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The Tim Ferriss Show #821 · August 5, 2025 · 3h

My Two-Year Secret Project, COYOTE — The Strategies and Tactics for Building a Bestseller from Nothing with Elan Lee of Exploding Kittens

Elan Lee
Show Notes

Ferriss reveals his two-year secret project: Coyote, a card game built with Elan Lee (Exploding Kittens — one of the most-funded Kickstarter campaigns ever). 3-hour deep dive on product development, game design, manufacturing, and launch strategy.

Highlights

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Building a product from zero with no existing audience in the category
Ferriss had a podcast audience but zero credibility in tabletop games.
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Game design as iterative testing
Hundreds of playtests, killing ideas that don't work, protecting the core mechanic.
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Manufacturing and supply chain as competitive moat
The card game business is more about manufacturing than design.
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Misc

✧Coyote is the card game Ferriss has been hinting at across multiple episodes
✧Elan Lee co-created Exploding Kittens — one of the most-funded Kickstarter campaigns in history
✧Two years of secret development
✧Ferriss sponsors his own show with Coyote ads — meta marketing