Reforged Labs: Changing the Game in Mobile Game Marketing

Reforged Labs is revolutionising mobile game marketing using AI to automate ad creation through storyboarding, competitor insights, and trend analysis. But behind this cutting-edge tech is Robert Huynh, the YC founder and Harvard dropout whose journey from idea to execution offers invaluable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. In this exclusive, we explore Rob’s personal story, his hard-won startup wisdom, and the AI driving Reforged Labs.

Co-founders: 2 (Robert Huynh, Oscar Xing Luo)

Employees: 10+

Amount Raised: $3.9M USD

Core Technology: The world's first AI Copilot for mobile game marketers, assisting mobile game studios with ad creation via automated storyboarding, competitor insights, global trend analysis, ideation, and much more.

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Reforged Labs - Marketing AI Technology

Reforged Labs | The world’s first AI copilot For mobile game marketers

Reforged Labs

The Early Stages

Hi! I'm Robert Huynh, CEO and co-founder of Reforged Labs. I started my career at Microsoft, where I spent four years in a leadership program that exposed me to different parts of the company. I got to be part of the Xbox team, as well as next-gen technology projects like the HoloLens.

After Microsoft, I joined Google to work in corporate strategy. I realised I wanted to go deeper into emerging tech, so I transitioned to Google X, the moonshot factory, where I worked in advanced cybersecurity and self-driving cars. But after three years, it became frustrating not to see projects get released. Waymo (Google'e self-driving car project) had been in development for over a decade, and I started questioning if I wanted to wait around or build something myself.

That’s when I went to business school at Harvard. I met some amazing classmates, and we decided to work together, heading to Asia to build our first startup, Nook. The original plan was to experiment for three months, fail fast, and go back to school. But we loved it, so we stuck with it. We raised money from Y Combinator and big investors, running the company for two years. Eventually, though, we realized it wasn’t a great business model. We had taken something that worked in the U.S. and transplanted it to Asia, but it wasn’t truly localized. The U.S. version also started failing.

Looking at similar startups that raised tons of money but never broke even, we saw the writing on the wall. The truth is, our egos kept us going for a while—we tied our identities to the startup instead of treating it as an experiment with a 5-10% chance of success. A year later, my co-founders returned to Harvard, and I started thinking about my next steps.

The Next Level

Gaming has always been a huge part of my life. I was a competitive StarCraft player when I was younger, and I also spent a lot of time grinding up to the top ranks in multiple games—think League of Legends, Magic: The Gathering, and even Dance Dance Revolution tournaments at the mall. So when I thought about what to do next, it made sense to work on something I was truly passionate about. That's why I started Reforged Labs with my co-founder, Oscar.

One lesson I took from Google X was how they embraced failure. They didn’t just accept it—they celebrated it. When a project was shut down, people were rewarded, and the insights gained were called "moonshot compost," fuelling the next big idea. That’s how I see failure—it’s like a roguelike game. In games like Hades, Dead Cells, and Slay the Spire, you have to restart the whole game whenever you die. However, every time you restart, you get a little better—whether through experience, skills, or resources. Entrepreneurship is the same. Now, I’m onto my next startup—because there’s nothing else I’d rather do.

The Problem: Slow and Inefficient Ad Creation for Mobile Game Marketers

Marketing a mobile game is a time-consuming and repetitive process. Typically, the process involves researching other ads, storyboarding an idea, briefing a creative team, iterating on the ad, then running it. After launching the ad, you’d collect data on its performance and repeat the entire process. This cycle is painfully slow, expensive, and resource-intensive.

The Solution: An AI-Powered Co-Pilot for Mobile Game Marketing

At Reforged Labs, we’ve built the first AI marketing co-pilot for mobile games. Instead of manually looking through ads for inspiration, our AI analyzes thousands of high-performing game ads across platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube to identify key insights and automatically generates a storyboard for you.

In addition to simplifying ad creation, what also makes our tool so powerful is its ability to create not just one ad, but multiple variations with different assets and angles. For example, if you’re working on Pokemon Go, you could get multiple ads featuring different Pokemon using the same core concept. This enables marketers to target smaller, personalized segments (10,000-100,000 people) for more efficient A/B testing, unlike traditional ads that target millions.

Our AI engine ("Boa") uses foundational models, such as LLaMA and OpenAI models, and customizes them through fine-tuning and prompting so that responses are highly relevant to game marketers. By automating the creative process and providing data-driven insights, we enable smaller game studios to compete effectively without the usual trade-offs.

Ideation & Validation

Talk to industry experts for ideas: Before settling on our startup idea, we spoke to industry experts, including an angel investor behind Candy Crush Saga, who revealed that player acquisition—not game development—was the biggest challenge. He shared that 93% of his budget went to acquiring players, shifting our focus from just making a cool product to solving a real industry problem with AI.

Talk to potential customers to validate: Rather than relying solely on data and analytics, we prioritised direct conversations with potential customers to validate our idea. Asking key questions—like what would happen if our product disappeared—helped gauge its necessity.

Leverage networks to find potential customers: Since our startup was B2B, we leveraged our network to connect with game studios, using referrals to open doors. My Harvard connection proved invaluable, turning introductions into opportunities.

Building & Product Development

Launch early: One of the best pieces of advice we received from Y Combinator (YC) is that you should be a bit embarrassed by your first launch. Real feedback from customers is what matters most. We embraced this mindset by launching a version of our product that was “good enough,” gathering feedback from customers, and iterating based on that.

Balance customer consultancy with a scalable product: We also learned the importance of balancing customer feedback with a scalable product vision—while it’s crucial to involve customers in development like a consultancy, the goal is to create something that grows beyond just a few clients.

When building AI-driven solutions, the key is identifying which high-impact, time-consuming tasks to automate, not just the ones that can be automated. In gaming, we found that the real challenges were in marketing, not development, so that's the area we targeted for AI disruption.

In B2B, we learned the importance of understanding both decision-makers and users—the decision-makers approve budgets and need clear results, while users inform the product roadmap. You need to build to satisfy both of them.

To track product-market fit, we focused on metrics like monthly recurring revenue (MRR), churn rate, and retention, with a particular emphasis on reducing churn and ensuring long-term customer satisfaction. If customers aren't renewing contracts, that’s a red flag for product-market fit.

Business Model & Monetisation

Price based on value: When it comes to pricing, there are three main strategies: cost-based, market-based, and value-based.

• Cost-based pricing is a straightforward mark-up on the cost of the product, but doesn’t truly reflect what customers are willing to pay.
• Market-based pricing aligns with competitors’ pricing, but it may not capture your product’s unique value.
• Value-based pricing, though harder to execute, is the most effective—it focuses on the value your product provides to customers, such as improving their ROI, and pricing based on a share of that uplift. The challenge lies in effectively demonstrating this value to convince customers.

Use a simple pricing model: To reduce friction, we chose a simple flat monthly fee pricing model. Our target customers (marketing deparments of mobile game studios) prefer predictable pricing to avoid spiraling budget approvals. This straightforward approach reduces friction and makes adoption easier.

Marketing & Sales

Think of sales as a funnel: Your sales process moves through stages. Having a structured funnel keeps you focused on engaging and converting leads at every stage to maximise results:

• Top: Who knows about you? Build awareness through content, events, and networking.
• Middle: Who engages? Secure meetings and drive negotiations.
• Bottom: Who signs and renews? Ensure long-term retention, not just one-time sales.

Leverage your existing network: Your personal and professional networks are your best early advantage. Use past colleagues, school connections, and industry contacts for warm introductions, referrals, and event access. This builds trust faster than cold outreach.

Targeted engagement beats mass marketing: Rather than casting a wide net, focus on engaging with potential buyers in their spaces. Research your ideal customer, build a focused target list, attend relevant industry events and build relationships in niche communities.

Play the long game in B2B sales: B2B sales cycles are long, so patience is key. Buyers may not want your solution immediately, but if you maintain relationships and follow-up regularly, you’ll be their first call when their problem becomes urgent.

Own your niche: Startups win by focusing deeply on a specific problem. Highlight your unique skills and insights to position yourself as the best solution. As you close deals, refine your messaging by doubling down on what works.

Prioritise in-person events for warm connections: Face-to-face meetings create deeper, more memorable connections than online messages. Use industry conferences and networking events to build stronger business relationships.

Use social media for visibility: Social platforms help you stay relevant but don’t replace direct sales efforts. Consistently share insights on LinkedIn and other platforms so potential customers see your name regularly, keeping you in their minds when they’re ready to buy.

Use the “land and expand” strategy: This essentially means doing whatever it takes to "land" an early customer, then demonstrating value to justify upselling to "expand" that customer account. Expanding existing accounts is easier than acquiring new ones.

Focus on time-to-value: The faster you demonstrate ROI, the easier it is to retain and grow customers. Delayed impact creates doubt, while early wins build momentum. Aim for quick, measurable success to ensure long-term adoption.

Use case studies to close more sales: A strong case study is proof that your product works. We showcase real success stories to build credibility, remove doubt, and persuade potential customers that we can solve their problems.

Fundraising & Financial Management

Fundraising should be a strategic tool for fueling your next growth stage, not a goal in itself. Raise only what’s needed to reach your milestones and avoid unnecessary dilution. When we raised $3.9M for Reforged Labs, we did so with a clear plan for the next stage of growth.

Before seeking large capital, leverage free resources, such as cloud credits and developer tools, to build and test your product. A free resource we used early on was Nvidia's Inception Program, a free program designed to nurture startups, providing co-marketing support and access to NVIDIA experts.

When fundraising, batch your efforts into concentrated bursts to maintain focus and avoid distractions. When I wanted to raise for Reforged Labs, I batched about 115 VC meetings into just 2 weeks, allowing me to keep all my energy on securing funding.

Create a simple, two-sentence pitch that clearly explains your startup’s value. At YC, we were taught to structure our pitch around strong “vertebrae” points—team, traction, and market—highlighting why our startup is uniquely positioned to succeed. Other strong points could be a regulatory shift or a technological breakthrough.

Team-Building & Leadership

A successful co-founder relationship is built on open communication and alignment in vision. Misunderstandings or misalignment can derail progress, so it’s essential to communicate well to stay aligned while working towards a shared goal.

Having a technical co-founder is essential, especially in today’s startup ecosystem, where AI skills and rapid iteration are key. A technical co-founder can help build, test, and iterate quickly—skills that are more difficult to teach to non-technical individuals (as is often emphasized by YC).

At Reforged Labs, the team is structured simply into two key groups:

• Engineering, Product, and Design (EPD), which builds the product. Under this team also lies the AI Operations (AI Ops) team, which specializes in large-scale data labelling and annotation to improve our AI models.
• Go-to-Market (GTM), which handles customer-facing activities like marketing and sales.

The above article is a redacted version of the case study for Reforged Labs. You can download and access the full version as a PDF by signing up below: