Entrepreneurs often have to take a leap of faith to get their businesses off the ground—whether it be cashing out their 401(k)s for funding, or dropping out of Ivy League colleges to go all-in. Chess.com cofounder Danny Rensch started his 235 million-player empire when his life was on the brink of collapse. Although he initially believed his vision was unrealistic, he credits a bit of that self-delusion to the platform’s success.
“The idea that Chess.com could actually be what I thought it could be required me to be delusional,” Rensch, who serves as chief chess officer, tells Fortune, referencing the same wisdom as his friend, Bonobos cofounder Andy Dunn.“The belief that you see something that doesn’t exist yet, and how delusional that is, is the requirement for every successful entrepreneur.”
“To some degree, there was magic in the idea that necessity breeds genius, because I truly was surviving a situation.”
Lovers of the historic board game from all around the world tune into the platform daily, facing off in around 26 million matches each day, and more than 800 million monthly. Some of the world’s greatest players, including the likes of Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, frequent Chess.com; and beyond the fanfare, the business is thriving. The company says it surpassed a $1 billion valuation in 2023—an impressive feat for a bootstrapped platform with no venture backers.
