Sam Coster
Sam Coster (Chief Creative Officer @ Butterscotch Shenanigans)
** Please note that when this interview was released, The Takeoff was called ExecU Weekly. We have since rebranded to The Takeoff. **
Welcome
Today's interview is with Sam Coster - Chief Creative Officer @ Butterscotch Shenanigans
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Name: Sam Coster
Current role: Chief Creative Officer at Butterscotch Shenanigans
Education: Washington University in St. Louis
Major: Psychology
Minor: Creative Writing
Some fun facts about Sam’s undergraduate studies:
He started out not knowing what he wanted to study
When Sam had to choose a major sophomore year, he still didn’t know what to study
He ended up choosing the major that had the lowest number of credit hours (Psychology)
Sam also didn’t realize that he had a Creative Writing minor until it was graduation time!
Sam took Computer Science courses and was a TA for Rapid Prototyping
Check Sam out on Forbes 30 Under 30: https://www.forbes.com/profile/sam-coster/#1ce9631f60a1
What is Butterscotch Shenanigans?
Butterscotch Shenanigans is an independent video game studio that was founded in 2011 by Sam and his two brothers. Butterscotch Shenanigans is available on both phone and consoles (https://www.bscotch.net/). Butterscotch Shenanigans uses a technology that moves data between phone and consoles, sort of like a Marvel Universe where all the games live. The Butterscotch Shenanigans team is currently four people, all of whom work out of a small studio.
Given the small nature of the company, everybody does a lot of things. Sam’s primary role is art, but he also works on marketing, edits trailers, speaks at conferences, and helps out with game design. Sam’s official title is Chief Creative Officer.
Butterscotch Shenanigans was started in 2011 with a simple goal in mind: “To make a game that will allow us to not starve to death” – Sam. Butterscotch Shenanigans started on mobile only but is now also available on console. Starting on mobile helped Butterscotch Shenanigans succeed early on because there was a low enough quality bar, at the time, that helped provide an opportunity for new mobile games to enter the market and grow. At first, Sam and his brothers didn’t even know how to make games.
How successful was Butterscotch Shenanigans right out of the gate?
According to Sam, the first game was horrible. Sam and his brothers lost almost half of Butterscotch Shenanigans’ bank account as a result of launching the first version. This money was coming directly out of Sam’s pocket, as Butterscotch Shenanigans had been bootstrapped out of seven months of savings.
Failing early on, however, did not deter Sam and his brothers. Instead, they used it as a learning experience and propelled forward, creating Crashlands. Crashlands was created by Butterscotch Shenanigans over a period of two years, during which Butterscotch Shenanigans also created two smaller games. Since launching in 2016, Crashlands has been a huge success. Across Google Play and the Apple App Store, over 500,000 units have been sold, and Butterscotch Shenanigans won a game of the year award for the game. In addition to making amazing games, Sam and his brothers run a weekly podcast to help keep customers engaged week by week.
Another one of Butterscotch Shenanigans’ biggest hits is Levelhead. Levelhead is a building platform for every device that exists. Levelhead has been so successful that it was included in one of Nintendo’s big promotional events, and Sam was flown out to Nintendo HQ as a result. Sam says that Butterscotch Shenanigans’ goal for Levelhead was to “create a game that people can play as a hobby.” Levelhead offers users the ability to follow other users and rate their content, incorporating a social media aspect to the game.
How has being in St. Louis influenced Butterscotch Shenanigans’ success?
Sam is a huge proponent of being in St. Louis. In fact, Sam said that the low cost of living in St. Louis makes it possible for him and his brothers to live off of one game’s revenue. Additionally, as a video game company in St. Louis, Butterscotch Shenanigans is a “rare beast” – Sam. While the West Coast has many video game companies, St. Louis does not. The result: Butterscotch Shenanigans gets access to amazing opportunities. Early in its life, Butterscotch Shenanigans also participated in a lot of startup activities and events in St. Louis that have helped the company succeed.
Has Butterscotch Shenanigans raised any VC funding?
Nope! Butterscotch Shenanigans is funded completely out of the pockets of Sam and his brothers. Sam says that the biggest reason for not getting any VC funding is that Butterscotch Shenanigans’ craftsman approach takes time to build and that VCs would likely rush them to create a product on a set schedule, which would damage Butterscotch Shenanigans’ creative genius. Having no one to report to enables Butterscotch Shenanigans to go over budget and past anticipated launch dates in order to launch the best possible game.
Additional Insights from Sam:
The focus of college should be to really “do the sh*t out of everything you do”
Sam believes that if you do this, others will pick up on it and follow your lead
You can learn a ton by delving into different things
Get a deep focus and good approach to doing work
Read! “If you’re in a class and something engages you, you should read outside of class in order to increase your overall potential growth and value once you enter the job network.” Don’t worry if you feel like you’re “floating” around a bit
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