Well, I wasn't going to do this earlier, but something inside told me I needed to. Others have spoken, now so must I.

Folks, I am not just a geek, not just an otaku.  I am the amateur trying to turn pro.  You know them by plenty of names.  The profan, trying to turn his drawing and coding into video games.  The protaku, trying to hone her voice to become the voice actress dozens will hear in the dubs.  And then there are the ones who take it in a different direction.  Those of us whose dreams are owning a comic store, or creating a cosplay cafe, or starting a business based on the webcomic we've created.

You know us by many names.  Megatokyo.  Penny Arcade.  The Golden Apple.  Midtown Comics.  Royal/T.  All of these people strive for more than just fandom, more than just the entry-level.  They aspire to turn their fandom into both avocation and calling, not just for themselves, but for others.

In short, they are fans who want to be employers, to create jobs and a business.  They are fantrepreneurs.

So what makes a fantrepreneur different from, say, the guy you know who owns a comic shop but does it just because it brings in the money?  Well, if you just asked that, you just answered your own question.  The guy who owns the business clocks in and out regularly, just staying with the 9 to 5.  The fantrepreneur is both fan, staying late to keep that Friday Night Magic game going; and entrepreneur, finding ways to make money so he can continue to do what he loves, or maybe even bring someone else into the fold as well, giving them the chance to fulfill their dreams.

In many cases, they started out as fans, not ever thinking they'd go the next step.  Ask Gabe and Tycho if they ever thought they'd be the next media sensation.  They'd probably answer sure, but then ask them if they ever planned to be employers, to hire people to run the Penny Arcade store, to run Penny Arcade Expo, to organize Child's Play.  I can guarantee that answer won't be as sure.  Just as not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, not every fantrepreneur knows they're going to be one.  In many cases, it just catches up to them – they need an extra hand to run the online store, or else it'll get out of their control.  They don't have time to redesign the website, so they bring on someone to do the heavy lifting.  They want to start working with publishers, so they need a business manager.  In those moments, they stepped on from beyond being mere profans, simple protaku.  They become more.

In many cases, their businesses won't succeed the first time around.  Megami Studios is actually my third attempt at fantrepreneurship.  The first one was while I was still in the Navy, and the lack of time, followed by mostly unready business partners, sealed that fate. The second one was also sealed by an unreliable business partner, though in that process I learned a lot more that would propel me through.  Megami didn't actually formally incorporate until five years after I created it.  And the thing is?  I'm not the anomaly.  Regular entrepreneurs are known for doing this; there's even a term: serial founder.  Likewise, a fantrepreneur won't give up.  He or she might not start immediately (Jean Valente spent four years after the failure of his anime apparel company Mythware before he founded his current company, Astonishing Toys.)

But most important, most of all, the fantrepreneur is dedicated to a trinty of love of his business, love of his fandom, and love of his fans.  Dave Lister, artist of Paradox Lost and owner of Studio Nasu, is not only one of the best webmanga artists of his generation, but is also a great boss to work for, putting his employees before himself (he once gave one of his employees a 50% raise on the spot because he valued her work skills – this was a week after he'd hired her.)  Dana Sterling, owner of 3C Comics in Martinsburg, West Virginia, was once the butt of a joke regarding her name and the character of the same name from Robotech; in turn, she organized an annual Robotech marathon at her store and placed the employee in charge of that; he is now the manager of the second store she owns.  Ibrahim Reynolds, the head of Way Too Small Games, has himself and his staff teach weekly How To Make Videogames at his local library in Pico Rivera, California.  He'd initially paid overtime for his staff to work on Saturdays on the project, but once the staff saw his dedication to their fans, they did it for free.

And that last part is what ultimately separates a fantrepreneur from someone "just in the industry."  You don't just work for a fantrepreneur, he or she drives you to become more, to excel where there had been no excellence before.  The regular owner just wants you to work; he might want you to do the best job you can, but at the end of the day, he might not sit down with you and do a marathon D&D session.  The owner likely thinks as long as you're doing a good job, fine; the fantrepreneur wants you to share in his dream, and if you've got similar dreams, probably wants you to succeed in those as well – just ask any of Megami's apprentice almuni, all off in various art schools around the country.

Fantrepreneurs are geeks too, and we speak out on many levels.  We speak out with our geek out every day…and sometimes we can even do it on a level that makes non-geeks jealous.

-Rob Barba