Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs Are Playing #Minecraft Today

I see the future of our youth and they are playing Minecraft.

If you are not familiar with the online building game Minecraft, you either live in a hole or do not have kids. Minecraft was originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and was released to the public in 2009. As of July 30, 2013, Minecraft has sold over 11 million copies for the PC and over 20 million copies including all platforms.

For the uninitiated, Minecraft defines itself as "a game about breaking and placing blocks." It's an adventure game where you can build worlds and structures by yourself, or with a group of friends. Although the game looks very simple (hence the low-resolution blocks), it is actually quite complex.

I've had the pleasure of watching my kids and their friends play (and play) Minecraft on desktops, laptops, Xbox 360, iPods and more. While some parents see their kids playing a harmless video game, I see the future. Minecraft is doing more to shape the future of your children and their skills since LEGO bricks were developed in 1949.

Future Media Entrepreneurs Are Playing Minecraft

Both my sons have been pleading for online video production software and equipment so they can produce their own videos on Minecraft. They are learning how to create videos targeting a very distinct audience, rather than just stuff they like.

Honestly, some of the best and most entertaining videos are coming out of the Minecraft community. This BeetleJuice Minecraft roller coaster is simply amazing (built one piece at a time and now over 3 million views).

And this is not all fun and games. Media business models are flourishing via YouTube. A Minecraft YouTuber called SkydoesMinecraft (as an example) has 5 million YouTube subscribers and generates a million views to a video on a slow day. These future (I should say current) media entrepreneurs are learning the formula for successful media business models: amazing niche content delivered on a consistent basis leveraging a subscription component.

Future Developers Are Playing Minecraft

Minecraft is an open-source software game, which means that "minecrafters" can take Minecraft code and create their own versions of the game, or use special add-ons, known as "mods". To create mods, you have to have some knowledge of java code. But that's not all, if you really want to get into creating mods (and there are millions of mods), you begin to learnabout 3D modeling, APIs, integrated development environment and protocol analysis.How's that for a degree in software engineering?

If you agree with fellow LinkedIn influencer Shane Snow that everyone needs to know code, Minecraft may be a great start for our children (and perhaps adults as well) learning to code and develop software.

Our Children Are Learning the Value of Niches

What's the key to a winning media business model? Serving a small, defined niche with epic content. The smaller the niche, the better.

What's the key to a successful tech product? Solving a very specific consumer need or problem.

Minecraft's biggest success may be because Minecraft is not just one game, but a million games in one covering different topics and interests all going on at the same time. For example, every night my two boys (ages 10 and 11) watch an episode of Dr. Who (yes, the British programming celebrating its 50th year). We have Dr. Who books, action figures and even a sonic screwdriver. But the best part...the kids have been spending hours inside a Minecraft server dedicated to Dr. Who. There's a number of Minecraft servers dedicated to thousands of different interest area and niches. Talk about the long tail...

Minecraft 101

So the next time you see a group of boys and girls gathering at their computers to play Minecraft, you might actually be witnessing the best childrens' educational program in the world.