--- title: How to run an indie game studio: Part 1, What is a studio? description: The first installment of a five-part series introduces the FIRM framework (Future, Issues, Rocks, Meetings) for managing an indie game studio, written by a... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-an-indie-game-studio-part-1-what-is-a-studio--pix5kwjfg twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: How to run an indie game studio: Part 1, What is a studio? | daily.dev og:description: The first installment of a five-part series introduces the FIRM framework (Future, Issues, Rocks, Meetings) for managing an indie game studio, written by a... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-an-indie-game-studio-part-1-what-is-a-studio--pix5kwjfg og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/pIX5kWJFg.png og:image:alt: How to run an indie game studio: Part 1, What is a studio? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How to run an indie game studio: Part 1, What is a studio? **[GamesIndustry.biz](https://daily.dev/sources/gamesindustry)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary The first installment of a five-part series introduces the FIRM framework (Future, Issues, Rocks, Meetings) for managing an indie game studio, written by a business coach with 15 years of games industry experience. It argues that founders must build the studio itself alongside the game, breaking a studio down into three core elements: team, game/IP, and distribution/community. It also applies Jim Collins' Hedgehog Concept from Good to Great, using Paradox Interactive as an example, to help founders define their studio's purpose by finding the overlap between passion, world-class capability, and economic engine. The piece ends with a homework exercise for studio teams and a pointer to a free companion resource. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [How to run an indie game studio: Part 3, Dealing with issues](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-an-indie-game-studio-part-3-dealing-with-issues-caapcytnm) · GamesIndustry.biz · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [How to run an indie game studio: Part 2, Defining your future](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-an-indie-game-studio-part-2-defining-your-future-inrxojzva) · GamesIndustry.biz · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Workflows & Challenges of Developing Games as a Two-Person Team](https://daily.dev/posts/workflows-challenges-of-developing-games-as-a-two-person-team-cjhurekao) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [15 Years of Indie Dev In 4 Bits of Advice](https://daily.dev/posts/15-years-of-indie-dev-in-4-bits-of-advice-io7fn5jjf) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How indie studios can survive industry volatility \| Opinion](https://daily.dev/posts/how-indie-studios-can-survive-industry-volatility-opinion-roovn9akp) · GamesIndustry.biz · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#game-development](https://daily.dev/tags/game-development), [#business](https://daily.dev/tags/business), [#leadership](https://daily.dev/tags/leadership) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-an-indie-game-studio-part-1-what-is-a-studio--pix5kwjfg) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"How to run an indie game studio: Part 1, What is a studio?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-an-indie-game-studio-part-1-what-is-a-studio--pix5kwjfg","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-an-indie-game-studio-part-1-what-is-a-studio--pix5kwjfg"},"datePublished":"2026-09-30T14:03:10.244Z","dateModified":"2026-09-30T14:03:28.460Z","description":"The first installment of a five-part series introduces the FIRM framework (Future, Issues, Rocks, Meetings) for managing an indie game studio, written by a...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a7060e9c6363aa7133eeca61bf57c6ca?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a7060e9c6363aa7133eeca61bf57c6ca?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"GamesIndustry.biz","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"GamesIndustry.biz","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/be1a78592d5340248e5204f8007b82be","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/gamesindustry"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-run-an-indie-game-studio-part-1-what-is-a-studio--pix5kwjfg","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"game-development,business,leadership","timeRequired":"PT8M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"GamesIndustry.biz","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/gamesindustry"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to run an indie game studio: Part 1, What is a studio?"}]} ```