// startup autopsy

Apps Genius

Built on borrowed platforms, buried by platform shifts

platform dependencySlow Death

Years-long decline before final shutdown · Fatal mistake: Apps Genius anchored its entire business model to Facebook and MySpace social gaming without building any platform-independent distribution or IP.

Founded	2009
Closed	2014
Country	USA
Sector	Gaming

50%

Key Events Timeline

2009-01

FOUNDING

Apps Genius founded in the USA to develop social games and apps for Facebook and MySpace.

2010-06

FUNDING

Raises $40K — its total external funding — as social gaming peaks with Zynga's dominance.

2011-09

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Releases several social game titles but struggles to gain traction against heavily-funded competitors.

2012-06

PIVOT

Facebook algorithm changes devastate organic reach; Apps Genius attempts to pivot to mobile gaming without sufficient capital.

2014-01

SHUTDOWN

Apps Genius shuts down after years of declining user numbers and inability to compete in the post-social-gaming landscape.

Full Analysis

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Documented cause

Apps Genius failed as a casualty of the social gaming boom's structural collapse. Founded during the Facebook/MySpace gaming hype of the late 2000s, the company built social games and apps on these rapidly-cons...

olidating platforms. With only $40K in raised capital, Apps Genius lacked the resources to compete against well-funded rivals like Zynga, which dominated the social gaming space. The company faced a c

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€0.1M

Peak valuation

HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

Apps Genius raised €0.04M before apps genius anchored its entire business model to facebook and myspace social gaming without building any platform-independent distribution or ip. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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Key Events Timeline

Documented cause

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