WG: What future goals do you have for PianoWizard? What technologies are you waiting for to help you make your next big leap in the product?

Chris Salter: We have Guitar Wizard in development, as well as Composer Wizard and Band Wizard, where the kids can make up their own songs and play together online. The technology is all there, it is just capital and time before we have those out on the market, and capital of course compresses the time if you use it wisely. We have a dozen other products in mind, we have truly cracked the musical code, and have an endless stream of new things to bring out, in many different flavors and markets. It is eminently customizable now that we have the basic system and game engine developed. That is the beauty of the game. We all love music, but we all love different music. We can produce products for every instrument, every musical genre, every software or game platform, including an embedded chip like Fisher-Price did for the toy, in every language. Our market is people who wish they were musicians, and if anyone knows a bigger one, I will be impressed. Our challenge is not creating new things, it is getting the word out that music is now a birthright, not just a gift for the lucky few that learned in spite of the traditional training.

WG: How did you initially fund your business?

Chris Salter: I started this company in August of 2001. On reflection, not a great time to start a software company. The tech bubble had collapsed, billions lost. The scandal economy of Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, the meltdown of Arthur Anderson was not consoling investors either, and then 9/11 hit the next month. What followed was 3 very tough years where we raised a couple million from angel investors and got the product to market at the end of 2004. As they told us, it would take longer and cost more, but we always built it knowing it will one day be a 100 million dollar company or more. The last 18 months have been phenomenal, we-ve raised the last 3 million in that time frame, but as you can see, our ambitions are grand. We truly see this as a global and multigenerational product line. We expect to be bought out by a major in the interactive entertainment industry along the way, but the brand will change lives for generations if we have our way.

WG: In what countries are you selling PW?

Chris Salter: Fisher-Price has it in Canada, the UK and I believe Australia, but we only sell domestically currently. We are ready to take it to Europe and Asia when we find the right partners there. The game is not language centric, it really is close to universal, if you know your colors.

WG: Have you considered utilizing what you have built with PianoWizard to enable kids to make and record their own music?

Chris Salter: Absolutely. That is the thrust of Composer Wizard. My goal is that kids can grab and move the game objects they generate, and begin to play with and construct music like they do with Legos. It is very exciting to bring their creativity to bear. We hope to do for music and children what Crayola has done for art and children, i.e., unleash their natural joy and creativity for life.

WG: What advice do you have for would-be entrepreneurs who are interested in launching their hearts, minds, and souls into a business in the gaming industry?

Chris Salter: Being an entrepreneur is different from being a game designer or inventor. You need to be the parent of your dream, not a child waiting for a Sony or Microsoft to “discover” you. That means, like any parent, willing to do whatever it takes to feed, protect, nurture and grow your dream to the point it can not only fend for itself, but feed, protect and nurture you. Like with a child, it takes years, and you better not start without realizing there are a lot of “diapers” to change. In other words, new skills, areas of discomfort, grunt work cannot be things you are not willing to do. For most people, talking to their family and friends for that first capital, or learning new skills, or even admitting they don’t know everything when they start out is very awkward, and so they quit. That is not “whatever it takes”. For me, I found a wonderful network for entrepreneurs called “IBI”. It is not for everybody, but it is a superb resource for entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. It is a cooperative network that encourages all the members to share their resources, ideas, capital, contacts, and support each other. It sounds kind of woo-woo, but the truth is, cooperative business is the cutting edge way to grow fast and strong, and once you are in that network, you see the results and the resources for every thing you will eventually need, either there or through someone someone there knows, and you never want to be out of that network. I would estimate 90% of my capital, team, contacts, and knowledge came from my continuing involvement with that organization over the last 5 years. They don’t do it for you, but they have all the tools you need to do it yourself there.

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