There is a video game project that I am interested in and I don't have much of a background in CS or coding but have conceptual ideas about how to improve this game. I work in an industry that it is designed to be used by so I do feel like I could provide meaningful contribution. My goal would be to give the creator all of the money they need to finish the project, and get some of the features I would like to be included.

What sort of stake would I expect in a situation like that? I don't want to approach them and seem like a scammer or random creep so I will do a lot of research on this before making first contact. I just have no idea where to begin. I feel like this sort of partnership must have happened thousands of times over the past decade so I'm hoping someone has some experience or can point me towards some important information to expedite my research.

I am asking for advice on the following

-How to approach the creator and find out of this is a possibility.

-How to safely (in a legal sense) enter an agreement over the internet as an "investor"

-I know there are some developers here so what kind of solicitation would you receive well?

1/2/2020 3:15:09 AM

just approach the dev and say you'd like to contract some improvements. pretty common request

1/2/2020 2:22:36 PM

i've done some angel investing - you should be looking for a convertible promissory note or a SAFE agreement

smoothcrim is correct that you should just approach

1/2/2020 2:49:32 PM

I have done some angel investing, too, although as part of an organized angel group, so they handle all the contracts and legal stuff. The SAAS projects I've invested in were all much more mature than what you appear to be describing, too. Personally, I wouldn't invest in such a nascent project, only because there's just little reason to as an investor nowadays--it doesn't take a lot of capital to get something like this started nowadays, and there are plenty of others to invest in that are much more established. If I did invest in something in such a stage of infancy, I would demand an absolute king's ransom in equity...but maybe you're in it for more than just an investment.

A discounted convertible note is a pretty common vehicle, but not the only way. It depends on the situation.

There are some sorta boilerplate-type forms/deal structures/contracts that I believe are put out by the American Venture Capital Association...but they're probably waaaaaay overkill for your purposes. I think http://www.gust.com has a greatly simplified version that might be more suitable.

[Edited on January 2, 2020 at 10:40 PM. Reason : ]

1/2/2020 10:29:09 PM

A couple of books on the subject:

Angel Investing, by David Rose (founder of Gust.com, which he incessantly plugs throughout the book. Still, it's worth a read/listen. I've also never used Gust, but I bet they have some good resources for you.

Angel: How To Invest In Technology Startups, by Jason Calacanis (a fairly well-known "super-angel.) I enjoyed this book more, although the first book probably has a little more detail on the various types of deal structures (convertible notes, etc).

Both books are on Audible if you want that instead of print.

1/2/2020 10:33:47 PM

Would love to know which project it is and how much money we're talking. Are they making money? Are they struggling? It just sounds like a publishing relationship but where you want a good bit of control and they might not want to give up creative control.

IANAL, but as a game dev I think email is fine for reaching out. They're probably used to getting spammed by publishers so you might want to emphasize you're a real person interested in their particular project. You might need to follow up a couple times if they don't respond at all.

1/3/2020 12:22:55 AM

Thanks for all of the information thus far!

1/4/2020 2:39:23 PM