Wake Up with Chris Donnelly
15: Tetris, The KGB, and a $15 Million Gamble – The Untold True Story
Apr 3, 2025
01:15:08
No one teaches you how to walk into Soviet negotiations on a tourist visa and walk out with one of the biggest gaming deals in history.
Today, I’m sitting down with Henk Rogers, the entrepreneur who brought Tetris to the world and outplayed billion-dollar corporations to secure the rights. His journey is a masterclass in risk-taking, negotiation, and reinvention.
We dive into:
- How Henk convinced Nintendo to bet on Tetris
- The truth behind the movie vs. reality: what really happened in Moscow
- The Game Boy deal that changed gaming forever
- How a near-death experience turned him into a climate change activist
- His new book, The Perfect Game: Tetris: From Russia with Love, where he reveals the untold story behind the Tetris battle and what Hollywood didn’t show
Now, he’s on a mission to make the world 100 percent renewable by 2045, and he’s already led Hawaii to become the first state to commit.
This is about big risks, big wins, and using success to change the world. Let’s get into it.
Chapters:
0:00 The Origin Story Begins
1:23 Henk's Humble Beginnings
3:19 Following Love All the Way to Japan
6:00 Bringing Western Games to the East
10:00 Betting the Farm Literally
11:00 The Moment Henk Found Tetris
20:00 Tetris Meets Game Boy
23:00 Entering the Soviet Union… on a Tourist Visa
24:00 The KGB Is Now Involved
31:00 Negotiating Behind the Iron Curtain
39:00 When It All Nearly Fell Apart
40:00 Why the Tetris Launch Initially Flopped
48:00 Henk & Alexey Pajitnov Friendship
53:00 Fact vs Fiction Does the Movie Get It Right
57:00 How Writing His Book Came to Be
59:00 Henk's Near Death Experience
1:01:00 Henk’s Mission to Ditch Carbon Fuels for Good
1:02:00 How Much Henk Sold His Company For
1:03:00 How to Actually Make Renewables Profitable
1:09:00 Henk's New App to Help Climate Change
1:11:00 Advice for the Next Generation of Dreamers
1:12:00 The Real Story Behind Henk’s Book
Follow Chris: https://www.instagram.com/chrisdonnellyofficial/?hl=en
Follow Henk: https://www.instagram.com/henkrogers/?hl=en
Link to Henk's Book: https://www.diangelopublications.com/shop/p/the-perfect-game
Today, I’m sitting down with Henk Rogers, the entrepreneur who brought Tetris to the world and outplayed billion-dollar corporations to secure the rights. His journey is a masterclass in risk-taking, negotiation, and reinvention.
We dive into:
- How Henk convinced Nintendo to bet on Tetris
- The truth behind the movie vs. reality: what really happened in Moscow
- The Game Boy deal that changed gaming forever
- How a near-death experience turned him into a climate change activist
- His new book, The Perfect Game: Tetris: From Russia with Love, where he reveals the untold story behind the Tetris battle and what Hollywood didn’t show
Now, he’s on a mission to make the world 100 percent renewable by 2045, and he’s already led Hawaii to become the first state to commit.
This is about big risks, big wins, and using success to change the world. Let’s get into it.
Chapters:
0:00 The Origin Story Begins
1:23 Henk's Humble Beginnings
3:19 Following Love All the Way to Japan
6:00 Bringing Western Games to the East
10:00 Betting the Farm Literally
11:00 The Moment Henk Found Tetris
20:00 Tetris Meets Game Boy
23:00 Entering the Soviet Union… on a Tourist Visa
24:00 The KGB Is Now Involved
31:00 Negotiating Behind the Iron Curtain
39:00 When It All Nearly Fell Apart
40:00 Why the Tetris Launch Initially Flopped
48:00 Henk & Alexey Pajitnov Friendship
53:00 Fact vs Fiction Does the Movie Get It Right
57:00 How Writing His Book Came to Be
59:00 Henk's Near Death Experience
1:01:00 Henk’s Mission to Ditch Carbon Fuels for Good
1:02:00 How Much Henk Sold His Company For
1:03:00 How to Actually Make Renewables Profitable
1:09:00 Henk's New App to Help Climate Change
1:11:00 Advice for the Next Generation of Dreamers
1:12:00 The Real Story Behind Henk’s Book
Follow Chris: https://www.instagram.com/chrisdonnellyofficial/?hl=en
Follow Henk: https://www.instagram.com/henkrogers/?hl=en
Link to Henk's Book: https://www.diangelopublications.com/shop/p/the-perfect-game
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