He Built Mafia Wars to $10M a Day and Now Makes Bets on 130+ Startups

He Built Mafia Wars to $10M a Day and Now Makes Bets on 130+ Startups

Author: Fondo May 6, 2025 Duration: 37:28

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:

  • Roger’s early obsession with coding and games
  • How Dope Wars turned into a breakout Facebook game success
  • The origin and explosive growth of Mafia Wars at Zynga
  • Building a startup that scaled to $100K/day in revenue
  • The matrix method for startup idea generation
  • Why distribution, not code, is today’s biggest moat
  • Why he believes in going deep on one growth channel
  • Lessons learned from two successful search labs
  • The importance of knowing when a product isn't working
  • What he's exploring now across SaaS, games, and social
  • Much more

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Find the transcript at: https://www.tryfondo.com/podcast (or wherever you're hosting it)

Where to Find Roger Dickey

Where to Find David Phillips

In This Episode, We Cover

  • (00:00) Intro and Roger's startup credentials
  • (01:04) Roger’s coding origin story and first “viral” product
  • (05:01) How Dope Wars exploded on Facebook
  • (10:45) Building and scaling Mafia Wars at Zynga
  • (16:00) Product-led growth mechanics and viral loops
  • (21:00) Inventing and reinventing distribution
  • (25:35) How Roger structured his “search lab” process
  • (31:00) Metrics and mindset for early-stage validation
  • (34:55) CAC, LTV, and cracking the S-curve of growth
  • (38:47) Scaling a $100K/day construction tech startup
  • (44:10) The role of deep focus vs. testing across channels
  • (48:05) What Roger’s building next and how he’s thinking about it

Referenced


Behind every startup's big idea is the less glamorous, but utterly essential, work of building a real business. The Startup Growth Podcast, from the team at Fondo, digs into that reality. Fondo itself is an all-in-one accounting platform designed for startups, handling everything from closing the books to filing taxes and even helping secure cash back from the IRS. This practical experience informs every conversation. You’ll hear founders and operators talk not just about vision, but about the tangible systems, financial decisions, and marketing pivots that actually fuel growth. Episodes move beyond theory to explore the operational choices that separate promising companies from sustainable ones. It’s a resource for entrepreneurs who understand that strategy is meaningless without execution, and that a healthy bottom line is the truest measure of progress. Tune in for honest discussions that bridge the gap between entrepreneurial ambition and the business fundamentals required to make it last.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 48

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