E928 Adam Foroughi AppLovin: mobile game boom, bootstrapped to profit, 5G opp, app discovery unicorn

In this episode of This Week in Startups, Jason Calacanis interviews Adam Foroughi, co-founder and CEO of AppLovin, about the mobile app ecosystem. Adam shares his journey from building unsuccessful apps to creating a marketing platform for app developers. They discuss the challenges of app discovery, the impact of mobile gaming and subscription models, and the increasing costs of app installs. Adam also addresses the issues of fraud and privacy in the app ecosystem, as well as his strategies for building a parent-friendly company culture by hiring scrappy, hungry individuals and promoting from within. Finally, they touch on AppLovin's approach to a potential IPO and Adam's experience as an angel investor.