Business Lessons from sucessful entrepreneurs and business leaders: LunchLearning.com

Reading time: 4 - 6 minutes

Total Video Time: 28 minutes 20 seconds

Today I want to switch things up a bit and present a person who used savvy business skills to turn her dream into a reality. That person is Felicia Day and If you’ve ever played an online RPG or if you know which color kryptonite makes Superman go crazy then you probably already know who I’m talking about. If you you’re asking, “What do rocket propelled grenades have to do with video games?” or “There’s more than one color of kryptonite?” that’s OK, let me explain my point. Felicia has done a fantastic job of marketing her popular web series The Guild to a niche group of…well, for a lack of a better term, nerds. The Guild is a show about six online gamers who must band together online and offline to help keep each other out of trouble. Whether she knows it or not, Felicia used smart business sense to create a show that caters to the needs of her niche. Here are just a few ways Felicia turned her zeal for online games into a successful business venture.

1. Passion - This is the most important part of making a business successful. As you watch as she explains the origins of The Guild, it’s easy to see that Felicia truly loves her craft.
2. Customer Service (the fans) - Felicia knows who her fan base is and knows what they want. In the video she describes how using a web series format was perfect for reaching her target audience. Even the interview at BlizzCon, a huge gaming convention, shows that she knows which events are important for circulating information to her fans.
3. Realistic - She works within her budget and doesn’t try to spread her self too thin when it comes to costs. In the interview, she discusses how she filmed in her house to minimize the overhead.
4. Growth - Felicia has a successful show on her hands and she knows that if she wants to grow her brand she needs to expand her footprint. Her cross platform content like The Guild comic book and The Guild music video insures that her brand will stay fresh and appealing to her current fans and attract new ones.

For those of you not familiar with how the gaming industry works some of the video’s content might be hard to understand. Don’t focus so much on the specifics, but focus on the big ideas; like the energy and drive it took to create a show from scratch or how Felicia answers every question with enthusiasm indicating her love for the subject matter. I hope this video will inspire new entrepreneurs and perhaps invigorate old ones to follow their passions.

Happy learning and Game On!

Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes

Video Time:  6 minutes 7 seconds

Seventeen year old Chicagoan, Zoë Damacela is the personification of every entrepreneurial dream. Humble beginnings, huge Chutzpah, loads of talent and the innate ability to see past any obstacles in her path.

She serves not only as an inspiration to budding entrepreuenuers everywhere, but to those of us already knee-deep in the game. Her efforts have taken her from 8 year old greeting card designer to fashion impresario selling her wares and gaining the attention of Chicago entrepreneurs like Larry Levy, of Levy Restaurants, and Joe Mansueto of Morningstar. Not a bad deal.

As Crain’s Chicago business puts it, Zoë Damacela’s story, “isn’t about success, it’s about the power of entrepreneurship.” Amen to that. Enjoy the video! To get the video to play, you’ll have to click the “play” button in the upper right corner of the player, just off to the side. . .where you’ll see Zoe at her machine and the “play” button. . .

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