How much mentors are important for indie maker?
As a indie maker, do you have mentors that help you in product growth or in the career growth?
How do they help you? Like to here some experience from fellow makers.
As a indie maker, do you have mentors that help you in product growth or in the career growth?
How do they help you? Like to here some experience from fellow makers.
Hi Keyul, I think mentors are incredibly helpful when trying to start a business or project.
1 on 1 feedback or discussion from an experienced person in your project's field is very scarce on the internet, in my opinion. A mentor can give tailored insight and information about your project, but they can also give you something less tangible or findable - confidence.
It is easy to research information and learn from forum discussions about relevant topics, but this doesn't usually give me a sense that I'm doing anything correctly, at least in my experience.
Confidence can help you get started on the right path faster, prioritize tasks/goals better, and worry less that something is going to go wrong.
Thanks @singlecolor How do you pick the right mentor?
We have just been open to talking to new people online about our game and business. We have also sought out advice when we felt stuck, which led to finding some mentors. Here are 4 ways we found some mentors:
Talk to the people around you - I heard that a co-worker started their own physical product side business and I wanted to know how that worked for my own projects. I asked them a few questions and then treated them to lunch to talk more in depth. I met another co-worker that had experience with startups and also got lunch with him and he gave great advice.
Just be outgoing and open to talk about your game (wait till after Covid unfortunately I guess). We went to a board game cafe and met someone in the games industry who is now a good friend and helped us figure some things out. Just gotta talk about your project, it's surprising how many people might respond.
Seek out mentorships specifically. I joined a mailing list for game devs that emailed out all upcoming helpful events. One was a mentorship program so I applied. We got connected to 6 different mentors from biz, marketing, design, other fields for free. Got about an hour of their time each, invaluable. One of them is now an active contact.
Ask people online directly if they have some time for a call. People in this community respond very positively and are incredibly generous with their time.
essential, i'd say. without mentors / coaches (and they are different!) i wouldn't be half as far as i am today.