# The Tetris Company: Henk Rogers

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2023-07-31
- Length: 1h 07m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-07-31-the-tetris-company-henk-rogers

## Summary

Henk Rogers, founder of the Tetris Company, recounts how he discovered Tetris at CES in 1988 and navigated a complex web of rights holders to secure the handheld license for Nintendo's Game Boy. He describes traveling to Moscow to negotiate directly with the Soviet state agency Elorg and the game's inventor, Alexey Pajitnov, ultimately forming a partnership that allowed Tetris to become the Game Boy's killer app. Rogers details the subsequent legal battles to reclaim full ownership of the IP from Elorg and his eventual pivot to environmental activism after a near-fatal heart attack.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-07-31-the-tetris-company-henk-rogers#t=0) Introduction: Henk Rogers and the Tetris Story
- [4:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-07-31-the-tetris-company-henk-rogers#t=242) Early Career and First Nintendo Deal
- [19:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-07-31-the-tetris-company-henk-rogers#t=1156) Discovering Tetris and Initial Licensing Struggles
- [34:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-07-31-the-tetris-company-henk-rogers#t=2053) The Game Boy Pitch and Moscow Trip
- [40:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-07-31-the-tetris-company-henk-rogers#t=2455) Negotiating with Elorg and Alexey Pajitnov
- [53:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-07-31-the-tetris-company-henk-rogers#t=3233) Forming the Tetris Company and Legal Battles
- [1:01:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-07-31-the-tetris-company-henk-rogers#t=3670) Near-Death Experience and New Life Missions

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Founder wellbeing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/founder-wellbeing)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Tetris (product)
- Nintendo (company)
- Game Boy (product)
- Elorg (company)
- Atari (company)
- Spectrum HoloByte (company)
- Mirrorsoft (company)
- Blue Lava Wireless (company)
- Blue Planet Foundation (company)
- Soft Bank (company)
- Black Onyx (product)
- Go (product)
- Robert Stein (other)
- Alexey Pajitnov (other)
- Henk Rogers (other)
- Hiroshi Yamauchi (other)
- Minoru Arakawa (other)
- Shigeru Miyamoto (other)
- Vladimir Belikov (other)
- Gilman Louie (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Vellicate Videogame Vocation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-04-23-vellicate-videogame-vocation) (The Amp Hour)
- [An Interview with Zach Barth of Zachtronics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-01-20-an-interview-with-zach-barth-of-zachtronics) (The Amp Hour)
- [Bootstrapped to 800,000 Units Sold Worldwide: The Story Behind Rockit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/its-only-a-prototype/2025-04-17-bootstrapped-to-800-000-units-sold-worldwide-the-story-behind-rockit) (It's Only a Prototype)
- [Ep. 26 | Microchip's Steve Sanghi on How to Bring a Company from Debt to Billions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2021-06-08-ep-26-microchips-steve-sanghi-on-how-to-bring-a-company-from-debt-to-billions) (Moore's Lobby)
- [026 - You Can Lose in so Many Colors!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2019-08-31-026-you-can-lose-in-so-many-colors) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)

## Citing this page

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