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July 10, 2024 • 1hr 18min
Our buddy sold his app for $200M in just 6 weeks?!
My First Million
In this episode, Sam Parr and Shaan Puri interview Dan Porter, a serial entrepreneur who has founded and sold multiple successful companies including gaming company OMGPOP (creator of Draw Something) and sports media brand Overtime. Porter shares stories and insights from his diverse career experiences, including working with Richard Branson at Virgin and Ari Emanuel at Endeavor. The conversation covers Porter's approach to building viral products, creating passionate fan communities, and his career and life advice for young people.
Our buddy sold his app for $200M in just 6 weeks?!
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Key Takeaways
- Build community and belonging: Dan Porter focused on creating a sense of community and belonging with Overtime, not just content and views. He studied soccer clubs, bands, and cults to understand how to build passionate fan bases.
- Simplify and make accessible: With Draw Something, Porter kept removing features and metadata to make the game as simple and accessible as possible. This allowed it to spread rapidly.
- Create shared language/symbols: Overtime created hand signals, slogans, and exclusive merchandise to give fans ways to identify with the brand and each other.
- Focus on the dream, not features: Instead of selling product features, sell the dream of what the product enables (e.g. a clean house vs vacuum cleaner specs).
- Stay curious and learn from everything: Porter draws insights from diverse sources like concerts, sports, history, and pop culture to inform his business strategies.
- Be authentic: Leaders like Ari Emanuel and Richard Branson succeed by tapping into their authentic personalities and strengths.
- Experience widely in your 20s: Porter advises young people to say yes to diverse experiences in their 20s rather than just climbing a career ladder.
- Find environments that celebrate you: Instead of trying to change yourself to fit in, find work environments that appreciate your authentic strengths and personality.
Introduction
In this episode, Sam Parr and Shaan Puri interview Dan Porter, a serial entrepreneur who has founded and sold multiple successful companies including gaming company OMGPOP (creator of Draw Something) and sports media brand Overtime. Porter shares stories and insights from his diverse career experiences, including working with Richard Branson at Virgin and Ari Emanuel at Endeavor. The conversation covers Porter's approach to building viral products, creating passionate fan communities, and his career and life advice for young people.
Topics Discussed
The Story of OMGPOP and Draw Something (1:29)
Porter recounts how OMGPOP was struggling and nearly out of money when they decided to make one last game - Draw Something. Key points:
- The game was designed to be extremely simple and accessible
- They kept removing features and metadata to make it as straightforward as possible
- "The more you can simplify it, the more it's available to everyone," says Porter
- The game exploded in popularity, reaching 50 million downloads in 50 days
- Zynga acquired the company for $200 million just 6 weeks after the game launched
Building Viral Products (12:02)
Porter shares insights on what made Draw Something go viral:
- Focused on making the game fun and simple rather than adding typical game features
- Created powerful word-of-mouth by making it easy to share and play with friends
- Didn't include sharing features, so people took screenshots to share, increasing organic spread
- Designed the game so no one loses, increasing retention
- "If you and Sam played and Sam won 50% of the time you would never come back to the site again," Porter explains about typical games
The Zynga Acquisition (24:10)
Porter discusses the rapid acquisition by Zynga:
- Multiple companies were interested in buying OMGPOP due to Draw Something's explosive growth
- The deal closed just 6 weeks after the game launched
- Porter pushed for a higher price ($200M vs initial $120-150M offers) despite board hesitation
- Used his discretionary cash component to give more to employees who had taken salary over equity
The Power of Money and Impact (32:30)
Porter reflects on using the acquisition proceeds to help employees:
- Gave out $100k worth of iPads and other gifts to employees
- Helped employees pay off student loans
- Sees this as one of the most rewarding parts of the exit
- "You have this superpower, which is not only does somebody want your company, but you have this ability to impact the lives of all these people who've given you their all for the last five years," says Porter
Working with Richard Branson and Ari Emanuel (38:32)
Porter compares working with Richard Branson at Virgin and Ari Emanuel at Endeavor:
- Ari Emanuel:
- Intense, direct communication style
- Uses humor and personality to influence
- Extremely persistent (called Porter daily for 4 months to recruit him)
- Richard Branson:
- More laid back but very charismatic
- Focused on connecting with all levels of employees
- Humanizes himself through storytelling
- Both tap into their authentic personalities to build their personal brands
Building Overtime (47:44)
Porter discusses his approach to building sports media brand Overtime:
- Studied soccer clubs, bands, and cults to understand building passionate fan bases
- Created hand signals, slogans, and exclusive merch to build community
- Focused on making athletes relatable rather than just sharing stats
- Used social media as a customer relationship tool, responding to every DM
- Built a successful basketball league by focusing on audience connection, not just the sport
The Travis Scott Effect (52:28)
Porter analyzes why some artists like Travis Scott create such passionate fan bases:
- Goes beyond just the music to create a deeper connection with fans
- Literally jumps into crowds to be with fans
- Creates powerful symbolism and storytelling around the fan relationship
- "I have this, like, you know, they always have this thing. They say, if you can give respect, you can get respect," Porter says about connecting with audiences
Dan's Life Advice (1:06:45)
Porter shares career and life advice for young people:
- Use your 20s to experience as much as possible - travel, try different jobs, say yes to adventures
- Learn from diverse sources beyond just business - history, art, pop culture, etc.
- Focus on being the best version of yourself rather than changing to fit in
- Find work environments that celebrate your authentic strengths and personality
- Stay curious and look for insights in unexpected places
- "Your inputs aren't necessarily like the things that you think they are. They might be going into the Sri Lankan restaurant in Staten Island and having a life changing Roti and just rethinking everything you ever knew about the world."
Conclusion
Dan Porter's diverse experiences across education, gaming, media, and working with high-profile leaders have given him unique insights into building viral products and passionate communities. His approach emphasizes authenticity, simplicity, and creating a sense of belonging. Porter advocates for young people to seek out diverse experiences and stay curious rather than just climbing a traditional career ladder. His success with companies like OMGPOP and Overtime demonstrate the power of understanding human psychology and tapping into people's desire for connection and shared experiences. Porter's reflections on using business success to positively impact employees' lives also highlight a more holistic view of entrepreneurship beyond just financial outcomes.