Exploding Kittens: Elan Lee. How cat-themed Russian Roulette changed game night forever

Exploding Kittens began as a jerry-rigged version of Russian Roulette — a deck of cards hastily modified with a Sharpie. But what happened next is one of the most improbable success stories in the creator economy: a $10,000 Kickstarter goal that ballooned into nearly $9 million , a community that rewrote the rules of crowdfunding, and a company that has now sold over 60 million card and board games . Co-founder Elan Lee shares the story behind Exploding Kittens — from dismantling his brother’s toys as a kid, to helping design Halo , to walking away from Microsoft…twice. He reveals how burnout, curiosity, and an obsession with interactive storytelling set the stage for one of the most successful game launches of all time. This is a story about the genius behind good marketing, and how creative storytelling can build a cult-like audience — without spending millions. If you’ve ever wondered how a strange idea becomes a global phenomenon — this is that story. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN: How burnout can be a creative turning point How a Sharpie and a deck of cards can unlock breakthrough ideas The storytelling strategy that powered one of Kickstarter’s biggest launches How to treat your fans like collaborators, not just customers Why marketing should feel like play Unit economics to die for: make it for $2, sell it for $20 How to power through the threat of a one-hit-wonder TIMESTAMPS: 00:08:30 — The physics teacher who changed Elan’s life 00:10:35 — How Elan touched up the floating door scene in Titanic 00:13:03 — “You’re the worst program manager I’ve ever seen” — and the pivot to game design 00:15:33 — Meeting Spielberg, riffing on the movie AI , and inventing a new kind of storytelling 00:21:42 — Promoting Halo 2 with payphones 00:31:35 — The Hawaii getaway that sparked Exploding Kittens 00:42:12 — The Kickstarter launch: most backers on record 00:48:42 — Suddenly a real company — 700,000 decks and a manufacturing crisis 00:53:45 — Marketing genius: a kitty-cat vending machine that dispensed burritos and more 01:00:58 — New games that bombed — the one-hit-wonder dread 01:07:04 — Throw Throw Burrito , and the road to stability 01:19:05 — Elan’s 4-year-old daughter helps design new games 01:30:31 — Small Business Spotlight Hey—want to be a guest on HIBT? If you’re building a business, why not get advice from some of the greatest entrepreneurs on Earth? Every Thursday on the HIBT Advice Line , a previous HIBT guest helps new entrepreneurs work through the challenges they’re facing right now. Advice that’s smart, actionable, and absolutely free. Just call 1-800-433-1298 , leave a message, and you may soon get guidance from someone who started where you did, and went on to build something massive. So—give us a call. We can’t wait to hear what you’re working on. This episode was produced by Sam Paulson with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant with research help from Noor Gill. Our engineers were Maggie Luthar and Kwesi Lee. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .