The Board Game Billionaire: From a $10k Kickstarter to $100M/Year Business

**Elan Lee** (0:00)
We launched this thing saying, all right, let's aim for $10,000. We hit our $10,000 goal in seven minutes. And in the first 48 hours, we had $2 million. After that is when the story gets really interesting.

**Sam Parr** (0:23)
Okay.

**Shaan Puri** (0:24)
Well, good. Sam, do you want me to kick it off?

**Sam Parr** (0:26)
Yeah. Well, yeah, I do. First of all, Shaan, how did you guys even come to the same world?

**Shaan Puri** (0:31)
Craig. So we invited Craig to the event because Craig is one of my favorite people. Even though he doesn't play basketball, we were like, Craig, you got to be there. You're the exemption. You're not the basketball guy, but we just want you there for sure. And we told him what it was. He got excited and he goes, I have somebody who I think should come. And we were like, okay, great. Who's the plus one? And he was, I guess, how long have you guys been friends?

**Elan Lee** (0:53)
It's got to be a decade now. It's so funny because he called me up and he's like, okay, I have the weirdest invitation ever. It's a basketball event, but I'm not going to be playing basketball. And I was like, okay, that's as weird as it gets. And then we started talking and I'm so glad I went. It was amazing.

**Shaan Puri** (1:12)
Yeah, that's actually a big leap of faith for you because we know Craig, so obviously there's a personal connection there. What did he say that made you get off the couch for that?

**Elan Lee** (1:19)
I mean, he honestly didn't give me many details, but in general, Craig is one of those people on this list I have where if he says to try something, I just try it and don't ask questions. There's only like four people on that list, but he's on there. So I'm so glad I did it.

**Shaan Puri** (1:36)
Exactly. And ever since we met you at that event, I was like, okay, we have to have you on because you blew us away. Just to give people context, all right, so there's a room full of people. Imagine 25, we tried to invite the 25 most interesting, ambitious people that we could find who also loved to play basketball in this case. And the room is like, I mean, it's basically like 30% billionaire. And so there's a lot of successful people in that room. And I would say you blew us away the most. You gave this talk that really kind of inspired us. And I would say you blew us away for three reasons. Number one, your business is like a giant dragon, but it looks like a playful, cute dragon. And so people don't look at it and think, wow, this is a juggernaut. You have a board games company. If anybody's ever seen the games like Exploding Kittens, that's your game. And not only is that your game, you were telling us, we were like, so like of the top games, like, you know, is yours number one? And I don't know if I want to paraphrase you exactly, but you go, we have number one, two, four and five of the top five sold games in the world. And I just thought that was incredible. So you have this huge business, but you have this artist spirit where you're the nicest guy and you're creatively driven. It didn't seem like you've got into this for the money.
You got into this to have fun and you gave this talk at night, this little presentation, a little 10 minute presentation that blew us all away. So that's why I wanted you to be here. You can respond to that and then Sam, I want to hear your impressions too before we jump in.

**Elan Lee** (3:06)
Well, first of all, even before, I would just love to say that is so flattering. I showed up to that event about as fish out of water as it gets and imposter syndrome dripping out my ears. It was just, this room is filled with incredible people. And Shaan, I think it was you.
I think the very first few minutes, I remember I asked you, like, why are we here? Like, what is this thing? And you had the best answer ever. You said, everyone in this room is smarter than I am. I'm gonna spend the next three days learning as much as I can. I hope you're here for the same reasons. And I was just like, holy crap. I have found my tribe. Here's where I want to be. This is so great.

**Sam Parr** (3:53)