Adam Foroughi, Applovin CEO: Surviving a 92% Drawdown, Ads as ML 1.0 & the $50B Game Ad Market

Key takeaways

• Over one billion people play mobile casual games daily, driving an estimated $50 billion in annual ad spend that most tech founders ignore. Read more →
• AppLovin sustains an 84% EBITDA margin by operating strictly as an algorithmic matchmaker instead of expanding into low-margin agency services. Read more →
• AppLovin went public in 2021 at a $28 billion valuation, hit a $40 billion peak, and then fell 92% to $3.8 billion in 2022 despite producing $1 billion in EBITDA. Read more →
• Bottom-funnel search engines capture existing consumer intent, while discovery platforms create net-new consumer demand that expands the economy. Read more →
• Adam Foroughi dismisses the myth that phones eavesdrop on conversations to serve ads, explaining that cross-site search footprints and browsing history already create fast predictive matching. Read more →