Jul 31, 2023 · 1h 7m · how-i-built-this
The Tetris Company: Henk Rogers
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of How I Built This, entrepreneur Henk Rogers details how he founded Bulletproof Software, braved Cold War intrigue in Moscow to secure the international rights to Tetris for Nintendo's Game Boy, and forged an enduring partnership with creator Alexey Pajitnov.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 35.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Guy as informed peer 2.7 Guest teaching 2.2 Guest disagreement 0.8 Guy pushing back 0.2
speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 42:20 Henk interrupts Guy's framing to highlight existential business risk
Henk directly rejects Guy's conversational framing ('you missed the point just now') to reassert that Belikov's statement meant Henk's entire $2 million cartridge manufacturing gamble was illegitimate.
Hardest push from Guy ▶ 16:53 Guy challenges how an unknown foreigner gained direct access to YamauchiGuy presses Henk skeptically on why Nintendo's iron-fisted president would spend hours with an unknown 30-year-old and why corporate gatekeepers didn't prevent the meetings.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 46:49 Henk breaks down international software licensing models for Soviet bureaucratsHenk details how he had to systematically educate Soviet officials who had zero comprehension of Western commercial gaming, consoles, and IP revenue mechanics.
Guy holds their own ▶ 33:53 Guy contextualizes the Game Boy pack-in strategy with the U2 iPod parallelGuy demonstrates strategic industry insight by identifying the massive marketing multiplier of hardware bundling, comparing Henk's Game Boy pitch to Apple preloading U2 on every iPod.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Guy as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Guy pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Podcast Promotion for The Great Creators | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Introductory promo and setup framing by Guy Raz, followed by a teaser clip of Henk Rogers discussing inventory dumping. As an introductory monologue and clip segment, interactive dynamics are absent. | |
| Early Life, Computer Science, and Dungeons & Dragons | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Henk discusses his early programming and collegiate gaming club experiences. When Guy suggests the early games were purely text-based without graphics, Henk clarifies that his program generated pseudo-3D visual outputs on paper. | |
| Founding Bulletproof Software and the SoftBank Meeting | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Henk details the origin of Bulletproof Software and meeting SoftBank. When Guy asks if The Black Onyx was text-input based, Henk firmly corrects him, noting it used 10-key directional navigation in pseudo-3D before computer mice existed. | |
| Transitioning from Game Developer to International Publisher | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Henk recounts securing a meeting with Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi by proposing a computer version of Go. The exchange is collaborative as Henk describes asking for $300,000 on the spot. | |
| Yamauchi's Verdict and Becoming a Nintendo Publisher | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Henk describes Yamauchi rejecting the Go engine as 'too weak for Nintendo,' prompting Henk to pivot quickly into becoming a direct third-party publisher. Guy follows the narrative arc attentively. | |
| Cultivating an Exclusive Bond with Hiroshi Yamauchi | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | Guy pushes back with skepticism, asking why a powerhouse CEO like Yamauchi would grant an unknown young foreigner personal access and why assistants didn't block him. Henk explains their unique bond playing Go together. | |
| Discovering Tetris at the 1988 Consumer Electronics Show | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Henk describes encountering Tetris at the 1988 CES in Las Vegas. Guy notes how counterintuitive it was to choose an abstract geometry puzzle over flashy action titles of the era like Mario and Punch-Out. | |
| The Soviet Origins and Viral Spread of Tetris | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Henk details Alexey Pajitnov's transition from pentominoes to falling tetrominoes in Moscow and the resulting loss of Soviet workplace productivity. The tone remains cordial and storytelling-driven. | |
| Untangling Conflicting International Licensing Rights | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Henk recounts discovering that Mirrorsoft and Gilman Louie had promised rights away to Atari Games, leaving him with only PC rights. Henk shares his frustration and insistence on pursuing console licensing. | |
| Securing Japanese Famicom Rights from Atari Games | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Henk details securing Japanese console rights from Atari's Nakajima in San Jose and leveraging Yamauchi's influence to boost initial retail cartridge orders from 40,000 to 70,000. | |
| Word-of-Mouth Boom and the Two-Million-Dollar Real Estate Loan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Henk explains pleading with distributors not to dump stock in January, followed by mortgaging his in-laws' real estate for a $2 million manufacturing loan when demand exploded. Guy tracks the financial stakes. | |
| Pitching Tetris as the Game Boy Bundle to Nintendo of America | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Henk describes pitching Nintendo of America's Minoru Arakawa to bundle Tetris rather than Super Mario with the Game Boy. Guy offers a relevant analogy comparing the pack-in deal to U2's album preloaded on iPods. | |
| Chasing Handheld Rights and Robert Stein's Stalling | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Henk describes Robert Stein's stalling tactics and the flawed nature of the Soviet licensing contracts. Guy guides the narrative forward as Henk prepares to bypass Stein. | |
| Venturing Behind the Iron Curtain into Moscow | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Henk recounts flying into Moscow on a tourist visa in February 1989 and walking unannounced into the ELORG agency headquarters, defying his interpreter's warnings. | |
| The Soviet Interrogation Room at ELORG | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | When Guy assumes Belikov immediately invited Henk into his office, Henk halts Guy's narrative framing to emphasize the terrifying stakes: Belikov declared console rights were never granted, placing Henk's $2 million production in catastrophic jeopardy. | |
| Mid-Roll Interlude and Upcoming Resolution Teaser | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Mid-roll break and narrative bridge as Guy sets up Henk's fateful meeting with Alexey Pajitnov inside the Soviet bureaucracy. | |
| Educating Soviet Bureaucrats on the Global Gaming Market | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Henk explains how he educated Soviet officials on the distinction between PC, arcade, and console hardware, and how adopting an aggressive negotiation posture matched their adversarial communication style. | |
| Secret Vodka Celebration and the Console Rights Offer | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Henk recounts celebrating the signed handheld deal with secret vodka shots and Belikov offering him console rights. Guy tracks the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the privatization scramble. | |
| Founding The Tetris Company with Alexey Pajitnov | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Henk recounts partnering with Alexey Pajitnov in 1993 and facing off against Belikov and Nintendo lawyers in 1995 to form The Tetris Company on a 50/50 basis. | |
| Standardizing Tetris Guidelines and Corporate Deadlock | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Henk outlines the necessity of standardizing gameplay guidelines across international platforms and describes the three-year mutual-veto deadlock with Belikov's team. | |
| Blue Lava Wireless and the Complete Buyout of ELORG | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Henk details launching Blue Lava Wireless for mobile phones, buying out Belikov's stake to gain 100% control of Tetris, and selling Blue Lava to Jamdat for $130 million while retaining underlying IP. | |
| Surviving a Major Heart Attack and Finding New Purpose | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Guy mentions Henk having a heart attack while playing golf; Henk gently corrects him that it was tennis. Henk then describes his epiphany in the ambulance on the way to the operating room. | |
| Founding Blue Planet Foundation and Henk's Four Missions | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | When Guy assumes Henk shifted focus entirely to climate change, Henk clarifies that he established four overarching existential missions, using the end of the universe as cosmic perspective. | |
| Reflections on Surfing Big Waves and Lifelong Friendship | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Henk rejects the idea that his success was luck, comparing entrepreneurial readiness to surfing big waves, and celebrates his ongoing friendship and licensing partnership with Alexey. |
Statements from this episode (33)
SoftBank started as a small software distributor in the early 1980s
“You know, SoftBank is this huge, multi-billion dollar company today, but at that time, all they were was a little company doing distribution for computer software to computer shops. That's it.”
The Black Onyx was the first role-playing video game in Japan
“The Black Onyx was the first role-playing game in Japan”
SoftBank cut its initial order for The Black Onyx from 3,000 to 600
“SoftBank had, had said they would buy 3000 copies for Christmas, and when it came close to Christmas, they realized that nobody understood what a role-playing game was, and so, and the little advertising that I did was just completely ineffective. So they roll…”
The Black Onyx became Japan's top-selling video game in 1984
“And then SoftBank came back, and we had, for April, we had 10,000 units. And in May, 10,000 units. So we were, like, killing it. We were number one game in, in Japan in 1984.”
Rogers realized video games would be imported globally like movies and music
“So I started traveling around the world looking for games to bring to Japan, because at the time, movies were coming from other countries, and music was coming from other countries. So I could see that all this culture was being imported from a lot of from the…”
Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi agreed to pay $300,000 for a Go game
“And he's sitting across from me, and Yamoichi says, I can't give you any programmers. I said, I don't need programmers. I just need money. And he says, how much? And I said, gosh, I mean, I, I'm thinking of what's the biggest number I can think of right now. A…”
Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi had never played his own video games
“And I realize, this guy's never Played any of the games on his machine. Yeah. And he hasn't, he's just run the company. He hasn't like played any of those games.”
Rogers became a Nintendo publisher by agreeing to a $1-per-cartridge royalty
“I said, ok, I'll pay you a dollar per unit until you get your money back. Deal. And so that's how I became a Nintendo publisher.”
Rogers scheduled meetings late to play Go with Nintendo's president
“Whenever I met him after that, I always set up the meeting on a day when I'm the last meeting. His last meeting, and then we would play Go for the rest of the day. I had all this one-on-one time with Yamauchi, which nobody had.”
Nintendo's president would fire subordinates who canceled his scheduled meetings
“If he ever found out that one of his underlings had canceled a meeting, that person would be fired.”
Tetris went so viral in Soviet offices it measurably hurt productivity
“Basically, they made the PC version. And that's what went viral. And it went viral to the point where they were losing productivity.”
Nintendo cartridges prevented the software piracy that plagued early PC games
“It was the way to make money. It's, you know, like personal computers, you can copy that stuff. Right. So there's only so much you can sell. But cartridges, you can't copy them. If somebody wants to play a Nintendo game, they have to buy a Nintendo game.”
Rogers paid Atari Games $300,000 for Japanese Nintendo Tetris rights
“I think I made the deal for 300,000 dollars.”
Rogers used his in-laws' real estate as collateral for a $2M loan
“So I convinced my wife to convince her parents to put up all of their real estate as collateral for a loan.”
Nintendo of America always bundled a game with new hardware platforms
“Because Nintendo US has a policy to include a game with every new hardware platform that they sell.”
Bundling Tetris, instead of Mario, made the Game Boy a universal device
“If you want little boys to buy your Game Boy, then include Mario, but if you want everyone to buy your Game Boy, include Tetris.”
Tetris was the first video game to be widely played by women
“It's completely genderless. You know, it's the first game that was being played by women. Just by that alone, it could, you know, double the sales.”
Nintendo agreed to a $1M upfront guarantee for handheld Tetris rights
“Arakawa made me a deal. I made him an offer and he shook my hand and It was like a million dollar up front, which was like, yeah, right on. Great deal.”
Soviet authorities lacked IP experience and received minimal early Tetris royalties
“The Soviets just didn't have any experience with intellectual property, and here they were, you know, they were getting a percentage of a percentage of a percentage.”
Rogers obtained a tourist visa to negotiate for Tetris directly in Moscow
“I got a tourist visa and went to Moscow myself.”
Soviet officials revealed they had never actually licensed Tetris console rights
“And he, Took the Tetris cartridge box into his hand, and he looked at it, and looked at it, and he looked at me, and he said, we never licensed console rights to anyone.”
Eight Soviet officials interrogated Rogers over his Tetris console rights
“And then the next day in the room, eight people and me, I was being interrogated.”
Rogers was the first video game designer Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov met
“And Alexi, that was the thing that flipped him, because he'd never met a game designer before. I was the first game designer that he met.”
Rogers offered the Soviet government 25 cents per Game Boy Tetris copy
“The offer that I made them was I would pay them 25 cents for every Game Boy Tetris that was sold.”
Soviet officials offered Rogers the Tetris console rights during their meeting
“And so, after I signed the contract, lockdown handheld, Mr. Belikoff asks me, Mr. Rogers, how would you like to license the console rights?”
Game Boy Tetris sold 30 million bundled copies and 5 million standalone
“Thirty million packed in, and another five million as just sold as a box product.”
ELORG's director panicked and redirected a Tetris wire transfer during Soviet privatization
“I remember there was a very interesting moment in time when it was just the transition when it became a private company, and it was Mr. Belikov called me up in a panic and said, you know, the money that you cabled me, can you, like, Get it back, and then send …”
Rogers and Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov sealed their 1993 partnership via handshake
“And it's 93, and he said, look I'm gonna make you an offer, you're gonna represent me, you're gonna take care of me, and you and me are gonna be partners. And basically made me an offer, and we shook hands in, in 93. That, that handshake is still alive today.”
The Tetris Company was formed as a 50-50 split with the Soviet ELORG
“So basically, I start hammering out the deal with Belikov, and we end up making a, making the Tetris company, and it's fifty-fifty. That's, you know, because they had the copyright and trademark in 60 countries, and that was just too much for me to try to figh…”
A 50-50 voting structure paralyzed Tetris licensing deals for three years
“So, basically at that point, for the next three years, no deals went through, because every deal that I brought to the table, he said no, and every deal that he brought to the table, I said no.”
Blue Lava Wireless achieved 50% profit margins on over $20M in sales
“Right, exactly, and that's, I don't know, 50% profit.”