HACKER Q&A
📣 datahellscape

Asperger, How to Get Funding?


I've been living with Asperger and without delving into the details too much, it makes some things way easier and some others way harder-- some people treat you like a genius while you fail to grasp things they seem to inherently know--

Working for others hasn't been great for many easily avoidable reasons that can be related to that. I've consistently brought up solutions to issues that were going to be the downfall of a company or a project, for them to be ignored or acted on in insufficient ways. Every single "I told you so" moment like this comes with a longer depression and a little bit more disdain for our society as I see people get hurt and enormous amounts of time wasted for reasons that could have easily been avoided. Every single time I get out of those depression phases by working on something I believe can succeed, either at a new job or a personal project.

I want to be done with that cycle before it makes me bitter. The solutions I see: - Choose my employers way better - Stop even looking for a job, make my own and build great things

I'd prefer to fail on my own terms, not someone else's and I've been working on a project on the side but have never felt quite ready to bring others along.

With all the recent waves of lay-offs, I see many overperforming individuals I've worked with in the past which I would team up with if I could. This would require funding. Looking for funding seems to be a wall I can't figure how to begin climbing and I think it's mostly due to Asperger in many ways and I'm not confident I can surmount that one alone in time. My main issue there seems to be some analysis paralysis, I simply do not know enough about the subject and it's preventing me from action, I see many opaque options I don't understand and haven't figured how to optimize through them and move forward and picking one blindly has too much potential risk.

I seek help, advice, mentoring, examples, solutions. From people that went through this before and know the road, or even hearing from some dealing with Asperger that overcame that in one way or another.

Since I think it matters for funding, I'm in Canada / Montreal area and I'm working on a game that I believe fills a large hole in the market that's been up for grabs for a long time, with players going from a game to another where they all fall short.


  👤 zalkazemi Accepted Answer ✓
A great deal is hard to pass on. As @muzani pointed out, most financiers, like VCs and PE investors, look for hard evidence that point to a future payout. Your challenge then becomes how to build/present that evidence.

Can you share a little about your personal projects that have potential?

I think in terms of you looking for a good deal, that might be too early, instead look for a network you can plug in to that can supply you not only with money but can perhaps recognize your talents (from a showcase of your personal projects) and connect you where your talents can be utilized maximally.

Search for VCs, Investors, Accelerators, or Incubators that specialize in the Video Game industry and build friendships first.

If you document your personal projects consistently at a regular pace, your friendships will evolve into professional opportunities.


👤 gault8121
The video game market doesn’t seem like a good market for raising venture capital - there is a ton of competition, and it seems that the folks who can raise money have a track record of previously successful games. With the 5% interest rate, you’ll very likely need to bootstrap your first game to break into the industry and then you could raise for a future game.

👤 muzani
You don't need that much charisma. YC expects charts to do most of the speaking for demo day. I find that many investors are also experienced enough to go through a bad pitch and find out the details of what you meant to say.

Impressing people with a pitch is more about having the right slides in the right order, rather than making some joke. I've pitched to dozens of people, and it's never like it is on Shark Tank... most investors are already rooting for you by the time you meet them.

There's plenty of resources for this, but the easiest is to just join an accelerator. They're very beginner friendly. Many aren't that good, but they should help you to at least learn to pitch.


👤 ourguile
I'm autistic and this sounds very familiar in regard to my issues with executive function. Most of my friends who are also autistic have thrived in fully remote positions or where they work for themselves or with a small group of others.

I think coldtea's example of partnering with someone else to handle the soft skills and marketing is a great idea.


👤 twosdai
I'm a yc techincal founder, if you want to chat some about the process and getting connected feel free to shoot me an email and we can chat about going from nothing to something, and how to get in front of people, a lot of it is actually really formulaic.

My contact info is in my profile, just mention this hn post in your message.


👤 coldtea
>Looking for funding seems to be a wall I can't figure how to begin climbing and I think it's mostly due to Asperger in many ways and I'm not confident I can surmount that one alone in time.

Maybe get a person with great social/marketing skills to fill that role as a "co-founder"? The main problem then, is to know you can trust them (and set up the legal contracts between you so they're fair).


👤 whalesalad
Have you considered becoming a full time contractor/consultant?