“I think it taught me a valuable lesson about test first and then build don't build then test you can waste years building a startup or a game and then it ends up being worth nothing but if you build it and it somewhat works to begin with you know you have something”

Test the Concept First Before Building the Full Product

Cole spent three years and $300,000 building an ambitious game that failed. After watching his brother Ian build a viral hit over a single college winter break, Cole called his programmer and said 'let's make a game in 2 weeks.' That constraint crystallized a core principle he now lives by: validate before investing deeply.