The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Small Business Deep Dives with Entrepreneurs He Built a Simple App and Sold It for $200 Million⏐Ep. #242
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Nov 3, 2025 
Dan Porter, a serial entrepreneur and former game CEO, dives into his journey from creating the viral game Draw Something to founding the sports media company Overtime. He reveals how removing strangers from the game created a safer social experience and how small design tweaks led to massive success. Porter emphasizes outsider thinking, rapid shipping, and the importance of creating with a niche focus. He also shares insights on leveraging AI in creativity and the market potential in niches like TikTok-driven products.
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From Failed Launch To $200M Exit
- Dan describes building a drawing-and-guessing iPhone game that initially bombed then suddenly shot to number one after a weekend fix.
- The game reached #1 in 60 countries, 25M daily players, and ~250M downloads before being sold for $200M.
Limit Access To Reduce Toxicity
- Dan realized open lobbies enabled toxic behavior so he limited play to friends only, which reduced abuse and increased retention.
- Making the game friends-only created safe social context and built-in viral invites from contact lists.
Design For The Device's Strengths
- Draw Something succeeded because it matched the phone's unique affordances: finger-drawing, tactile play, and social sharing.
- Simplicity, collaboration, and feel mattered more than complex mechanics or XP systems.