#87: Troy Osinoff — He Sold a Meme App for Millions

I talked to founder, investor, and all-around amazing guy Troy Osinoff. Troy built and sold MakeAGIF at 19, then went on to do other stuff from publishing a book to investing in MrBeast, the Charlotte Hornets, Moonpay, and more(00:41) Building the top #1 GIF site at 19 with(03:07) The janky hack that made MakeAGIF profitable(04:22) Investing in a studio where Kendrick recorded good kid, m.A.A.d city(06:52) Bought a bankrupt shoe factory and made handmade sneakers for Shaq(08:57) My Memelord Coffee launch(14:41) Learned to code by handwriting it at Barnes & Noble(16:20) Getting parents approval by being on Dr.Phil(17:25) Blog goes viral → book deal with Penguin → sells rights to John Krasinski(20:54) Troy’s gut-driven lifestyle manifesto(24:42) The meme rule: “Don’t touch a viral topic unless it’s your lane”(28:48) “Vibe marketing is still bullshit.”(32:50) “Every girl tweets about vibrators. I do it once and it’s a war crime.”(42:17) How Troy accidentally built a Gen Z media army(46:47) Troy's investment philosophy(54:49) Weirdos with WiFi and caffeine are finally winningJason Levin⁠⁠⁠ is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord Technologies.Read Jason's ⁠weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups⁠.Follow Jason on ⁠Twitter⁠.Follow Troy on TwitterSubscribe to Jason on ⁠YouTube⁠.Past guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.