This solo founder just sold his company for $50M+. The craziest...
Codie Sanchez@Codie_Sanchez
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Jan 24, 2024
~2 min read
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This solo founder just sold his company for $50M+.
The craziest part?
It was completely bootstrapped and in a totally unconventional niche.
Here's the breakdown:
The craziest part?
It was completely bootstrapped and in a totally unconventional niche.
Here's the breakdown:
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Let me introduce you to Jean-Nicolas Mastin, the 1-man show behind Wargraphs.
• Started coding at age 11
• Built his first website around World of Warcraft in 2009
• Became obsessed with League of Legends and waited for their API to come out so he could build with it
• Started coding at age 11
• Built his first website around World of Warcraft in 2009
• Became obsessed with League of Legends and waited for their API to come out so he could build with it
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Do you realize how MASSIVE League of Legends actually is? (I didn't...)
• ~180M players global, 28M in the US
• Generated $1.75B in rev for the developer
• They even produced a viral Netflix show last year, Arcane, which made Netflix ~$900M
• ~180M players global, 28M in the US
• Generated $1.75B in rev for the developer
• They even produced a viral Netflix show last year, Arcane, which made Netflix ~$900M
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But Jean-Nicolas was building apps in 2013 before the game had hit the mainstream.
His first experiment: League of Graphs
• 16.9 million visits
• In-depth character stats
• Infographics on the game's monthly updates
His first experiment: League of Graphs
• 16.9 million visits
• In-depth character stats
• Infographics on the game's monthly updates
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What did Jean-Nicolas's day look like?
"I wake up each morning and ask myself: What do my users want or need right now? As soon as I have an answer, I chase it down quickly."
This paid off in 2017, where he continued to build and obsess over his core audience.
"I wake up each morning and ask myself: What do my users want or need right now? As soon as I have an answer, I chase it down quickly."
This paid off in 2017, where he continued to build and obsess over his core audience.
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What happened?
He launched Porofessor.
A free application that overlays with the game, enabling players to look at:
• Live in-depth scouting on their opponents
• Post-game analytics on their performance
• Guides on how to use certain characters
He launched Porofessor.
A free application that overlays with the game, enabling players to look at:
• Live in-depth scouting on their opponents
• Post-game analytics on their performance
• Guides on how to use certain characters
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The app was an instant hit:
• 800k daily active users
• $13.46M revenue in 2022 (mainly via ads)
The company that acquired them, MOBA Network, is also a fascinating business...
• 800k daily active users
• $13.46M revenue in 2022 (mainly via ads)
The company that acquired them, MOBA Network, is also a fascinating business...
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Their focus is on acquiring and growing the world's largest gaming communities:
• Valuation: $515M
• Distribution: 170M page views + 20B video views per year
• Assets: 1,000+ content creators and 23 online communities
A fascinating community-first model.
• Valuation: $515M
• Distribution: 170M page views + 20B video views per year
• Assets: 1,000+ content creators and 23 online communities
A fascinating community-first model.
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Some lessons from this story:
• Build for avid fans
• Always obsess over your customers
• Build from a place of personal obsession (find what feels like play to you, but feels like work to others)
• Build for avid fans
• Always obsess over your customers
• Build from a place of personal obsession (find what feels like play to you, but feels like work to others)
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I don't know the first thing about League of Legends...
But a story of a passionate builder?
Game recognizes game.
Follow @Codie_Sanchez for more, and you can RT here for easy sharing:
But a story of a passionate builder?
Game recognizes game.
Follow @Codie_Sanchez for more, and you can RT here for easy sharing:
Codie Sanchez@Codie_Sanchez
This solo founder just sold his company for $50M+.
The craziest part?
It was completely bootstrapped and in a totally unconventional niche.
Here's the breakdown:
The craziest part?
It was completely bootstrapped and in a totally unconventional niche.
Here's the breakdown:
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