Collin Caneva, Green Bein’ president & CEO, and Aaron Davis, chief outreach officer. Photo by Kate Ellingson.
Green Bein’ Productions‘ first video game, Kid Command, is doing well after its launch just over a year ago in late 2009. “Kid Command today is not what we initially set out for. It’s so much bigger than what we thought it would be,” said Collin Caneva, president & CEO of Green Bein’.
Kid Command is a green online community with games and quests where kids and families can communicate with others who share their Earth-friendly interests. The lifelong entrepreneur saw a need for this type of children’s video game and decided to take a risk. “I have to believe that if what I’m putting out there for my own kids, there’s got to be people out there that want the same thing for theirs and that’s what is coming around now.”
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The risk Caneva took has paid off so far, but he wants entrepreneurs to know that it’s not easy starting a business. He said that running a business is constantly blood, sweat and tears. He said that many entrepreneurs struggle with trying to make payroll and having debt and then celebrate after acquiring new investors. At the same time entrepreneurs have to figure out how to make funds last – a major priority for Caneva – while also creating wealth for his employees and investors.
Since the last time we covered Green Bein’ – June 2010: “Collin Caneva: From dump truck owner to tech entrepreneur” – here’s an update of how they’re doing:
- Current phase: funding growth and expanding the Kid Command game
- Growth in the past month has increased by 626%
- 1,000 new users a day
- Users grew from 12,000 to around 68,000 in January
- Bounce rate dropped from around 60% to well under 50%
- Working on new projects, one geared toward an older audience
Green Bein’ currently has 20 employees with 10 of them based in Lincoln. In January, Aaron Davis joined the Lincoln office as the chief outreach officer. During the past year, Davis and Caneva had been exchanging ideas while meeting for coffee. “We are still in the fetal stages of what is even possible,” said Davis. “That was exciting and it was in Lincoln. It was a no brainer to work with Green Bein’ Productions.”
Caneva said that Davis will help design internal cultures as well as core and company strategies. Davis speaks to audiences around the nation on peak performance and championship teamwork. While in college at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, he was a member of the 1994 National Championship football team. Davis said he likes that Kid Command is an alternative for what’s available in the video game market for children. “Kid Command brings clean, safe content that’s going to help them learn long-term,” he said.
Long-term is also what Caneva uses to describe one of his business goals. “We definitely have some opportunities opened up, and the thing with us is that we just have to make sure it’s good money. I don’t want to be in business tomorrow and the next day; I want to be in business 10 years from now.” Caneva said his team keeps grinding away and he knows that his investors believe and trust in him. He also said that he feels the pressure of succeeding with his business every day.
