# Rafael Vivas

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/people/rafael-vivas/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

Real Alpha has cut 8 moments of Rafael Vivas (VP of growth marketing, AppLovin) talking, from an interview on Founders published Nov 1, 2026.

- Role: VP of growth marketing, AppLovin
- About: Co-founded Lion Studios, which generated over $250 million in revenue in two years, after joining AppLovin's founding team.
- On X: https://x.com/rfvivas

## What Rafael Vivas said

- [Lion Studios grew from a broken partnership into a $250 million business](https://realalpha.app/s/lion-studios-grew-from-a-broken-partnership-into-a-250/)
  Founders · Nov 1, 2026 · 3 min
  > “Because I had so much rage in my heart that I wanted nothing but to like dominate those guys.” — Rafael Vivas · [32:12](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/?t=1932)
- [AppLovin leaders stay hands-on to keep work focused](https://realalpha.app/s/applovin-leaders-stay-hands-on-to-keep-work-focused/)
  Founders · Nov 1, 2026 · 3 min
  > “when you delegate and you hire all these people, you focus on a lot of things that are not important for your business, but you've hired these people.” — Rafael Vivas · [21:35](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/?t=1295)
- [A falling stock price drew Vivas back to AppLovin](https://realalpha.app/s/a-falling-stock-price-drew-vivas-back-to-applovin/)
  Founders · Nov 1, 2026 · 3 min
  > “And Adam, you know, he looked at me and he was like, hey, I'm hearing from people you're thinking about coming. And I was like, I'm fucking in.” — Rafael Vivas · [44:56](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/?t=2696)
- [AppLovin beat better-funded ad rivals by prioritizing technology](https://realalpha.app/s/applovin-beat-better-funded-ad-rivals-by-prioritizing/)
  Founders · Nov 1, 2026 · 3 min
  > “What Adam understood better than anybody else in the space was that the tech is the most important part.” — Rafael Vivas · [17:44](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/?t=1064)
- [He left Lion once the business could succeed without him](https://realalpha.app/s/he-left-lion-once-the-business-could-succeed-without-him/)
  Founders · Nov 1, 2026 · 6 min
  > “I started like reflecting on myself and I was like, okay, so like the business no longer needs you to succeed.” — Rafael Vivas · [39:08](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/?t=2348)
- [Mark Rosner taught Vivas that every contract detail matters](https://realalpha.app/s/mark-rosner-taught-vivas-that-every-contract-detail-matters/)
  Founders · Nov 1, 2026 · 4 min
  > “Mark probably did over 200 agreements himself and we only got screwed on one of them.” — Rafael Vivas · [1:03:12](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/?t=3792)
- [AppLovin automates and removes work before hiring](https://realalpha.app/s/applovin-automates-and-removes-work-before-hiring/)
  Founders · Nov 1, 2026 · 3 min
  > “What things like are not important that like you're wasting time on that we just shouldn't be doing at all?” — Rafael Vivas · [50:19](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/?t=3019)
- [Lion Studios found high-output game teams outside the US](https://realalpha.app/s/lion-studios-found-high-output-game-teams-outside-the-us/)
  Founders · Nov 1, 2026 · 2 min
  > “And they were so poor that they all lived in the same house and their house was also their office.” — Rafael Vivas · [35:12](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/?t=2112)

## The episode

- [High School Dropout to Multi-Billionaire: The Relentless Drive of Rafael Vivas](https://realalpha.app/v/IdvsD61Rmmk/) · Founders · Nov 1, 2026