indie(Function); Magazine conducted an interview with Wolfire Game’s Jeffrey Rosen, the mind behind the acclaimed Humble Indie Bundle. Let’s read on and get to know him.
Bret: How did you get the news out about the Humble Indie Bundle so well? I would of expected that you would of only gotten a few hundred people to buy it, not over 300,000 downloads!
Jeffrey: It boils down to “make something people want”[1]. People really liked the Humble Bundle and told their friends about it. 
It’s easier to look at what made the bundle different: Mac and Linux support, DRM-free, pay what you want, support charity, no account needed, etc. The combination of all those things put the bundle over the elusive threshold of “newsworthiness”.
[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/good.html
What was the hardest part of setting all this up?
The hardest part was really the process of launching it. Like all software development, everything takes 10x longer than you think it will, and it took me months of development before I had the nerve to just set a launch date and release it, ready or not!
Did anyone ever tell you that you couldn’t do it? If so, what did you tell them?
“Don’t tell me what I can’t do!!!” in my best John Locke voice. Just kidding, everyone was extremely supportive, albeit skeptical that people would pay more than a penny.
Since you’ve been so successful with the Humble Bundle, I’m sure you’re confident in yourself in the sense you feel you can accomplish anything. Are you planning on starting other projects in the future?
I feel like Humble Bundle is just getting started. We have a ton of big things planned. Revealing them would ruin the surprise though!
Do you have any words of advice for others who want to start up an ambitious indie gaming project like the Humble Bundle?
Make sure to actually do it! Pick something and stick to it. It is really easy to come up with many different awesome ideas, but it’s very hard to actually launch it.