// startup autopsy
OMGPOP
One viral hit, one bad acquirer, one dead studio.
acquisition gone wrongAcqui-hire
Fatal mistake: OMGPOP sold at peak hype with no durable product pipeline, making the acquisition value entirely dependent on Draw Something's fleeting popularity.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
OMGPOP founded as iminlikewithyou, a casual web games platform targeting social gamers.
FUNDING
Raised final funding round bringing total to $16.6M, rebranded to OMGPOP and pivoted to mobile.
PRODUCT LAUNCH
Draw Something launched and exploded to 35M downloads in 50 days, becoming the #1 app globally.
ACQUISITION ATTEMPT
Zynga acquired OMGPOP for approximately $180M at the absolute peak of Draw Something's popularity.
SHUTDOWN
Zynga shut down OMGPOP studio, laid off all staff, and took a massive writedown on the acquisition.