{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"START","title":" He Built Mafia Wars to $10M a Day and Now Makes Bets on 130+ Startups","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2248,"description":"Roger Dickey is a serial entrepreneur and prolific angel investor with over 130 startup investments under his belt. From humble beginnings coding games as a kid to building Mafia Wars at Zynga—a game that reached a $300 million annual run rate—Roger has scaled multiple companies and exited to giants like Zynga, Home Depot, and private equity. He's also pioneered the \"search lab\" approach to company building, a structured yet high-velocity process for launching and validating startup ideas. In this episode, we cover:\nRoger’s early obsession with coding and games\nHow Dope Wars turned into a breakout Facebook game success\nThe origin and explosive growth of Mafia Wars at Zynga\nBuilding a startup that scaled to $100K/day in revenue\nThe matrix method for startup idea generation\nWhy distribution, not code, is today’s biggest moat\nWhy he believes in going deep on one growth channel\nLessons learned from two successful search labs\nThe importance of knowing when a product isn't working\nWhat he's exploring now across SaaS, games, and social\nMuch more\nBrought to you by:\nFondo – Accounting for startups: https://www.tryfondo.com\nFind the transcript at: https://www.tryfondo.com/podcast (or wherever you're hosting it)\nWhere to Find Roger Dickey\nX: https://x.com/rogerdickey\nLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerdickey/\nEssay – Lessons from 2 Search Labs: https://medium.com/@rogerdickey/lessons-from-2-search-labs-fe07d0bc0fb4\nWhere to Find David Phillips\nX: https://x.com/davj\nLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davjphillips/\nIn This Episode, We Cover\n(00:00) Intro and Roger's startup credentials\n(01:04) Roger’s coding origin story and first “viral” product\n(05:01) How Dope Wars exploded on Facebook\n(10:45) Building and scaling Mafia Wars at Zynga\n(16:00) Product-led growth mechanics and viral loops\n(21:00) Inventing and reinventing distribution\n(25:35) How Roger structured his “search lab” process\n(31:00) Metrics and mindset for early-stage validation\n(34:55) CAC, LTV, and...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q-E1hh7K6IS4AfZiNy2p4MYVGcUOO8lQP92h8QbOEOA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80NzVj/MDEzNjkxNjU1N2Uy/NDFhMDQ3M2ZhNWI3/NWY0MS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}