How Chess and Sudoku Websites Make Millions

About this video

Sam and Shaan explore the “New Zealand business” archetype—profitable, independent companies with cult followings in simple, uncompetitive categories—by investigating what other games could replicate chess.com’s success. They examine sudoku.com (which powers Easy Brain’s 750 million lifetime downloads across 15 games, acquired for $640 million), and discover significant untapped opportunities in poker.com and crossword puzzle sites.

Key takeaways

• Chess.com claims 200 million monthly uniques, 60 million registered users, and at least $100 million in recurring subscription revenue, validating the “New Zealand business” model: simple, profitable, and insulated from competition
• Easy Brain (sudoku.com’s parent) was acquired in February for $640 million in stock plus up to $120 million in earnouts, with 2020 revenues of $210 million and $70 million in profit, showing that casual games at scale can be extremely valuable
• Many valuable domain names for classic games (poker.com, crossword.com, dominoes) are underdeveloped or abandoned, representing potential missed opportunities for entrepreneurs to replicate Easy Brain’s cross-promotion strategy

Episode details: published April 3, 2021 · 1K views · 9:18 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The business ideas, figures and results discussed are the hosts’ and guests’ own claims, shared as brainstorming and entertainment — not verified facts and not investment advice.

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