How Three Roommates Built Million-Dollar Roblox Businesses
TL;DR: Cole, Ian, and Jake are three roommates in Austin making millions from Roblox. Cole makes $45K/month from 'Hide or Die' (1M daily active users) after spending $500K on failed projects. Ian makes $25K/month from 'Bake a Baby' which he built during winter break and went viral with 100M+ views. Jake makes $36K/month from Vector 3, a marketing agency creating video content for brands entering Roblox (Nicki Minaj, Spongebob). They leveraged Roblox's platform dynamics where games are discovered algorithmically like YouTube videos. Their success came from building clickable, social, replayable games quickly rather than spending years perfecting products. The key lesson: test first then build, not build then test. Cole spent 3 years and $300K on a game that failed, then made Hide or Die in 2 weeks which succeeded. They emphasize work/rest separation, building real friendships not transactional relationships, and creating space for creative thinking.
Key Insights
- Build fast to test first - Cole's 2-week game succeeded after his 3-year $500K project failed
- Clickable + social + replayable is the winning game formula on platform discovery
- Roblox has 400M monthly users (1 in 2 US kids under 16) spending 2x more time than TikTok
- Platform marketing agencies work: Jake makes $36K/month creating content for brands entering Roblox
- Living together enables intense collaboration and idea bouncing
Actionable Takeaways
- Build MVPs in days/weeks not months to test demand before heavy investment
- Target emerging platforms during explosive growth phases for built-in distribution
- Design products with viral mechanics: clickable names, social features, replayability
- Create educational content on professional platforms to attract B2B clients
- Separate work and rest completely - no in-between state for maximum focus
Principles Validated (10)
Build tools around emerging platforms during their viral growth phase for optimal distribution
Cole, Ian, Jake (Hide or Die, Bake a Baby, Vector 3)
Choose consumer app ideas with three viral characteristics: visually interesting, explainable in three words, solves fundamental human problem
Ian (Bake a Baby)