportunity to meet many people over the last few years with entrepreneurial aspirations and I have found that people usually fall into one of two categories; accidental idea people and entrepreneurs at heart.

An accidental idea person is someone who are happy doing whatever it is they are doing but while in their normal everyday routine they come up with an idea that turns them on to entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur at heart is someone who knows they want to do their own thing and while they may be in a normal job they are always looking for the right idea or opportunity to break out into the realm of self-employment. There are those lucky few that both want to be entrepreneurs and have a great idea at exactly the right time but I have found that those are the exceptions and not the rule. Neither road is easy and both groups have major mountains to climb.

I would say that the majority of entrepreneurs initially fall into the same category as me, an entrepreneur at heart (or at least most of the people I have run in my circles). I can't tell you the number of times I have had a conversation that basically goes like this: "I want to start my own company but I just don't have a good idea and I am just not an idea guy." In fact, these words have come out of my mouth on more than one occasion.

I now think about this statement and although there is definitely some validity to it, I mostly think it is b.s. There are a ton of ideas out there that you can be successful with, you don't need to come up with the next iPod. Look at conrohl.com or scrubadoo.com, in no way are we reinventing anything. We are taking in idea in a market we like that has a ton of players and we are going to try and do it better. There are thousands of good ideas out there you may need to network and talk to people that have them (find an accidental idea guy) but they are out there.

I think the biggest issue with this group is the risk. Entrepreneurship is difficult and stressful. Especially when you are comfortable or have other options on the table that you know would insure your continued stability. I have a theory that every one in this group needs a catalyst that makes them stop talking and actually take the leap (and very few people that talk actually do take the leap).

For me business school was my catalyst. I left a comfy job that I was succeeding in to go to business school. In my mind I justified the move as a catalyst to my entrepreneurial aspirations. I was afraid if I stayed at a cushy job I truly enjoyed with a company and people I still respect and invest in for too much longer I would never have the guts to go for it and start my own thing. So I left and went to school with the plan to start a company before I left. I had no ideas but I had the drive. Even while at school I felt the pressure of the money and stability of the more traditional job tracks. I interviewed with a ton of companies and was extremely close to accepting an offer from a consulting firm.

The point is, is that it is very difficult for entrepreneurs at heart to make that leap and take all the risks associated with it. The risks and stress certainly aren't for everyone and there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with going the more traditional route. For my entire life I have believed I would run my own company and I know how difficult for me it was to take the leap. I am pretty sure my story is fairly common and to anyone with a similar conundrum I would say this: Understand the risks, cover your ass, but then just do it. You will never know unless you try and lets be honest you can probably always get a similar cushy job again but can you always sell scrubs to health-care professionals or open a quick service dumpling shop (another company I am working on).

For those accidental idea people I admittedly don't have as much advice or experience in this area but I think it comes down to many of the same things. You need to learn, or find people that know, how to turn your idea into a business. Just like my group you just need to give it a shot. Do it in an intelligent way that subjects you to a level of risk that you are comfortable with but do it.

I apologize for the long post but I really do want to encourage everyone to do it and give it a shot and "I don't have an idea" doesn't need to be something that holds you back, especially in an environment like a business school.

-Brett

So Frizzle is going to spend most of his posts on the coding and the building of the game. I am going to talk more about the business side of things. Hopefully I can give some tips for any aspiring entrepreneurs out there.

I should hopefully run through several topics that anyone building a game or business will run into.

My background is in commercial banking and I have always been on the business side of things. I recently finished school at UVA's Darden School of Business and I have been trying to start out on my own for as long as I can remember. Conrohl is one of the paths I am heading down.

You can always feel free to email me as I truly enjoy speaking and helping anyone with entrepreneurial aspirations.

Just found out that the site isn't 100% Firefox compatible. Particularly the 'View Map' is all banged up and we're experiencing some alignment issues on some of the other pages. I'll add that to the to do list.

-Frank