Check out MoneyIsland.com — the new teaser site as part of BancVue. MoneyIsland version 1.0, which expands significantly on the existing CentsCity beta version, is set to launch at community financial institutions nationwide in September 2010.
We’re winding down our first full day in NYC for the Finovate Conference. It’s been an action-packed one and our 7-minutes on stage are less than 24 hours away (actually less than 18 hours — we’re scheduled to demo at around 3 pm EST).
The highlight of the afternoon was actually getting to check out the venue and take the stage for a rehearsal. It’s a phenomenal looking space with big screens and all the work s everywhere. A lot of time and effort has clearly been put into the planning of this event. The list of companies with which we’ll be presenting includes some heavy hitters including Mint, which was recently acquired by Intuit. And the audience is comprised of execs from Citibank, ING Direct, Wells Fargo, and other banks as well as a number of venture capitalists and influential press. This will certainly be our biggest stage to date — an opportunity that we’ve worked hard to gain and intend to make the most of.
The rehearsal went off without a hitch, which we can only suppose is a good thing (we’re actually assuming that the rehearsal was a minor disaster so as to keep us honest for tomorrow). We’re well prepared on this end and, more importantly, our innovation stands out on its own. CentsCity has a look and feel that’s distinct and our potential value to financial service institutions is tremendous.
After rehearsal, we had the opportunity to have crepes with Heather Marold Thomason of Bad Feather and Andy Hieb of Dtek Digital Media. These two companies have played major roles in the design and execution of the Skill-Life.com and CentsCity.com sites. It was a rare opportunity to sit down with them face to face. We got to talk shop (we’ve just put to print another round of 2,000 CentsCity Passports and are initiating another phase of development on the CentsCity beta that will include the introduction of our first in-world mini-game — the Ducket Dash!). And, as it turns out, all of us have dogs that we love immensely. Go Wendell!
For much of the evening, we met up with folks at a Finovate happy hour. Among the most notables were John Waupsh and Gabriel Krajicek of BancVue and FirstRoi. These guys were full of energy and personality. They had some very interesting and insightful perspectives on the industry and CentsCity’s value to financial service institutions. They also insisted that they would be hands-down the best demo tomorrow (turns out they lobbied to bring a lion on stage with them and/or a choir to hum the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”). Of course, we then let them know that they were up against a giant in CentsCity and the Skill-Life team this year — they’d have to settle on being a great opening act!
Otherwise, it was a southern-cooking dinner for the Skill-Life team. No need for details there aside from saying we tried to keep it light as much as is possible when choosing from a menu on which mac & cheese is a vegetable.
Now, it’s getting in game mode. More to come.
From Tuesday (7/21) to Thursday (7/23), we will be conducting private testing of the CentsCity Beta version. CentsCity is a fun online world where tweens learn financial skills and earn real-life rewards!
We are presently looking for a limited number of people to test drive the product. If you would like to give us feedback on CentsCity before we launch publicly, please let us know by responding to this message.
Best,
Skill-Life, Inc.
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Skill-Life, Inc.
CentsCity — http://centscity.com/ — Learn Money, Earn Rewards!
1739 East Carson St. #323
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Phone: 412-871-3713
The third time is the charm.
We just completed our third (actually our third.5) design document. Two years ago, we worked with Sidehatch Studios to complete our first design doc. One year ago, Semiotic Technologies completed our second. And, as you may remember from an earlier blog posting, we collaborated with 360KID back in December on a preliminary design doc.
Continuing to work with 360KID over the last three months, we have just wrapped up work on a more extensive design, easily the most extensive thus far. It’s a place we could not have reached without having gone through our earlier efforts at planning the user experience and art direction. The product has evolved tremendously in just a short time. It’s a very different experience than what we developed in our prototype and what we have yet to reveal on this site. Yet, we could not have possibly reached this point without having gone through earlier iterations.
As I wrote in an email to a potential funder, we have been thinking deeply about the issue of financial education, and considering how best to provide youth and adults an exciting financial education product, for some time. In recent months, since our economy has gone wild, we’ve noticed an increasing number of competitors and rising interest in this area. We’re more ready than ever to confront the challenge and seize the opportunity.
Over the next two weeks, we expect to settle on a developer with which to collaborate toward launching our Beta this summer. We have engaged in extensive dialogue with three development houses, and more recently a fourth, to turn this new design document into a real product that youth and adults acoss the country can enjoy and benefit from. Again, we’ve learned so much from the work put in over the last two years. The road ahead will be deeply informed by the journey thus far.
Stay tuned.
Over the past few weeks, we have been working closely with 360KID to develop a new art style and game mechanics for our release this summer. The goal is to strip away frivolous features that would get in the way of the experience. While we have not yet finalized our designs, the progress has been fantastic.
Stella Mae Fly is one of six mentors the player may choose as a guide in the game.
This is the new world of CentsCity, where players can explore financial secrets.
I was checking my Facebook wall this weekend and read a post from my girl Heather Marold Thomason. Heather, through her company Bad Feather, led the design of our skill-life.com site and has been one of the coolest people we’ve yet to work with. So, when she told me that the Skill-Life blog could use an update, I had to listen.
Consider this the start of a new year. I actually can’t believe this is ourfirst post since late December. It hasn’t been for lack of a lot going on. January was a whirlwind month and February is already off to a hot (though Pittsburgh has been cold as yesterday’s steel) start! We have had big decisions to make about a move to Chicago (staying in Pittsburgh) and choosing a developer (continuing to work with 360KID on game art and design). Most importantly, we recently closed an investment with a seasoned entrepreneur/angel investor who has already proven to be a key stakeholder.
More on that and other news over the next few days. Our goal is to get the home page of the Skill-Life site cleared of yesterday’s posts. It’s 2009 or bust, indeed! And Skill-Life is more set than ever to introduce CentsCity to the world and make money make sense!
On yesterday, we began working with 360KID to develop a more comprehensive game design document for Skill-Life. This will be the third game design document we have created over the last two years, the previous two having been developed in collaboration with Sidehatch Studios and Semiotic Technologies. In each instance, the Skill-Life product has evolved considerably. We are deeply committed to developing the absolute most fun and dynamic financial education product out there. Working with 360 takes us one step closer and establishes a relationship with a developer with which we expect to continue working as we build our Beta.
We were originally connected with 360KID during our search for an executive producer. Emily Treat, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment & Technology Center, presently works at 360 and will be involved with our project. Our product development guy, Todd Waits, will lead the process from Skill-Life’s end and ensure that all the pieces are in place to continue our movement forward.
For over 16 years, 360KID has been partnering with businesses and not-for-profit organizations to create award-winning products that educate as well as entertain. The company understands how kids learn and how they play, and brings experience in both the education and entertainment industries to each product developed. It has an established track record of success in both the education and entertainment arenas, including multiple awards—and three Emmy nominations! 360KIDhas previously worked with such organizations as LeapFrog, Hasbro, Simon & Schuster, the Princeton Review, National Public Radio, and the Girl Scouts of America.
Yesterday, Todd Waits and I took a one-day trip to Boston to meet with two game developers — 360KID and Metaversal Studios. It was a very productive trip during which we were able to set the foundation for work ahead.
360KID has significant experience creating products that educate and entertain youth. We were initially introduced to this company during our search for an executive producer to join the Skill-Life management team. The folks there have great insight into the youth market and can potentially support our efforts at enhancing Skill-Life’s game design and additional efforts to build our Beta.
Todd helped set up the meeting with Metaversal on short notice. The team there has created a number of great games and has already done some work on financial education for a Boston-based nonprofit with which Skill-Life has some connections.
The search for an executive producer to lead development of our Beta has been a long one. Over the last few weeks, we have had the opportunity to interview some excellent candidates. And it looks like we’re heading in the right direction with one particularly talented individual — Todd Waits.
Todd is no stranger to Skill-Life. As CEO of Semiotic Technologies, he led the team that produced our current prototype. It’s been a year since I first met with Todd at a Starbucks on East Carson (a day on which I distinctly remember getting caught in the rain and ending up drenched by the time I arrived). Over that time, we have had the opportunity to work closely together, sharing successes and overcoming challenges. Todd is intimately familiar with Skill-Life, from our program code to our mission for social impact. There is perhaps no better partner at this stage to help take our product from prototype to Beta and beyond.
Over the next month, Todd is working with Skill-Life on an interim basis. We intend to use the days ahead to hone in on our product development plans and to strengthen the Skill-Life business model. We’re spending this week meeting with developers in Boston and in Philadelphia while attending the upcoming Echoing Green conference. By next month, we’ll have an even stronger sense of where to take this company and how best to bring Todd on at a high level.
Todd Waits graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Film. While an undergraduate, he directed a crew of over twenty students and studied cinematic techniques as they relate to video game theory. As a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment & Technology Center, Todd implemented a project to more closely examine the emerging technology of small-screen media such as video iPods, Sony PSPs and cell phones. He worked with ETC Media Services to help further hone the image of the ETC and its focus on creating high quality internal productions. During his final year, he worked with CERT, also located at Carnegie Mellon University, to develop a training simulation prototype to teach supervisors and managers how to detect and mitigate insider computer sabotage. As CEO of Semiotic Technologies, he has partnered with Stephen Calender and Evan Miller to build virtual environments for the White House Historical Society, SimTime, Skill-Life, and others — contracting over $120,000 in sales.
After five months here at AlphaLab, Demo Day has come and gone. It was a great opportunity to talk about Skill-Life in front of a receptive audience of investors and potenatial partners. The last few days of preparation have been intense but I’m happy with how things turned out. A few nibbles here and there — good places to start as we continue our current investment round.
The demo portion went well and the problem of financial literacy is obvious — an easy sale. I’m not certain that I spent enough time on the central question “how we make money.” The challenge is having a company with a social mission and the intention of seeking foundation funding early on. That inevitably comes across as something not terribly attractive to VC’s, and potentially, to angel investors as well.
The key, I think, is for us to embrace the mission-driven nature of Skill-Life while also making clear our plan for eventually reaching a consumer market. As of today, we’ve got a good demo, a solid pitch, and a workable plan for getting to the next level.