Fresh from the introduction of new training software products, Mathew Georghiou is gearing up to launch a software he believes could change the face of online entrepreneurship training.
Georghiou is the CEO of MediaSpark of Sydney, whose main business is producing GoVenture training software that educates employees through simulations, social features and gaming. On Oct. 18, the company announced the launch of GoVenture Any Business, which can be customized to train the staff of any enterprise in any sector. The new simulation has already received a Gold Omni Award with a perfect 10.0 judging score.
And the company, which has almost 20 employees, will soon launch GoVenture World, a massively multi-player online game that will train budding entrepreneurs in what it’s really like to start and grow your own business.
“I think it has the potential to be the biggest innovation in the history of entrepreneurship education,” said Georghiou in an interview yesterday.
GoVenture World will not be a game with comic-book-like graphics that requires you to sit at your computer for 14 hours a day. Rather, it simulates as much as possible what it’s like to be a real entrepreneur. The player controls manageable factors involved in setting up and running a business like budget, staffing, supply chain, roll out and the like, and is subject to uncontrollable factors, which could crop up at any time.
“Our objective is that it’s so realistic that you could put it on your resume,” said Georghiou, adding the project was funded with the assistance of the National Research Council.
He said the company will have an alpha product ready for testing this year and will release it sometime in the New Year. Though there are other entrepreneurial simulations and games on the market, he said GoVenture World’s advantage will be its scalability – that is, it has few limits on how many people use it.
MediaSpark has devised six different revenue streams from GoVenture World, including selling premium services, virtual currency and training modules on specific aspects of entrepreneurship.
He also hopes to license platforms for the game to universities and corporations for closed competitions.
The company is also preparing to launch GoVenture Health, a “gamified health ebook” that teaches health and wellness to adults and young people.
Georghiou launched MediaSpark in 1994 as a services company and began to sell products in 2000, just as the tech bubble burst. He withstood that storm, and has received funding over the years from angels and what he called quasi-venture capitalists.
The company is now financially stable and Georghiou said his main focus is on operations rather than fund-raising, yet he is in discussions with a couple of potential investors.