Companies
Let’s Play MonstRpreneur!
By Kathryn Gorges
Co-Founder, MonstRpreneur
April 30, 2015 — Santa Cruz, CA
MonstRpreneur, a game design company, announces a new board game, now on Kickstarter, that takes players through the new venture and startup experience with references to the latest in lean startup principles, design thinking, growth hacking, funding options, and Silicon Valley culture.
The startup process has become too serious.
True, a lot can be at stake when you spend much of your free time (and then maybe all your time) trying to make 
something new come to life. And for investors, the money they’ve put into a new business is not a joke to anyone.
But when we make something so serious and place a lot of significance on it going ‘right’ we lose one of the most critical factors to really being successful – to think beyond what is and create something new that may displace or disrupt the current way of doing something.
When we’re serious, we tend to focus on the next task in the plan to meet the milestones that are going to get this out the door.
Our most innovative thinking often happens when we’re at play.
When we’re freed up from some measurement of accomplishment and can explore, experiment, and try stuff out – knowing that the real-life risk of failure is suspended.
As grown-ups, our access to play is most often in games. Playing a game, we can live out fantasies, try out ideas, be someone else, and, if the game is good enough, imagine ourselves living out our dreams.
That’s why we created the MonstRpreneur Startup Board Game. Because if there’s one aspect of business that is truly
enhanced by the ability to innovate, dream, and think beyond constraints, it’s the world of starting up.
We’re starting with a board game to learn, research, and experiment with the structure, social interaction, and mechanics of the game.
This is the first step to building a digital startup environment where you can play your dreams out in a simulated world. Where there may be a fantasy investment model based on a founder’s track record of building valuation for themselves and partnering with other founders.
AHA moments
The game play is based on AHA moments – those are moments of insight that come in a flash where you never see something in the same way again, ever. The game creates opportunities for situations where you have choices and the options themselves can create AHA moments that make you think about the potential of the business you choose in new ways – that may lead to fulfilling dreams or new dreams.
Team of three founders
I’m part of a team of three. I’m in Santa Cruz County (Aptos), another is in San Francisco, and the third is in Washington, DC, bringing all that we know, teach, and advise about the startup experience to people everywhere in a game that is first and foremost a fun, challenging adventure!
My teammates are amazing and our fun idea is just what the world needs right now – playfulness, demystifying starting a new business, and face-to-face social interaction. In addition to myself, there’s Catherine Pitcher, formerly with Teach for America and now an entrepreneur, and John-Michael Scott, an avid game player, innovator, and long-time entrepreneur.
Be part of this adventure!
The best way to participate in our adventure is to help us have a chance to actually produce the game by backing us on the Kickstarter campaign here. If we don’t reach our goal, we don’t get to publish the game. We have all kinds of levels you can choose – starting at $1 – our favorite is the board game with the card games.
As part of the Santa Cruz community, I know how powerfully we are able to make good things happen. Thank you so much for any and all that you can help with. I really appreciate it – and so does the team! This is the most exciting project all three of us have ever worked on – and we’re passionate about the possibilities.
For more information:
- Website: http://www.monstrpreneur.com
- Kickstarter: http://monst.rs/kick
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