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Clarity

Adam Lieb

Seattle, WA

Started my first website @ 11 creating strategy guides for gamers. The site was acquired by IGN. I then got started in the virtual goods business, before any of us called it that. Basically I bought swords, shields, and gold in MMORPGs from gamers who had a lot of time and no money, then resold them on my website to gamers who had a lot of money but no time. That business grew and expanded into Gaming Synergies. I bootstrapped GSN to seven figures in revenue spanning our twenty-five networked sites. GSN helped put me through college @UW and my JD/MBA @ Pepperdine.

In 2012 I founded Duxter. A social network for gamers seeking to be the home for your gamer life. I am currently the CEO @ Duxter where I recruit talented folks, raise outside capital, and set the vision. I also advise a handful of startups. I love brainstorming problems, coming up with solutions, and helping others build amazing products.

$1.00/min

Adam donates to Youth Force | Great Futures Start Here ($151.08)

8 Calls

7 Reviews

31 minutes
Avg. call

Entrepreneurship Start-ups Online Marketing Business planning Business Strategy New Business Development E-commerce Negotiation Contract Negotiation Financial Analysis

Call me to talk about

Hustler Problems (Fundraising, Recruiting Etc..)

I've raised professional financing rounds for my startups, sold two companies at very early stages, negotiated a handful of acquisitions and recruited some of the most talented people in the world.

http://adamlieb.me

Answers 12
Reviews 7

Answers

Adam Lieb answered

We were advised to outsource research Qs & As for our game. Is this safe?

Not sure I fully understand the question. Q & A's you mean tips/tricks/FAQS? Or do you mean QA like quality assurance testing?

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IT Outsourcing

Game Development

Market Research

Adam Lieb answered

What is the best way of structuring an offer for our first technical hire- full time Joomla web developer?

SImple and easy. Cash + equity. Equity should be based on a vesting schedule, most common and probably most "fair"
-1 year cliff (no stock vests until he/she is with the company for a year. This prevents bad fits from walking away with a chunk of the company)
-4 year schedule
-Monthly vesting for the next 36 months

This is pretty much the gold standard for tech hires.

The % equity is going to be up to you and the new hire. Ballpark 2-3% depending on a multitude of factors. For a better benchmark, I'd recommend checking out AngelList's hiring product. You can certainly see what other companies are offering in your area in terms of cash/equity.

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Startup Law

Contract Negotiation

Fundraising

Adam Lieb answered

Does the 30% apple transaction fee apply to physical goods purchased on an app? Really need help Struggling Startup!

Any transaction that Apple processes for you will be subject to the 30% transaction fee. Any direct "in app purchase." If you have a basic eCommerce app where you sell physical products but you yourself process the payments, Apple will not take 30%.

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Apple iOS

E-commerce

E-payments

Adam Lieb answered

How do you know that you are being adequately compensated for your skills?

I am not sure if you are looking for a more abstract or philosophical answer, but I'd say benchmark it. I use AngelList's talent product when trying to figure out what the market rate (in my area) is for a giving skill set. It is a great tool for hiring, but similarly a great tool for talent looking to understand what their skills are worth.

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Compensation

People Skills

Entrepreneurship

Adam Lieb answered

What are the world leading organizations that support enterpreneurs?

UP Global http://www.up.co/ & Kaufman Foundationhttp://www.kauffman.org/ are two great organizations that support entrepreneurs. I am not sure about the services they offer and how they compare to what you are talking about, but they are a good place to start.

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Start-ups

Social Enterprise

New Business Development

Adam Lieb answered

What will give you better ROI? Sending a larger list one piece of direct mail, or sending a smaller list the same piece multiple times?

Not sure there is a definitive, one-size-fits-all answer, but I can give you my experience.

I've had much better success with multiple touch points than the single blast. I would specifically target folks who opened, but didn't click the first email, and send them a second email with a modified message.

If you have any more details, I can probably dive a bit deeper.

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Direct Mail

Marketing Strategy

Adam Lieb answered

Anyone have experience and/or best practices around community moderation; particularly for consumer social communities like Reddit and those on mobile

One of my favorite issues! My company builds community tools for gamers & game developers. I end up thinking about and dealing with these issues a lot.

Mobile communities are a completely new frontier. Frankly most of the technology is poor. The vast majority of mobile communities have been ported over from long standing web technologies.

In terms of moderation there has really been a paradigm shift away from handling it through volunteers or employees toward hiring professionals. Many firms have sprouted up to fill this void. You'll see publishers, marketing firms, PR firms, and agencies offering community management/moderation as part of their suite. There are also firms that exclusively handle this.

I could dig into this issue more with some more details. Community management is a giant topic that has really exploded recently.

I'll recommend lighthouse.io which is a community about communities!

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Social Media

User Generated Content

mobile

Adam Lieb answered

SaaS platform with 10k niche users and a large company wants to buy a custom version. How do you model a cost structure beyond hourly?

Great question, I've dealt with this exact same issue. I've found the best way to look at this problem is by analyzing the problem you are solving for this "lighthouse." Is this something they would build anyway? If so, how much would it cost? Anything less than that is probably a win for them. Is this a nice to have, or a need to have for them? Are they price sensitive? How do they usually pay for this type of product/service?

If you are able to answer these questions it should help you figure out the best pricing model (up front cost + hosting, monthly service, per user/group etc..). It sounds like you have something pretty valuable that they want. I think pricing it based on "modification" is selling yourself short. If you solve a big business pain for them, they should be willing to pay you something non-trivial. My hunch modification pricing would be trivial for you.

Sounds like a great opportunity for you and your company, don't sell yourself short. You'll never get a price that you don't ask for.

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SaaS - Enterprise & SMB B2B

Deal Making

Business Strategy

Adam Lieb answered

Getting ready to set up the LLC for my software startup. Any recommendations? I live in CA but looking at basing it out of Arizona or Delaware. Thx!

If you are ever planning to raise outside capital from investors, I'd strongly recommend a Delaware C corp. If you are planning to own/operate it yourself, stick with an LLC in your home state.

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Legal Advice

Legal

Start-ups

Adam Lieb answered

How Do You Predict Where You Will Be At the End of 2014? And what is your process including use of apps for setting and achieving goals in 2014?

A ton. The quantified self is just starting to creep into the enterprise world. Traditional project management tools are morphing into data machines that turn out our goals and accomplishments.

I agree completely with your assertion about being caught up in the tool not the result. I think it is early days for some of these products. They are still evolving and becoming simpler. For whatever reason enterprise products have evolved a bit more slowly than consumer counterparts. Products like FitBit are unbelievable consumer tools to help track goals/achievements around health. We will be seeing more and more of these tools for enterprise.

To answer your question personally: Our team uses GitHub, Teambox, and RelateIQ to collect data about our goals and achievements. We then feed those data pipes into a homebrew solution built around individual projects. We use the OKR system for goal management, which we power with the data mentioned above.

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Time Management

Entrepreneurship

Technology

Adam Lieb answered

I have an iOS app. A web based startup contacted me by phone about a possible merger or acquisition. Anything I should do in these early stages?

Can't help you with the "fit" question. That is really something you are going to have to decide. The best thing you can do is spend time with the founder and folks you would be working with. See if your visions align and if you actually want to work together.

From a logistics standpoint, deals that stage are usually pretty simple. If you are a solo and have no assets (other than the code/app) the deal could happen pretty quickly/easily. Likely you'll just be negotiating on salary + equity. You will do a simple asset purchase agreement to get all of your code/assets into the new company.

If you don't have any investors or employees this should be pretty simple.

The one thing I'd be careful of is this contingent investment. It sounds a little precarious to me. If the investor is concerned about a mobile strategy, and their solution is just to "hire" or "acquire" you, that will likely be a red flag. I'd make sure the deal makes sense for you with or without this investor. The last thing you'd want to do is make a deal and then have that new company go under because they can't raise cash.

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Start-ups

Mergers & Acquisitions

Mobile applications

Reviews

Adam provided direct and actionable advice for our team. We will be scheduling a follow up call(s) with him again.

mike blicker Source: Clarity

Adam was extremely helpful with his advice and suggestions for our business. He took us through scenarios that we need to consider for the revenue model as well as the need to look into regulatory compliance to address potential concerns by others. Thanks Adam!
David / BorrowFlex

Borrow Flex Source: Clarity

Very valuable and productive call with Adam. He knows a lot about the game industry and gamers. That's what I needed. Thanks!

Christian Baudry Source: Clarity

Adam provided an enormous of insight into my project. I am looking forward to next steps.

Dewitt Robinson Source: Clarity

Adam quickly grasped our concept, listened to our pain points, asked great questions, and delivered passionate and highly practical advice while offering his continued support. Highly recommended!

Jan Sauer Source: Clarity

Adam is whip smart with good business instincts, and is well-respected and well-liked by his peers.
Highly recommend!

Gia Honnen-Weisdorn Source: LinkedIn

Adam is a unique breed of entrepreneur that is both a visionary and great at execution including hands on technology development. For those fortunate to work with Adam, he is a team player and natural leader. His track record is already enviable but I believe he will accomplish even greater things as an entrepreneur and businessman.

Kyle C. Murphy Source: LinkedIn

Member since May 2012