21 April 2025
The Board Game Billionaire: From a $10k Kickstarter to $100M/Year Business
My First Million
About
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Episode 699: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Elan Lee ( https://x.com/elanlee ) about growing Exploding Kittens from a $10K Kickstarter campaign to $100M dollar company.
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Show Notes:
(0:00) Humble Success: Exploding Kittens Insights
(8:07) The origin story - From 10k to $9M on kickstarter
(16:17) Focus on the crowd, not the funding
(20:41) Games should not be entertaining
(23:52) The Kitty Test pilots
(27:57) $0 marketing hacks
(38:49) Pushing past the ‘no’
(41:07) Business as a game
(45:32) Creativity loves constraints
(54:28) Irritation is the source of innovation
(59:13) Designing a game with Tim Ferriss
(01:04:08) Do what never makes you bored
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Links:
• Exploding Kittens - https://www.explodingkittens.com/
• Paxsite - https://www.paxsite.com
• Elan on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrelanlee
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Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies!
Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC
—
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/
• Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/
• Copy That - https://copythat.com
• Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth
• Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
Episode 699: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Elan Lee ( https://x.com/elanlee ) about growing Exploding Kittens from a $10K Kickstarter campaign to $100M dollar company.
—
Show Notes:
(0:00) Humble Success: Exploding Kittens Insights
(8:07) The origin story - From 10k to $9M on kickstarter
(16:17) Focus on the crowd, not the funding
(20:41) Games should not be entertaining
(23:52) The Kitty Test pilots
(27:57) $0 marketing hacks
(38:49) Pushing past the ‘no’
(41:07) Business as a game
(45:32) Creativity loves constraints
(54:28) Irritation is the source of innovation
(59:13) Designing a game with Tim Ferriss
(01:04:08) Do what never makes you bored
—
Links:
• Exploding Kittens - https://www.explodingkittens.com/
• Paxsite - https://www.paxsite.com
• Elan on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrelanlee
—
Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies!
Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC
—
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/
• Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/
• Copy That - https://copythat.com
• Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth
• Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano