349. From Zero Offers To Record Revenue I Michael Martinez, CEO of FunCraft

Michael Martinez, co-founder and CEO of FunCraft, tried to sell his mobile game studio in 2025. Trusted people said "don't do it yet". He chose otherwise. A banker pitched the company to 40 buyers. Zero offers. Then the company doubled to a $50M run rate with just 15 people.

Rejection like that either breaks a founder or forces a better business. For FunCraft, it did the second.

In this episode, Michael breaks down what went wrong in the M&A process, what a failed sale really costs, and how a 15-person team shifted its focus from valuation to profit.

Essential viewing for founders thinking about selling, buyers looking at lean and profitable studios, and anyone in mobile gaming, UA, or ad monetization.

00:00 — Funcraft’s failed sale attempt
06:27 — Why Michael wanted to sell
13:37 — Building a successful business first
18:16 — Launching games in just six weeks
23:20 — Platform and user acquisition risks
29:14 — Balancing growth and profitability
34:45 — Building a high-trust remote culture
43:12 — Rebuilding the game engine with AI
46:18 — Staying focused while scaling