‘WE REALIZED WE WERE PRETTY GOOD
AT CREATING SMALL GAMES’
NAME: LEX DECRAUW
AGE: 26
COURSE: IGAD
WEBSITES: WWW.ragesquid.com and www.actionhenk.com
WHEN DID YOU START YOUR COMPANY?
RageSquid was officially founded on January
1st 2012. Back then we did not have money for
our own office or a project to work on. We just
used the name to do work for clients and game
jams until we had enough money to start our
first big project. RageSquid was founded by
Roel Ezendam, Gabrian van Houdt and myself.
Where dO you begin when starting your own
company?
The best advice I can give is knowing who you
start a company with. You have to know each
other’s strengths and weaknesses. Not just
on a professional level but also on a personal
level. These are the people who you will be
spending your days with, so get to know them.
Other than that, make sure that the goal of the
venture is clear to everyone. Make sure that all
founders are on the same level when it comes
to the company’s objectives. Both of the above
can be achieved by communication: always
keep communicating with your co-founders.
It might seem obvious but it is something that
is easily overlooked. Goals shift and personal
strengths and weaknesses develop as well, so
again, keep communicating to prevent
frustration and miscommunications.
42 THE CONTRIBUTOR
What motivated you to start your own business?
Before RageSquid was an actual company we
used to do tons of game jams. We ended up
winning most of these 48-hour competitions
and realized that we were pretty good at
creating small games. Eventually we said to
ourselves “let’s see if we can do this on a bigger
scale” and that is when we formed RageSquid.
All we had to do next was wait for the right
(financial) situation and we could give it a go.
This right moment came in the start of
November 2013, when we created the game
Action Henk.
Do you find it difficult to combine work with
school?
Yes, very difficult. I have been working on
Action Henk full time for over a year now. I
work from 8-9 until 18-19 and when I get home
from work I do not have the motivation or time
to work on school assignments. Luckily I have
been able to combine my work placement and
my specialization assignment with RageSquid.
However I still need to find time to finish a few
courses before I can graduate.
What are your plans after youR graduatION?
When I graduate I plan to continue working on
RageSquid just as I have been doing right now.
Currently RageSquid consists of 3 founders
and 3 other full time people and we would
like to expand after we have finished Action
Henk.
THE CONTRIBUTOR 43