20s↑ interviewed Gian Cruz to discuss his life after leaving his full-time job with AOL to create an iPhone game company.  We talk with Gian about his motivations, finances, and experience creating his own company.  Gian’s answers are summarized below, but you can listen to the full podcast by clicking the “play” button at the end of this article, and make sure to check out his new game, Bongo Blitz.  As a special bonus, 20s↑ readers can receive a special promo for Gian’s game by reading ahead.

20s↑: Can you give me a quick 2 or 3 sentence background on Bongo Blitz.

Gian: Bongo Blitz is a music game that’s a lot like Rock Band drums, but it’s easier and a lot more fun.  To expand on that a little bit, it’s the spiritual successor to Donkey Konga, but that’s only relevant to people that know what Donkey Konga is.

20s↑: “Spiritual successor” – I like that.

Gian: Yeah, that’s the elevator pitch.  I generally tell everyone it’s like Rock Band, but it’s easier because there are only two pads to worry about, and it’s more fun, in all honesty I think it’s more fun.  But I’m biased!

20s↑: So when did you guys come up with the idea for Bongo Blitz?

Gian: Well, the idea to make iPhone stuff actually came about first.  My partner and I, Kris (this is a two man team), kept reading articles about people being so successful in iPhone stuff, and Kris said, “I could totally do that.  I don’t have any ideas, but I could totally do that.”  I have a big gamer’s background with a passion for video games, so we talked it over a bit and decided to try and make an iPhone game.  This was December of 2008.  That’s when we made our company.

20s↑: And your company’s name is?

Gian: Feel Every Yummy!  It’s probably the most obscure or quirky name we could come up with, which could be detrimental to our brand, but we actually don’t care.  We want our products to speak for themselves, and we could have named our company anything, as long as our products are good.

20s↑: A lot of our readers have their own ambition and would love to stop working for someone else, you essentially decided to go full time on your game and forego some salary.  Can you explain what you were thinking when you did that and how that worked out for you?

Gian: Our idea for Bongo Blitz came around in January of 2009.  Come November or December of 2009, we had been working on it part time, and it had only come 40-50% of the way, and that SUCKED!  I wanted this game to be out so much sooner than that, but we couldn’t get it done, I had obligations with my job, and the only way I could see this working was if I gave it a fair shot.

For me personally, I had to make this my full-time commitment.  I would definitely say to your readers – don’t try to do anything unless you have a good backup plan or safety net.  For me, it was a risky move, but it was a risky move with a safety net, and my safety net was severance.  I had the opportunity for me to leave my full time job and get 3 months severance.  If I didn’t have that opportunity, I’m pretty sure I would still be with AOL right now.  I personally don’t have many savings to speak of, but if I did, I would have left AOL a long time ago.  For someone that’s in a similar situation, someone that has savings for 4 or 6 months, take that risk, because it’s not really a risk, it’s a calculated risk.

For me, essentially, AOL would be paying me to do this full-time.  For me, that opportunity was exciting.  I loved working for AOL, working for AIM and being a designer for AIM was great, so it was a tough decision to leave the company, but it was a decision I had to make because I was 25 at the time and I really have my whole life ahead of me.  This is the time to take a risk, and it’s only a calculated risk, so it’s not that bad.  I’m not going to go into poverty if this doesn’t work out.  But if you have an idea, or if you have something else you wish you were doing instead, do whatever you can to do it, but set up a safety net so you don’t stress out about it.

20s↑: So at any time in the past few months have you ever regretted leaving?

Gian: Nooo.  Even though my 3 months severance has passed and my income is done, I don’t regret it.  I may have to find some temp work to get some income, but I am still gung-ho about this company.  My financial goal is to make sure this company can make enough money to last me and Kris the rest of the year, but if it doesn’t work out, I just go look for a different company.  But if it starts to blow up, maybe we can hire someone else to help us, maybe we can get VC funding.  The possibilities are endless and it’s so exciting for me, so no regrets for me.  The past three months have been pretty much the most fulfilling three months for me, dare I say, ever.  It’s definitely a lot of hard work, I work weekends and I work late nights, but it’s definitely not stressful.  No regrets at all.

Read ahead: Balancing social life with work»

 

 Interview with Gian Cruz [27:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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