5 ms·

MinoMonsters (YC W11) Hits 1.5M Players, Gets A Little More Funding

50 points by earbitscom 14y ago

fearless 14y ago
Something doesn't make sense here. If they're profitable and making millions, why are they raising more bridge funding at the last round's valuation and taking on more dilution?
- AznHisoka 14y ago
  Because they're not profitable and not making millions. 1) 19 reviews in the App Store. 2) It's free Money doesn't grow on trees unfortunately.
  - joshbuckley 14y ago
    1) We have 9,516 Ratings in the US, 19 for a small bug fix we submitted yesterday. (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minomonsters/id477750637?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minomonsters/id477750637?mt=8) 2) We're a free-to-play iOS game, our revenue is through in-app purchases.
- joshbuckley 14y ago
  Hey, Josh (MinoMonsters CEO) here. Whilst I can't talk on the terms of this financing, we actually raised this round prior to our more successful launch. The money's now being used to accelerate our growth.
- juniorer 14y ago
  Because it looks like they have ~10 people and according to the top grossing charts on iOS they make a few hundred dollars a day. Gotta keep it going until better metrics and results, I presume.
davidpayne11 14y ago
Is it just me, or has YC has become shit off-late? No offense, I think the game is great, but worth funding for? I doubt, I mean not from YC ofcourse. What happened to true innovation at YC? This is just plain embarrassing for YC, ofcourse. But really, great game guys, keep it going though..
- finkin1 14y ago
  Wait - you're saying it's embarrassing YC funded this project, but it's a great game? Adding "no offense" isn't some magic spell. Why wouldn't YC fund this? Do you even know the reputation of the developers?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- pg 14y ago
  It's you. You don't grasp that the combination of (a) the fact that good startup ideas have to look like bad ideas initially and (b) that the optimal way to grow a startup is to launch something as small as possible as fast as possible together mean that most startups look bad initially. I wouldn't say just you though, because there are a lot of people who don't grasp this.
  - daeken 14y ago
    > I wouldn't say just you though, because there are a lot of people who don't grasp this. I think it comes down to a difference between those who see the now and those who see 3-10 years out. If they came to you and said "we've got this awesome game, and we plan to stop there", you wouldn't fund them; that's what most people see. I have no idea what trick they have up their sleeve or if they'll sink or swim, but if it's a YC company, you can assume they have a grand plan (even if it's wrong in the end) to be a Big Thing (TM). That most people don't see it is probably a good thing.
  - chacham15 14y ago
    > (a) the fact that good startup ideas have to look like bad ideas initially and I dont know if it's just me, but I have a question about that: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4563402 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4563402
ajaymehta 14y ago
I encourage anyone who's doubtful about MinoMonsters to download it and give the iPhone to their kid, niece/nephew, little sibling, etc. It's one of the few truly great (and great-looking) iOS games.
Tipzntrix 14y ago
Hey author, Pokemon had unique and interesting personalities too! Remember Cubones who wore the skulls of their dead mothers? Tell me that wasn't interesting and unique. I don't see it in the wild, let me tell you that.
herval 14y ago
I know it has nothing to do with the funding, but I found the new version of the game somewhat buggy (although the graphics are AMAZING). In 10 minutes, I stumbled upon two issues: first, trying to visit a friend always crashes the game. Second (and more disturbing): visiting the "team" tab and clicking the "i" icon levels up the monster automatically - I clicked it a dozen times, tried restarting the app and it still worked. As a result, I have a level 41 monster without even having fought anything...

50 points by earbitscom 14y ago

Something doesn't make sense here. If they're profitable and making millions, why are they raising more bridge funding at the last round's valuation and taking on more dilution?

AznHisoka 14y ago
Because they're not profitable and not making millions. 1) 19 reviews in the App Store. 2) It's free Money doesn't grow on trees unfortunately.
- joshbuckley 14y ago
  1) We have 9,516 Ratings in the US, 19 for a small bug fix we submitted yesterday. (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minomonsters/id477750637?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minomonsters/id477750637?mt=8) 2) We're a free-to-play iOS game, our revenue is through in-app purchases.
joshbuckley 14y ago
Hey, Josh (MinoMonsters CEO) here. Whilst I can't talk on the terms of this financing, we actually raised this round prior to our more successful launch. The money's now being used to accelerate our growth.
juniorer 14y ago
Because it looks like they have ~10 people and according to the top grossing charts on iOS they make a few hundred dollars a day. Gotta keep it going until better metrics and results, I presume.

davidpayne11 14y ago

Is it just me, or has YC has become shit off-late? No offense, I think the game is great, but worth funding for? I doubt, I mean not from YC ofcourse. What happened to true innovation at YC? This is just plain embarrassing for YC, ofcourse. But really, great game guys, keep it going though..

finkin1 14y ago
Wait - you're saying it's embarrassing YC funded this project, but it's a great game? Adding "no offense" isn't some magic spell. Why wouldn't YC fund this? Do you even know the reputation of the developers?
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
pg 14y ago
It's you. You don't grasp that the combination of (a) the fact that good startup ideas have to look like bad ideas initially and (b) that the optimal way to grow a startup is to launch something as small as possible as fast as possible together mean that most startups look bad initially. I wouldn't say just you though, because there are a lot of people who don't grasp this.
- daeken 14y ago
  > I wouldn't say just you though, because there are a lot of people who don't grasp this. I think it comes down to a difference between those who see the now and those who see 3-10 years out. If they came to you and said "we've got this awesome game, and we plan to stop there", you wouldn't fund them; that's what most people see. I have no idea what trick they have up their sleeve or if they'll sink or swim, but if it's a YC company, you can assume they have a grand plan (even if it's wrong in the end) to be a Big Thing (TM). That most people don't see it is probably a good thing.
- chacham15 14y ago
  > (a) the fact that good startup ideas have to look like bad ideas initially and I dont know if it's just me, but I have a question about that: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4563402 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4563402

ajaymehta 14y ago

I encourage anyone who's doubtful about MinoMonsters to download it and give the iPhone to their kid, niece/nephew, little sibling, etc. It's one of the few truly great (and great-looking) iOS games.

Tipzntrix 14y ago

Hey author, Pokemon had unique and interesting personalities too! Remember Cubones who wore the skulls of their dead mothers? Tell me that wasn't interesting and unique. I don't see it in the wild, let me tell you that.

herval 14y ago

I know it has nothing to do with the funding, but I found the new version of the game somewhat buggy (although the graphics are AMAZING). In 10 minutes, I stumbled upon two issues: first, trying to visit a friend always crashes the game. Second (and more disturbing): visiting the "team" tab and clicking the "i" icon levels up the monster automatically - I clicked it a dozen times, tried restarting the app and it still worked. As a result, I have a level 41 monster without even having fought anything...