Dropped out, kicked out at 16, billionaire by 32: AppLovin cofounder on out-hustling everyone
davidsenra · x · 2026-11-01
David Senra sits down with AppLovin cofounder Rafael Vivas, who was kicked out of his home at 16, dropped out of high school, and became a billionaire by 32.
Key moments:
- His one condition for joining AppLovin: living in the office — CEO Adam Foroughi built him an IKEA bed. "The only way we're going to win is we're going to have to out-hustle everybody else."
- After partner Cheetah squeezed AppLovin too hard, he founded game studio Lion Studios "because lion is the only animal that can kill a cheetah" — zero to $250M+ revenue in two years
- Why he's against delegation, two years of persistence to land one customer, walking away at 28, returning for the IPO, and the stock buyback that created $50 billion
- Best advice he ever received: stay in the game
A wide-ranging conversation on purpose, performance culture, and persistence.
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