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My First MillionThis App Entrepreneur Made $10,000,000 By Cloning A Viral Game
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Wordle goes viral—and a weekend-built mobile clone rockets up the App Store
Ben Levy shares how Wordle’s viral spread created a sudden opportunity: there wasn’t a dominant mobile app. His friend Zach Shaked built a Wordle-named app over a weekend and saw rapid organic growth and top App Store rankings.
- •Ben Levy frames Wordle’s sudden popularity and the lack of a go-to mobile app
- •Zach Shaked builds “Wordle the App” in a weekend to capture demand
- •The clone gets tens of thousands of organic downloads quickly and climbs the App Store
- •Zach’s habit of publicly tweeting progress becomes central to what follows
What Wordle is and why the shareable grid made it spread
Shaan Puri explains Wordle’s simple daily guessing mechanic and why it’s easy to play. The hosts unpack how the colored-square share format lets people brag without spoiling the answer, fueling social sharing.
- •Shaan Puri explains the five-letter guessing loop with gray/yellow/green feedback
- •The game is quick to play and provides a small “win” feeling
- •The share feature posts only color blocks, not the word, making it highly shareable
- •Sam Parr connects the viral grid posts he’s seen online to the game’s mechanics
The original creator intervenes: ‘This doesn’t feel right’
Ben Levy recounts how the Wordle creator contacts Zach and expresses discomfort. Zach argues there’s no trademark and floats partnering, while the creator maintains he’s doing it for fun rather than money.
- •Sam asks for Zach’s name and the app’s name; Ben identifies both
- •Ben describes the Wordle creator reaching out and saying the clone feels wrong
- •Zach claims the name isn’t trademarked and suggests collaboration
- •The creator says some version of ‘I don’t do this for money’ (as relayed by Ben)
Twitter backlash escalates: ethics, hypocrisy receipts, and Apple takedowns
A tech reporter criticizes Zach publicly, triggering a pile-on that includes resurfaced tweets where Zach condemned cloners. The situation snowballs into harassment and culminates with Apple pulling Wordle-named apps from the store.
- •Ben describes a reporter ‘dunking’ on Zach and framing it as unethical cloning
- •Old tweets resurface where Zach attacked cloners as the ‘scum of the earth’
- •Zach’s earlier goal tweet about being more vulgar and making $10M becomes part of the backlash
- •Ben says people begin targeting Zach’s other apps and domains
- •Ben reports Apple pulls Wordle apps and asserts App Store discretion
The ‘be more vulgar’ goal and the debate over doubling down vs apologizing
The hosts pause on why Zach framed his 2022 goal as being more vulgar, interpreting it as being more aggressive about opportunities. They outline potential responses—apologize, rebrand, or lean in—and discuss how execution-focused copycats justify themselves.
- •Shaan questions why ‘be more vulgar’ was Zach’s goal; Ben interprets it as being more assertive
- •They lay out options: apologize, make concessions like changing the name, or fully double down
- •Sam offers an alternative framing: ‘not innovators, but executors’ (Rocket Internet-style)
- •Ben says Zach believed he wasn’t doing anything wrong and chose to double down
The real lesson: building in public can backfire—especially when you’re winning
They conclude the Wordle-clone saga by arguing the public bragging made it a story journalists could amplify, which likely accelerated enforcement. They broaden into a debate about transparency, identity, and when silence is strategically safer.
- •Ben says the episode became a harsh lesson: building in public isn’t always good
- •Shaan argues the outrage story depended on Zach publicly bragging; anonymity might have avoided scrutiny
- •They claim the App Store is full of clones that fly under the radar because nobody talks about them
- •Shaan says he favors transparency with trusted people, not internet strangers
- •Ben connects “build in public” to identity, and how identity can trap you into behaviors
Pomp’s output and ‘empire’: newsletters, shows, sponsors, and constraints
Sam pivots to how Pomp produces so much content and why he’s widely trusted by young audiences for crypto/NFT information (as Sam describes a survey). The group estimates what Pomp might make across subscriptions, sponsors, courses, and investing, while questioning sustainability and the ‘have to’ schedule.
- •Sam describes a survey where Gen Z ranked Pomp as most trusted for crypto/NFT advice
- •They list Pomp’s output: email list, daily show, and long-form production routine
- •They estimate revenue streams: paid newsletter, job board, sponsorships, and courses (with explicit uncertainty)
- •They discuss investing as the biggest upside but hard to quantify
- •They debate sustainability: enjoying it vs being locked into a daily schedule
Why doing content daily can feel like a prison—even when it’s a good idea
They discuss the grind and commitment of producing something every day, comparing it to a self-chosen ‘prison.’ Sam relates it to the intensity of running The Hustle and how creators can miss the action after stepping away.
- •Shaan describes the daily email commitment as a deliberate, heavy constraint
- •Sam compares daily publishing to a marathon or fight—hard, scary, and sometimes addictive
- •They emphasize how difficult it is to create daily content for more than a year
- •They talk about the tension between ambitious output and long-term sustainability
Project selection beats raw effort: why Shaan bets on crypto plus audience building
Shaan argues the most important decision is what you work on and who you work with, not how hard you grind. He contrasts past ‘bad projects’ with choosing the podcast and then explains why a crypto-focused daily learning-and-explaining workflow could pay off beyond media revenue.
- •Shaan says project selection matters more than sheer hard work
- •He lists examples of projects he considers mistakes and why they didn’t fit him
- •He describes the podcast as his best project choice and reflects on the e-commerce project’s demands
- •He frames crypto as a major ‘wave’ and argues being in the water matters more than the exact tactic
- •He explains why a daily newsletter forces learning, which can create unexpected opportunities
Finding what gives you energy—and building a calendar around it
Sam explores the idea of choosing work that energizes you, using personal examples of tasks he loves that others might hate. Shaan adds a framework for auditing your calendar for energy drains vs energy gains, and they discuss accepting business highs and lows as part of the ride.
- •Sam distinguishes ‘gives you energy’ from ‘makes you happy’ and shares his own examples
- •Shaan describes learning as his energizing loop: getting paid to be curious
- •They discuss how loving unpopular tasks can become a competitive advantage
- •Shaan suggests auditing a calendar by highlighting energizing vs soul-sucking activities
- •Shaan frames business volatility as a chosen rollercoaster—expect highs and lows
Wrap-up: producer feedback, Walt Disney research tidbit, and a ‘get rich quick’ one-liner
They close with producer remarks on the episode and a brief discussion of ongoing Walt Disney research, including a quote about “changing the world.” The conversation ends with a favorite one-liner about “get rich quick schemes” and a quick note about weather in Austin.
- •They ask the producer what he thought of the episode and discuss his research output
- •The producer shares a Walt Disney anecdote and a quote that reminds him of Steve Jobs
- •They riff on categorizing historical greats into personality types as a playful idea
- •Sam shares a line from a wealthy friend praising ‘get rich quick schemes’
- •They end with logistics and a brief exchange about Austin freezing weather
