Entering the world of multi-media technology.

AMERICANS HAVE ALWAYS dreamed big, hoping to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Today, the search for gold is taking place on the so-called information superhighway--the Internet.

The "gold rush" to create businesses and software that can capitalize on this new and constantly evolving worldwide network has hit African Americans and non-minority America alike. The fever is particularly contagious for young, creative, 20--and 30-something techno-junkies and marketing wizards. And although the future is unclear, there are certainly numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs in this growing field.

Many self-starters are going into software development, perhaps the cheapest entry onto the infobahn. The burgeoning use of home computers has spurred the development of software. PCs are now in an estimated 75 million American homes and offices. The Software Publishers Association reports that U.S. sales of personal application software reached $7.5 billion in 1995, up 12% from the previous year's $6.7 billion.

That lofty assessment may indeed hold true, but the road to becoming a provider of some of those billions of dollars' worth of software is a tough one to travel. Of the nearly 20,000 multimedia development firms that have sprouted around the world in the past few years, less than half in the U.S. reported sales of over $100,000 in 1993.

But hope persists. BE interviewed four African American multimedia entrepreneurs who remain undaunted by high research, development and marketing expenses, low initial revenue, and competition from the industry big boys like Sega, Nintendo, Broderbund and Microsoft.

These entrepreneurs are in it for the long haul, using innovative and cost-effective marketing, strategies to sell their interactive software and consulting services.

METAMORPHOSIS STUDIOS INC.

Like many professionals, Clarence Wooten Jr. and Andre L. Forde felt that corporate America was stifling their creativity.

"We realized early on that to take full advantage of our creativity, we needed to embark on our own venture. We were fortunate that we were able to leave our consulting jobs with a sizable software development contract in hand," says Forde.

That contract helped the two to start Baltimore-based Metamorphosis Studios Inc. (http://www.mstudios.com). With Wooten, 24, as the CEO and creative director, and Forde, 26, the company's president and production manager, a full-service interactive multimedia design firm was launched in November 1993. The company provides interactive marketing and consulting services as well as CD-ROM products.

Forde recalls that in gerting started, the duo already had a "significant amount of computer hardware and multimedia software, so we had the infrastructure. We were both young and ambitious and had invested heavily in developing our talent, so we were pretty much ready to roll."

In a little over a year, Metamorphosis, which began as a two-person operation in a home office, now has a staff of five and brought in just over $185,000 in 1994. Wooten and Forde say those revenues represent only the tip of the iceberg.

"We have big goals. Our publishing arm projects revenues at around $2.5 million by early 1997. In five years, it's not inconceivable that our annual revenues will approach $12 million," says Forde.

Wooten says that companies need to get beyond high-tech phobias, and he believes firms like his can help. Metamorphosis specializes in developing high-powered, interactive presentations, interactive diskette brochures and interactive Web sites. "We recommend that black companies especially use interactive marketing aids that will inspire client confidence and positively impact their company's bottom line," Wooten advises.

Thus far, Metamorphosis Studios has developed multicultural edutainment software for Bingwa, a black-owned, Atlanta-based software publisher. They are also producing a series of edutainment CD-ROM titles based on books written by Judi Craig, a nationally syndicated clinical psychologist. In addition, they are constructing World Wide Web sites on the Internet for several corporate clients, including Alfred Angelo, the nation's largest bridal gown maker, and Woolrich, makers of woolen apparel. The company has also signed a contract to develop a graphical user interface (GUI) for Welcome To The Future, a Maryland-based developer of interactive TV technology. The deal could mean more than $2 million annually for Metamorphosis.

To keep software development costs low, Wooten says he has created a virtual corporation. "In this business, it's not always necessary to have an in-house staff. It can cost more than $500,000 to house a development team over the average production time of a year," he says.

Instead, Metamorphosis hires freelancers from different parts of the country who communicate by phone, fax and computer. By structuring things in product development so that each member of the assembled staff gets a percentage of any future royalties, overhead remains low, "enabling all of us to concentrate on being creative," says Wooten.

Even so, Forde acknowledges that "access to capital is probably the biggest obstacle for black firms in the industry. Software game publishers usually need a great deal of capital for distribution, unless you bypass wholesalers by marketing a game as shareware on the Internet and computer bulletin board systems."

Shareware marketing provides low-cost worldwide distribution to the more than 70 million users of the Internet and digital bulletin boards, by allowing customers to download the first level of game software free of charge. Users must then pay for subsequent levels. That is how Texas-based ID Software started out. Its share ware product, Doom, brought in $1 2 million, and Doom 2 (which is not shareware) received orders of $25 million before it even hit the shelves. Such successes serve as fodder for the dreams of other developers--and why not?

How is a firm operated by two young, African American digital cowboys perceived by prospective clients? "Big companies aren't accustomed to negotiating with young minorities producing high-quality, high-tech products," Wooten says. "There's a myth out there that young blacks aren't interested in science and technology. Andre and I shatter that myth. If you have a quality product, it will sell regardless of the color of your skin."

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

Six-foot tall, Haitian-born Raynald Leconte looks more like an NBA star in his loose-fitting jeans and sweatshirt than a CEO of a multimedia software development firm. But as he maneuvers four computer games simultaneously on four TV screens in his office, it becomes clear that he has a firm grasp of multimedia technology.

The former Hewlett-Packard product manager used that knowledge to launch Astral Projections (astralmail @aol. com), one of the West Coast's latest entrants into the interactive "edutainment" software development market. Started in June 1994, Astral intends to capitalize on the rapidly growing online computer disk and CDROM edutainment software market. The premise is that by making learning fun, students and others will be eager for the technology.

Like hundreds of multimedia companies across the country, Astral is racing to produce edutainment titles in the hopes that theirs will be the next Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, a popular educational geography mystery game.

Leconte, 30, and his partners Greg Fleming, 30, and Brian Raffi, 32, hope to release their first game title, PICO Sports, by year's end. The game, studded with characterizations of pro athletes, is aimed at children ages three to eight. Leconte hopes to capitalize on the growing popularity of edutainment software like PC kids games and Sega's PICO systems, which have sold more than 2 million units in Japan since their release three years ago.

Leconte's strategy is "to establish Astral as one of less than a handful of American software developers for PICO's sought-after hardware, with original characters and story lines." Sega's PICO is a mini-laptop computer system that hooks into television sets. "Our challenge," he continues, "is to find publishers for distribution and funds for product development."

Multimedia start-ups have come to rely on venture capitalists to play a financial role in getting them off the ground. However, small, black-owned firms haven't benefited from the windfall of such cash infusion, and because the success rate is low, money is even harder to pry from investors. "In the beginning, a lot of high-profile individuals hyped up the money-making potential in multimedia, and venture capitalists threw money at several start-ups," says Leconte. The tendency now IS to wait until a company has put out a few successful titles, then invest cash for future title development, he says.

Using the bootstrapping approach, Astral spent its first six months and $25,000 on research and development. Laying the groundwork yielded results. Last spring, the company inked a deal with Sega of America to design the game version of Michael Crichton's Congo, scheduled for release with the Sega Saturn plat form last November. Astral also has designed three Sega game concepts based on nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Mysteries for the PC.

Leconte says things can move quickly for a small company in this industry. With the firm's PICO software development projects being adapted for PCs and their Congo game, he believes, "We can realistically project earnings to top $15 million over the next three to five years."

The financial rewards notwithstanding, Leconte stresses that it's critical that more African Americans delve into the educational side of multimedia. "Those who are creating, developing and publishing content are bypassing the needs of a multicultural society," he says. "The opportunities for investment, joint ventures and development by blacks are there. If we have to play catch-up in this fast-paced industry, it's our children who will lose out."

AFROLINK SOFTWARE

"A lot of people are convinced there's no market for Afrocentric, interactive software. But AfroLink is proving that's just not true," says Kamal Al-Mansour, founder of Los Angeles-based AfroLink Software, an Afrocentric, interactive, educational software firm (afrolink@aol. com). The 36-year-old former software contracts negotiator has combined research he collected from several trips to Africa and the Caribbean with his background in software development to create titles that teach black American and African culture, history, health, education and politics.

Al-Mansour saw a need for interactive software that could be used by schools, hospitals and businesses to educate people about the African diaspora. "After working four years at three companies, one day I asked myself how many people were really benefiting from my knowledge," he says. "We have more rappers than researchers and radiologists, more point guards than scientists. So, to try and fill a void in this critical industry, I started AfroLink in 1988 during an 11-month stint at GTE Communications Systems.

Now in its sixth year, AfroLink Software has released several titles, including Who We Are, a CD-ROM program with animation and sound that features more than 500 questions and answers on black American and African history; Imhotep, used by clients such as Meharry Medical College and Howard University Hospital to educate lay people about diseases that disproportionately afflict black people; and the soon-to-be-released self-esteem teaching CD-ROM, Pride and Purpose.

The first two years, the company labored on research and development, and its revenues have grown steadily, reaching nearly $100,000 in 1994. Sales for 1995 were more promising--AlMansour projects revenues of a bit less than $1 million for 1996. "We've had requests for software from as far away as Greece, Cairo and the United Arab Emirates," he says.

Al-Mansour believes that interactive software should be used by African Americans not only as an educational tool but as a marketing aid as well. AfroLink has a Web site that will feature its product line (http://home.earthlink.net/@afrolink/). "Going interactive can increase customers and cut marketing costs. There are millions who can be reached through the Internet and with interactive diskettes sent by direct mail," he says. "I don't accept lack of capital as an obstacle to growth. If I did, I wouldn't be AfroLink."

AN INTERACTIVE FUTURE FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS?

To survive long-term in the multimedia industry, African American-owned firms will need to execute a number of innovative strategies. "Small companies are at the heart of growth in this industry," says Gary Schultz, principal analyst and president of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Multimedia Research Group. "However, black companies and others will find it harder and harder to fight for shelf space as competition grows fiercer. New and established companies will need to partner with others on marketing and development, look for niche software markets, create new channels of distribution, and distribute their titles on multiple platforms like CD-ROM, the Internet and interactive television."

Schultz also advises small, cash-poor multimedia firms to use royalty payments as an incentive to attract new talent. He suggests using bookstores, retail outlets and Web sites as alternative software distribution points and exploring growing niche markets, such as custom development and SoHo (small office/home office) interactive software needs.

But no matter what you do, it's essential to produce quality products. "Good work will always show through and enable you to do more good work," says 32-year-old Sharleen Smith, a director of new technology for USA Networks (http://www.scifi. com) and one of the few African American women in the multimedia business. Smith, a graduate of NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, was instrumental in developing the company's new technology department. "I'm not one of the good ole' boys, but then this is not an industry dominated by good ole' boys--black can compete in multimedia on a level playing field."

As technology becomes increasingly influential in our everyday lives, African Americans must strive to be not merely end-users of multimedia and other information technologies, but producers of the software and hardware that will propel the digital revolution. Only in this way will we impact the way information is disseminated, and what is told and to whom.

When 1960s poet and social commentator Gil Scott-Heron warned that "the Revolution will not be televised," he did not foresee a digital revolution that would not only be televised but computerized as well. Metamorphosis Studios' Andre Forde sums up the reality for today's African American businessperson: "The digital technology revolution will happen with or without us."