The Hard Part is Getting Started (Startups Phase I, Part 3)
The Player Support Newsletter - 27 AUG 2025
Noteworthy News
Gmail’s New Encrypted Email Service is Also an Attack Vector for Non-Gmail Users - End-to-end encryption offers an additional layer of security for messages sent over the internet and Google is adding a similar option to their business clients. In general, this is a good thing, but the challenge is the UX for non-Gmail users, as fraudsters can easily generate a fake prompt to steal your credentials. Make sure to carefully check that you know the sender, and that the email is not spoofed before clicking on anything!
Nintendo Switch 2 Maintains Strong Demand - Nintendo has received 2.2 million applications to purchase the new system in Japan, and has been clear that they will not be able to fill demand in the initial launch. This is good news amid the uncertainties cause by the Trump Tariffs, as is the unchanged US price of $449.99. Let’s hope US-Japan trade relations normalize soon.
Resident Evil 4 Remake Sells Over 10 Million Copies - while I do love Resident Evil and really enjoyed RE4 in particular, I am concerned that we are seeing the consequences of following the Hollywood model of entertainment production. There are so many parallels that it’s scary. I hardly want to watch anything Hollywood puts out anymore, and in a similar way in games I am much more drawn to indies or foreign studios these days.
Introduction: The Hard Part is Getting Started
A services business where you intend to build large teams of people is very difficult to get started. Besides the capital requirements and the initial planning, timing has a lot of question marks. In particular, if you do not have a client lined up with which to start your business, things can easily get depressing. For me, some parts of it felt very much like the question of the chicken and egg. When should I get an office? How large does it need to be? At which point should a function be brought entirely in-house? And so on.
I had no clear idea of when I would get my first client, but I knew I needed to hire a human resources administrator before the conversation started. How do you correctly time an event for which you have many possibilities that lay not only outside of your control, but your knowledge? You can’t, really, but what you can do is move forward with an approach I call, “Which One is Worse?”
In this week’s post, I will teach you how to play this game.
Why You Should Learn How to Play “Which One is Worse”
When you have too many important variables that you do not control, you still need a method for decision making, especially if time is short. Video game companies tend to contact us in some state of transition or crisis, so the demands can often be extreme, bordering on unhealthy for humans. (The majority of my career is on the other side of the fence, so I am always quite apologetic about the circumstances from which we had to start from.) It is, however, no use crying over what should’ve been. We must face the challenges as they are before us.
How could I be ready for some chaos without being completely chaotic about how I build the company?
What would enable the agility and speed we needed to start without leaving too much idle time (building bad habits and demotivating early employees), and without burning too much money?
Which One is Worse can help you navigate through your anxieties, helping you maintain positive forward momentum.
How to Play “Which One is Worse?”
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