The Betting Startups Podcast

Ep. 73 features Martin Burt from ClearStake, which provides accurate, real-time customer risk profiling. Hear him discuss: ClearStake’s origins as a payments business, which it pivoted after “seeing operators try to figure out what to do with affordability” The impact of the UK government white paper to reform gambling regulations, and the increased emphasis it has placed on affordability checks How ClearStake is riding the ‘open banking’ wave in the UK to streamline the process for both operators and bettors alike Solving the problem of a 90% churn rate for customers that are asked to provide financial data His view of how the US market will eventually address affordability based on the UK market The importance of having engaged and supportive investors on the cap table - especially as a first-time founder Learn more ⤵️ 👉 ClearStake website 👉 Martin Burt on Linkedin

Ep. 72 features Stefano Vaccarino from FTN Network, a multi-site data and media company focused on sports betting, fantasy, DFS. Hear him discuss: How the origins of FTN can be traced back to a burner Twitter account that Stefano created to share his NBA picks Building the initial version of FTN during the pandemic, and encountering challenges finding affordable data feeds to power their network of sites How solving their own data problems for their B2C business led them to a B2B opportunity reselling their solution How they are allocating and prioritizing resources between both B2C and B2B businesses Their current efforts “to raise $2.25m at around a $15m to 17m valuation” Learn more ⤵️ 👉 FTN Data website 👉 FTN Network on Linkedin 👉 Stefano Vaccarino on Linkedin

Ep. 71 features Filip Pacyna and Troy Lenihan from FoodFight, where winners eat, losers pay, and restaurants win. Hear them discuss: Validating their idea in Chicago-area bars with a “least viable product” How FoodFight is enhancing the restaurant patron experience by enabling bets using food and drinks as the currency Their vision for FoodFight to grow from an events business into a productized SaaS offering Drawing inspiration from Mattress Mack as an example of how sports betting is converging with other industries Why they’re focusing on angel investors instead of VC’s for their 500k angel round How they are giving back and helping to combat food insecurity through #FoodFight4Charity Learn more ⤵️ 👉 FoodFight website 👉 Troy Lenihan on Linkedin

Ep. 70 features Justin Park from Betty, which is innovating at the intersection of real money online casino and casual mobile gaming. Hear him discuss: The story of his first two startups prior to co-founding Betty, both of which he successfully exited Why he views his first two startups as “singles and doubles” that have now prepared him to “go for a home run” with Betty How being an affiliate in his previous business helped him see the scale of the opportunity in becoming an operator and monetizing the customer directly The “insanely quick execution” to build Betty’s proprietary gaming platform that was certified, licensed, and launched inside of 8 months What drove his decision to lead Betty’s $1.8m seed round himself, personally contributing half of the proceeds Why he advises first-time founders to not necessarily optimize for getting the highest valuation Learn more 👇 ➡️ Betty website ➡️ Justin Park on Linkedin

Ep. 69 features Geoff Doyle from Bettor Vision, which is the first all-in-one sports betting and fantasy sports aggregator. Hear him discuss: Why being a product owner as an employee lacked the satisfaction that being a founder brings Overcoming adversity when you bomb a pitch on a public and high-profile stage How BettorVision is helping to unify the user experience across fantasy sports and betting Their current journey to raise a $2m round, and how they’ve been able to close $1.3m of it so far The importance of having a strong personal support network when you’re an entrepreneur How his love for movies helps him keep perspective in his life Learn more 👇 ➡️ Bettor Vision website ➡️ Geoff Doyle on Linkedin ================= This episode is brought to you by the Canadian Gaming Summit, which returns to Toronto June 13-15. To learn more and secure your ticket for the Canadian Gaming Summit, visit www.sbcevents.com, and make sure to use promo code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP for $200 of your pass.

BettingStartups.com brings you Season 1 of Betting On It, an 8-episode series that follows one betting industry startup as it gets investor-ready ahead of its seed funding round. In the Season 1 finale, Drew and Sahil pitch BetsBooster to 3 industry investors, who share their feedback and perspectives on the opportunity. The subsequent Q&A leads to some excellent discussion, including: The potential challenges of offering different types of arbitrage bets in a gamified experience Aligning the pricing model with value to the users The technical complexity of seamless arbitrage in a mobile form factor The use of gamification to drive user retention Product positioning, and "what it wants to become when it grows up" 📹 Episode video clips (opens in YouTube): Sahil takes the investors through the pitch deck (5:52) Drew gives the investors a demo of the new BetsBooster app (3:12) 👤 Investor profiles: Lloyd Danzig, Managing Partner of Sharp Alpha Advisors Peter Heneghan, Senior Associate at Bettor Capital Marco Blume, advisor and investor Want an invite to use the new BetsBooster app? If you are a resident of NJ and 21 years of age or older, apply here for exclusive access. Betting On It is made possible by GeoComply, which provides fraud prevention and cybersecurity solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity. To learn more, visit: www.geocomply.com Btw: did you know we have a newsletter? The Betting Startups Newsletter is the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the betting industry's rapidly evolving early-stage ecosystem. New issues weekly. ⚡Subscribe Now⚡

BettingStartups.com brings you Season 1 of Betting On It, an 8-episode series that follows one betting industry startup as it gets investor-ready ahead of its seed funding round. In this episode, Drew and Sahil from BetsBooster are joined by James McLoughlin from Stirling Mac, who shares a ton of practical, actionable marketing advice. They discuss: The basic set of 'marketing musts' for any B2C mobile app App store optimization, and which specific tactics help drive organic downloads using ASO Why and how to use storytelling in content and creative to build brand awareness How to leverage influencers to promote products, and best practices for engaging with them Launching and running an affiliate program Driving virality through incentivized user referrals Betting On It is made possible by GeoComply, which provides fraud prevention and cybersecurity solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity. To learn more, visit: www.geocomply.com Btw: did you know we have a newsletter? The Betting Startups Newsletter is the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the betting industry's rapidly evolving early-stage ecosystem. New issues weekly. ⚡Subscribe Now⚡

Ep. 68 features Dan Taren from Scrimmage, a retention tool for sports betting operators. Hear him discuss: His experience winning the SBC First Pitch competition, and what he thinks is a recipe for a successful pitch Scrimmage’s origins as a sports betting hedge fund based out of Gibraltar How going through the Techstars accelerator program led to a pivot into the current incarnation of Scrimmage Using gamification techniques to help drive customer loyalty for sports betting operators How he thinks about where web3 and NFT’s fit into the landscape for loyalty-based rewards Why doing something he doesn’t love is “far worse than the anxiety of a company failing” Learn more 👇 ➡️ Scrimmage website ➡️ Dan Taren on Linkedin ================= This episode is brought to you by the Canadian Gaming Summit, which returns to Toronto June 13-15. To learn more and secure your ticket for the Canadian Gaming Summit, visit www.sbcevents.com, and make sure to use promo code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP for $200 of your pass.

BettingStartups.com brings you Season 1 of Betting On It, an 8-episode series that follows one betting industry startup as it gets investor-ready ahead of its seed funding round. In this episode, Drew and Sahil from BetsBooster are joined by Kenneth Giles from Forecastr.co, who drops a ton of knowledge on everything related to financial modeling for early-stage companies. They discuss: Different broad approaches to fundraising strategy, and the pros and cons to each The importance of doing bottoms-up customer modeling, and how to get started with that process Understanding which metrics matter most for early-stage companies, especially when there isn't always a lot of available data How to think about and approach valuation in discussions with investors Using SAFE agreements for investment, and why they are a popular option for startups Betting On It is made possible by GeoComply, which provides fraud prevention and cybersecurity solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity. To learn more, visit: www.geocomply.com Btw: did you know we have a newsletter? The Betting Startups Newsletter is the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the betting industry's rapidly evolving early-stage ecosystem. New issues weekly. ⚡Subscribe Now⚡

BettingStartups.com brings you Season 1 of Betting On It, an 8-episode series that follows one betting industry startup as it gets investor-ready ahead of its seed funding round. In this episode, Drew and Sahil from BetsBooster are joined by Aaron Basch from Sparket, who shares his experience running a successful crowdfunding campaign. They discuss: How to prepare to launch a public fundraising campaign in a compliant way Determining what incentives to offer backers of a crowdfunding campaign Where to market and promote your crowdfunding campaign based on what worked well for Sparket What Aaron sees as the relative pros and cons of crowdfunding versus more traditional funding options How VCs view crowdfunding, and whether they see it as a positive signal Betting On It is made possible by GeoComply, which provides fraud prevention and cybersecurity solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity. To learn more, visit: www.geocomply.com Btw: did you know we have a newsletter? The Betting Startups Newsletter is the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the betting industry's rapidly evolving early-stage ecosystem. New issues weekly. ⚡Subscribe Now⚡

Ep. 67 features Hussain Naqi from Inside The Pocket, a free-to-play content aggregation platform, and WonderWins, a DFS product for cricket and soccer fans in emerging markets. Hear him discuss: His background working for professional sports leagues, including the NFL, MLB, NCAA - plus a long tenure with the Jacksonville Jaguars The current state of the free-to-play landscape Why he thinks that operators shouldn't "tie up their marketing and acquisition strategy in one product" Raising a Series A in the current funding environment, and what he's hearing from investors Partnering with ESPN to develop and launch a DFS product for India, called WonderWins His observations of the market in India after launching WonderWins there, and how he sees that market evolving What it means to have Inside The Pocket selected as one of five finalists at the 2023 SBC First Pitch competition Learn more 👇 ➡️ Inside The Pocket website ➡️ WonderWins website ➡️ Hussain Naqi on Linkedin ================= This episode is brought to you by SBC Summit North America, the biggest dedicated igaming and sports betting event in North America, which returns to New Jersey May 9-11. To learn more and secure your ticket for SBC Summit North America visit www.sbcevents.com, and make sure to use promo code BSP23 for $200 of your pass.

BettingStartups.com brings you Season 1 of Betting On It, an 8-episode series that follows one betting industry startup as it gets investor-ready ahead of its seed funding round. In this episode, Drew from BetsBooster is joined by Colin Davy from Betscope, who discuss their respective entrepreneurial journeys from a number of perspectives. They discuss: What motivated them to take the leap from corporate jobs to entrepreneurship How they think about the word "sacrifice" within the context of their startups Why they have chosen to bootstrap their companies to this point, and the relative pros/cons of that decision Living with a minimalist mindset, and how that extends into the world of business and entrepreneurship Developing the self-confidence needed to become the best in the world at something Betting On It is made possible by GeoComply, which provides fraud prevention and cybersecurity solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity. To learn more, visit: www.geocomply.com Btw: did you know we have a newsletter? The Betting Startups Newsletter is the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the betting industry's rapidly evolving early-stage ecosystem. New issues weekly. ⚡Subscribe Now⚡

BettingStartups.com brings you Season 1 of Betting On It, an 8-episode series that follows one betting industry startup as it gets investor-ready ahead of its seed funding round. In this episode, Drew and Sahil from BetsBooster are joined by the world's top gamification guru, Yu-Kai Chou. This episode was an absolute masterclass in game mechanics, which is especially relevant to B2C products. They discuss: The Octalysis Framework for Gamification & Behavioral Design Which game mechanics best align to sports fans' passion for their teams How to think about designing the optimal user referral program Betting On It is made possible by GeoComply, which provides fraud prevention and cybersecurity solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity. To learn more, visit: www.geocomply.com Btw: did you know we have a newsletter? The Betting Startups Newsletter is the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the betting industry's rapidly evolving early-stage ecosystem. New issues weekly. ⚡Subscribe Now⚡

Ep. 66 features Evan Kirkham from Outlier, where sports fans can browse, analyze, and execute bets with confidence. Hear him discuss: Outlier's origins as a social sports talk app before pivoting the product Why he and his cofounders decided to execute on the pivot, despite having over 10,000 MAUs How the current Outlier product is creating a one-stop-shop for all stages of the sports bettors' journey Why he thinks "the most successful partnerships are ones where there's actually no exchange of dollars" How they are using product-led growth tactics to acquire and retain users Why he is committed to building a B2C business, despite seeing potential in B2B opportunities Learn more 👇 ➡️ Outlier website ➡️ Evan Kirkham on Linkedin ➡️ Outlier on Linkedin ================= This episode is brought to you by SBC Summit North America, the biggest dedicated igaming and sports betting event in North America, which returns to New Jersey May 9-11. To learn more and secure your ticket for SBC Summit North America visit www.sbcevents.com, and make sure to use promo code BSP23 for $200 of your pass.

BettingStartups.com brings you Season 1 of Betting On It, an 8-episode series that follows one betting industry startup as it gets investor-ready ahead of its seed funding round. In this episode, Drew and Sahil from BetsBooster are joined by guest John Gordon, co-founder & CEO of Incentive Games. They discuss: Learnings from the mature UK betting market as the guys look at the US opportunity for BetsBooster John's thoughts on launching a B2C betting product in the current environment, and why having an intuitive UX is critical Fundraising tips based on John's experience raising capital for Incentive Games The 2 things that John would be thinking about if he was in Drew and Sahil's shoes right now Betting On It is made possible by GeoComply, which provides fraud prevention and cybersecurity solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity. To learn more, visit: www.geocomply.com Btw: did you know we have a newsletter? The Betting Startups Newsletter is the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the betting industry's rapidly evolving early-stage ecosystem. New issues weekly. ⚡Subscribe Now⚡

On Part 2 of Ep. 65, we welcome back Karolina Pelc from BeyondPlay, which is transforming solitary game sessions into engaging multiplayer, entertainment experiences. Hear her discuss: What investors saw in the BeyondPlay opportunity that led to their just-announced $5m+ oversubscribed funding round Her advice for other startups that are fundraising in the current economic environment, and why “you have to be adaptive” as a founder Building workplace culture as a fully-remote team, and how she is thinking about maintaining culture as the company and team size grows Her experience facing imposter syndrome as an entrepreneur, which inspired a tattoo as a permanent reminder to herself Her work to champion women in leadership roles within the industry, including her assessment on how the industry is doing with gender diversity How she thinks about and defines success, both for BeyondPlay, and for herself personally as an entrepreneur Learn more 👇 ➡️ BeyondPlay website ➡️ BeyondPlay on Linkedin ➡️ Karolina Pelc on Linkedin ================= This episode is brought to you by SBC Summit North America, the biggest dedicated igaming and sports betting event in North America, which returns to New Jersey May 9-11. To learn more and secure your ticket for SBC Summit North America visit www.sbcevents.com, and make sure to use promo code BSP23 for $200 of your pass.

BettingStartups.com brings you Season 1 of Betting On It, an 8-episode series that follows one betting industry startup as it gets investor-ready ahead of its seed funding round. In Episode 1, Jesse introduces the startup and its founders that will be featured in season 1. They walk through the current status of the company, and explore some of the key assumptions that are being used in their business plan as they get investor-ready. To do this, they use the lean canvas framework, which is a quick and easy way to think through and validate new business ideas. Betting On It is made possible by GeoComply, which provides fraud prevention and cybersecurity solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity. To learn more, visit: www.geocomply.com ********** Btw: did you know we have a newsletter? The Betting Startups Newsletter is the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the betting industry's rapidly evolving early-stage ecosystem. New issues weekly. ⚡Subscribe Now⚡

Ep. 65 features Karolina Pelc from BeyondPlay, which is transforming solitary game sessions into engaging multiplayer, entertainment experiences. Hear her discuss: The arc of her 21-year career in the industry, starting as a casino dealer and working her way to the top levels of the global iGaming industry How she leveraged her reputation and credibility within the industry to generate initial support from advisors and investors in the early days of BeyondPlay How BeyondPlay is innovating in the casino vertical through the introduction of multi-player slot experiences Why she has invested heavily in building the BeyondPlay brand prior to launching the product, and how that has benefitted the company Successfully closing initial commercial deals, and why she thinks this has been possible despite the product being pre-launch The recent awarding of a UK supplier license, and how she is thinking about tackling multiple markets in parallel Learn more 👇 ➡️ BeyondPlay website ➡️ BeyondPlay on Linkedin ➡️ Karolina Pelc on Linkedin ================= This episode is brought to you by SBC Summit North America, the biggest dedicated igaming and sports betting event in North America, which returns to New Jersey May 9-11. To learn more and secure your ticket for SBC Summit North America visit www.sbcevents.com, and make sure to use promo code BSP23 for $200 of your pass.

Ep. 64 features Caleb Dykema from Vault, which is the Mint of sports betting. Hear him discuss: His background as a Mechanical Engineer and creating physical products before getting into software (including one that he patented!) How the initial version of Vault as a simulation engine led to the discovery of new user problems, resulting in an early pivot Why he focuses so much of his time on customer development, and how interviewing hundreds of people has helped shape the product Generating 25,000+ app downloads organically last NFL season, and how he is planning to reach his goal of 80,000 MAU next NFL season Why he thinks “personalization is gonna be the name of the game over the 3-5 years” How he thinks about the affiliate business model, and why he “doesn't think that anybody's really mastered revenue generation quite yet” Learn more 👇 ➡️ Vault website ➡️ Caleb Dykema on Linkedin ➡️ Vault on Linkedin ================= This episode is brought to you by SBC Summit North America, the biggest dedicated igaming and sports betting event in North America, which returns to New Jersey May 9-11. To learn more and secure your ticket for SBC Summit North America visit www.sbcevents.com, and make sure to use promo code BSP23 for $200 of your pass.

Ep. 63 is our first follow-up episode, featuring Kelly Pracht and Jeremy Jones from nVenue, which leverages the power of machine learning & AI to predict every possible outcome of each play. Hear them discuss: How life has changed at nVenue since their first appearance on the podcast in March 2022 Their takeaways and insights as attendees and panelists at the recent iGaming NEXT NYC event The recent announcement of being accepted as one of seven startups in the NBA Launchpad program - and the only one focused on betting The proliferation of mainstream attention on AI technology and tools, and how that’s influenced their approach as an AI-focused company How getting the backing of Apple, MLB Network, and now the NBA has helped advance other B2B opportunities and commercialization of their technology Learn more 👇 ➡️ nVenue website ➡️ nVenue on Linkedin ➡️ Kelly Pracht on Linkedin ➡️ Jeremy Jones on Linkedin

Ep. 62 introduces you to Jaymee Messler, co-founder of The Gaming Society, which is a betting education company on a mission to build an inclusive community that ignites the sports fan in us all. Hear her discuss: Her background in sports management, representing professional athletes like Pete Sampras, Paul Pierce, and Lamar Odom How her and Derek Jeter connected on the idea empowering athletes to own their story and narrative, which led to them co-founding The Player’s Tribune The work her team at The Gaming Society is doing to drive interest and engagement in women’s sports through their “Bet on Women” campaign in partnership with the WNBA The importance of storytelling to make sports betting more accessible to different demographics Building an all-star advisory board of professional athletes, and how she believes their involvement will help drive the company forward Why she believes that “having conviction over consensus when you have an idea” is so important for entrepreneurs Learn more 👇 ➡️ The Gaming Society website ➡️ The Gaming Society on Twitter ➡️ Jaymee Messler on Linkedin

Ep. 61 introduces you to Alex Monahan, co-founder of OddsJam, which is the home page of sports betting. Hear him discuss: How his background as a quant trader helped him see sports betting from a market and data perspective The growing ‘betting tools’ category, and why he thinks that OddsJam is uniquely positioned within it Why OddsJam emphasizes education through content, and why audience growth of that content is their biggest focus Last year’s acquisition of Odds Boom, how the deal came together, and why it made sense for both parties The B2B opportunity for OddsJam, and how he views it versus the core B2C business model that it launched with How being profitable provides optionality with fundraising, and how he is thinking about that for OddsJam Learn more: ➡️ OddsJam website ➡️ OddsJam on Twitter ➡️ Alex Monahan on Linkedin ➡️ Alex Monahan on Twitter ---- This episode is brought to you by iGaming Next Valetta 2023, which is set to be the biggest and best yet with over 4,000 industry leaders from around the world attending on the 21-22nd of June. The event will also host a week-long festival schedule packed with exciting activities such as bowling, poker, golf, and the highly anticipated 10 year anniversary celebration of the legendary, 2000 guest pool party 'Showers'. Don't miss out on this opportunity to network, learn, and have fun with the biggest names in iGaming, web3, marketing, investments and beyond. Register now at iGamingNEXT.com!

Ep. 60 introduces you to Pierre Lindh, founder and Managing Director of iGaming NEXT, which is a content-driven conference company that focuses on both in-person and online events. Hear him discuss: His career in the iGaming industry, which started at the age of 15 when he was organizing poker games at school - much to the annoyance of his teachers The crazy story of how the cancelation of live events in the early days of the pandemic almost killed iGaming NEXT, and the sacrifices that he and his team made to persevere through it What he and the team at iGaming NEXT are doing to differentiate their live events from others, and why he thinks they have a recipe for success and longevity Why he thinks the oligopoly of operators in the US market makes it more challenging for startups when compared to the more competitive European markets How he stays inspired and motivated each day through the ups and downs of growing a business in such a competitive landscape How he thinks about his role as a leader to his team, and why he thinks about them as “part of his extended family” His one big prediction for the industry in 2023, which is an M&A transaction between two industry behemoths Learn more 👇 ➡️ iGaming NEXT website ➡️ iGaming NEXT on Twitter ➡️ Pierre Lindh on Linkedin

Ep. 59 brings you the face of fantasy football himself, Matthew Berry. Hear him discuss: How he encouraged a fan engagement app to go all in on sports betting in Dallas after a “terrible” pitch contest His journey from writing jokes in Hollywood to becoming the face of fantasy football How he monetized a passion and hobby by leveraging his expertise and reach through strategic channels Beyond being a girl dad, Matthew shares what he most proud of and why he prefers his title of “writer” above his other credentials How the NFL has acknowledged the impact and important of Matthew’s part in fantasy football How Matthew used his NYT best selling book to ultimately launch a fan engagement community that was sold in 2021 His tactics to brush off criticism and to persevere Matthew’s picks for the upcoming Super Bowl on Sunday, his ride or die Fantasy player Jalen Hurts or Patrick Mahomes This episode was guest hosted by Christiana Yebra, CMO of nVenue, which you can learn more about in Ep. 16 from last year. Learn more: 👇 ➡️ Matthew Berry on Twitter ➡️ Matthew Berry on Wikipedia ➡️ Betsperts website Episode host: ➡️ nVenue website ➡️ Christiana Yebra on Linkedin

Ep. 58 introduces you to Andy Westmeyer, CEO of UBetOhio, which is a licensed Type-C operator in the state of Ohio. Learn more 👇 ➡️ UBetOhio website ➡️ Andy Westmeyer on Linkedin

Ep. 57 introduces you to Bart Stein, co-founder & COO of Mojo, which is the stock market for sports. Hear him discuss: How the four-person founding team of Mojo came together, which includes Alex Rodriguez and Mark Lore Mojo’s unique concept of a ‘sports stock market’, which allows people to bet on the career statistics of professional athletes The story of raising $100m for Mojo, including why they decided to raise so much so early Why he’s “amped” by the idea of the Mojo price becoming part of the national sports culture conversation. Early learnings from the four months since launching in NJ in September 2022 His assessment on the state of product innovation within betting Learn more 👇 ➡️ Mojo website ➡️ Bart Stein on Linkedin ➡️ Bart Stein on Twitter

Ep. 56 introduces you to Drew Tabor, co-founder & CEO of BetsBooster, which is taking the gambling out of betting. Hear him discuss: Being the former #1 Guitar Hero player in the world on four different titles Using gamification to build a matched betting product for the US market that is seen as “an entertainment product instead of a financial product” Early adopter success using BetsBooster, including some power users who are “up at about $20,000” How books like Antifragile and The Millionaire Fastlane helped shift his mindset to take the leap into entrepreneurship Drawing inspiration from Tim Ferriss’ “real world MBA” concept and applying it to his situation when he left the comfort and stability of his corporate job to start BetsBooster How he thinks about the advantages and disadvantages of being a team of technical co-founders Learn more: ➡️ BetsBooster website ➡️ BetsBooster Discord

Ep. 55 introduces you to Cameron Conn, CEO of OneComply. Hear him discuss: Growing up in Las Vegas and being “literally born and raised in this industry” with his family’s deep roots in the gaming and casino industry How his career in the industry has allowed him to experience the pains and challenges of getting and maintaining gaming licenses What OneComply is doing to make life easier for both licensees and regulators How he thinks about product-market fit, and whether OneComply has found it Why he is looking at bricks-and-mortar casinos to drive OneComply’s growth in the US His advice to industry entrepreneurs on avoiding the pitfalls of accruing regulatory debt Learn more: ➡️ OneComply website ➡️ Cameron Conn on Linkedin

Ep. 54 introduces you to Joey Levy, founder and CEO of betr. Hear him discuss: Launching Draftpot in 2015 to simplify the fantasy sports product experience, which “was an incredible learning experience” for him How his experience with Draftpot helped him realize that “the traditional sports betting user experience was even worse” than it was for fantasy sports The story of how he and his cofounders at Simplebet decided to focus on micro markets, and how an unexpected insight influenced an early pivot from B2C operator to B2B supplier Why he believes that “the product experience is still not simple and intuitive enough for your average mass market sports fan to pick up and intuitively interact with it” The story of how he came to partner with Jake Paul on betr, allowing him to realize his original vision for Simplebet as an intuitive B2C product The type of culture he is developing at betr, and how his 20-person team was able to "be a day one operator in one of the nation's most important states before some multi-billion dollar companies that have tens of thousands of employees” Co-founding 305 Ventures to invest in other startups, and his advice to other industry founders who are currently looking to raise capital Learn more 👇 ➡️ Betr website ➡️ Joey Levy on Twitter ➡️ Joey Levy on Linkedin

Ep. 53 introduces you to Alex Dubin, founder of BettorOff, which is a platform for verified sports wagering tips and information. Hear Alex discuss: His past experience working in the betting space, including as co-founder of an esports data company that was acquired by SportsGrid His view of the pick-selling landscape, and “the incongruence between sports betting tips on the consumer side and on the producer side” Why he has decided to position BettorOff against Twitter, and why he thinks that pick tracking is “not something Twitter is gonna be doing” The importance of building community into the BettorOff product, and what he sees as the hallmarks of a strong user community How BettorOff was able to acquire its first 12,000 users with a $0 marketing budget His top prediction for the regulated sports betting industry in 2023 Learn more 👇 ➡️ BettorOff website ➡️ Alex Dubin on Linkedin

Ep. 52 introduces you to the cofounders of WagerWire, the marketplace for sports bets. Zach Doctor, Guy Dotan, and Travis Geiger join to discuss: How the idea of “a marketplace for active sports bets” pulled the 3 friends away from their respective careers to co-found WagerWire Their vision for how WagerWire will change betting from something that “was once a risk class now becoming an asset class” Why they decided on a B2B2C go-to-market strategy, and how they’re driving consumer awareness of the marketplace concept Why being a B2B technology supplier is both “the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge” of their business Their journey raising a $3m seed round, and how they got Miami Marlins co-owner Roger Ehrenberg as their lead investor The dynamic of their co-founder relationship, and the advantages they see as friends who started a company together Learn more 👇 ➡️ WagerWire website ➡️ WagerWire on Twitter ➡️ Zach Doctor on Linkedin ➡️ Guy Dotan on Linkedin ➡️ Travis Geiger on Linkedin

Ep. 51 introduced you to Jason Tauriello, co-founder and COO of Gambl.io, which is gaming 3.0. Hear him discuss: His 20+ year background working in the betting industry, including his first job working for a former runner of Billy Walters How he sees blockchain technology driving innovation in betting, and the specific problems with the status quo that blockchain solves His experience building a blockchain betting product during the 2017 crypto bull run, launching an ICO, and the main lessons he took from that project as he builds out Gambl.io How the UFC’s regulatory strategy is the inspiration for Gambl’s approach to blockchain-based betting in the regulated US market His outlook on the current state of the crypto and blockchain industry in light of recent high-profile collapses How he’s thinking about the current bear market, and why he thinks “the next big bull run and peak in the market is going to be about real world use cases” Learn more 👇 ➡️ Gambl.io website ➡️ Gambl.io on Twitter ➡️ Jason Tauriello on Linkedin ➡️ Jason Tauriello on Twitter

Ep. 50 introduces you to Bo Grey from Wager Score, which puts responsible gaming in the hands of bettors. Hear him discuss: Why as a parent, he didn’t think there were sufficient consumer protections for children in a regulated US betting market, which drove him to found Wager Score His vision for creating “a uniform risk score for gaming that consumers can understand”, akin to a credit score Why he believes that the Wager Score concept is perfectly positioned to appeal to the Gen Z demographic The challenges of being dependent on operators to access the data needed to develop an accurate Wager Score, and what he’s doing to overcome that Why he thinks that smaller operators fighting for market share “see affordability as a key component to sustainability” and “can actually use responsible gambling as a powerful marketing tool” The pending launch of Wager Score with BetFred in Ohio next month Learn more 👇 Episode guest: ➡️ Wager Score website ➡️ Bo Grey on Linkedin Episode host: ➡️ Ewa Bakun on Linkedin ➡️ Ewa Bakun on Twitter

Ep. 49 introduces you to Matt Peterson, co-founder & CEO of Tallysight, which is the all-in-one audience monetization platform for sports gaming. Hear him discuss: How he became interested in entrepreneurship and found his way into the tech industry after reading ‘Zero to One’ by Peter Thiel How Tallysight’s ‘business in a box’ is helping sports betting content creators to distribute and monetize content using its no-code tools How he validated the gap in the market through cold outreach to independent creators Why “not having pressure from outside VCs” has allowed Tallysight to iterate the product at its own pace Recently reaching the milestone of break-even, which he believes gives them “a lot of flexibility and options moving forward” with fundraising The no-code space, and how Tallysight is using no-code tools to help quickly and efficiently scale its business Learn more 👇 ➡️ Tallysight website ➡️ Matt Peterson on Linkedin

Ep. 48 introduces you to Jamie MItchell, co-founder & CEO of Low6, which is an award-winning free-to-play games supplier. Hear him discuss: How Low6 is differentiating in the free-to-play category, including through the use of web3 technologies His background bootstrapping his previous business, and how that experience influenced his decision to raise capital for Low6 to “grow more aggressively” How he sees the esports opportunity for operators, and why “it is not going anywhere” Pivoting plans for an IPO earlier this year in response to cooling market conditions, and their recent strategic investment from BlueBet Why he decided to ban meetings within the company, and how embracing a remote-first culture has increased both productivity and work-life balance How he thinks about product-market fit, and his assessment on whether Low6 has found it Learn more 👇 ➡️ Low6 website ➡️ Jamie Mitchell on Linkedin

Ep. 47 introduces you to Aaron Basch and Evan Fisher from Sparket, which is the Social Betwork. Hear them discuss: Their history as high-school friends leading the math club, and how fantasy football kept them connected after high school until they reunited to start Sparket in 2019 How their parimutuel social betting platform allows operators to offer "different markets without taking exposure” Why they are trying to build experiences for "demographics that have traditionally not participated” in sports betting, and how that is translating into traction The 12+ month process of getting the Sparket platform GLI certified, and how holding that certification benefits them despite it being “a huge effort up front” Why they chose to raise their current round of funding publicly via crowdfunding campaign, and how it’s going for them so far Learn more 👇 ➡️ Sparket website ➡️ Aaron Basch on Linkedin ➡️ Evan Fisher on Linkedin

Ep. 46 introduces you to Brian Kipp from OwnersBox, which is the home of SuperFlex DFS & Lightning Lineups. Hear him discuss: Launching a sports information product in 2012 and growing it to 50,000 users before pivoting to fantasy sports in 2018 Why he thinks that fantasy sports “produces the most loyal user base” of all categories within the wider betting and gaming ecosystem How OwnersBox is innovating within fantasy sports, including its unique ‘Lightning Lineups’ which aims to simplify the experience with slot-like mechanics Why OwnersBox has invested heavily in content creation over the last two years, and why it now sees content as a profit center rather than a cost center How Brian is thinking about scaling OwnersBox now that it has found product-market fit, including his plans to raise a Series A in 2023 Learn more 👇 Episode guest: ➡️ OwnersBox website ➡️ Brian Kipp on Linkedin ➡️ Brian Kipp on Twitter Episode host: ➡️ Dan Hannigan-Daley on Linkedin ➡️ Dan Hannigan-Daley on Twitter

Ep. 45 introduces you to Colin Davy, founder of Betscope, which provides betting intelligence for intelligent bettors. Hear him discuss: Being selected as one of 5 finalists to pitch live at the recent G2E Innovation Challenge, and what it meant to be named winner by the judging panel The story of being a contestant on Jeopardy, and how he used his data science background to prepare for it - which ultimately led to him winning The importance of “incorporating a price discovery routine” when betting, and how Betscope is helping bettors with its unique tools Why he thinks the betting tools ecosystem has now entered a second wave, and the characteristics that make it different from the “first wave gold rush” The thinking behind his decision to intentionally avoid taking outside capital at this stage in favor of remaining bootstrapped for as long as possible Learn more 👇 ➡️ Betscope website ➡️ Colin Davy on Twitter ➡️ Colin Davy on Linkedin ➡️ "How I Won Jeopardy With Data Science" by Colin Davy

Ep. 44 introduces you to Alexander Kane, founder and CEO of Sporttrade, which is America’s most dynamic sports betting platform where sports betting meets stock trading. Hear him discuss: Their highly anticipated launch last month in New Jersey, and what the most surprising thing has been so far since going live Why he decided not to use traditional odds display formats on Sporttrade, and why he believes that the “Sporttrade format” are the most intuitive odds for people to understand The importance of educating customers on the Sporttrade product, which he thinks will “be one of [their] defining challenges” The role that partnerships will play in driving customer awareness around the Sporttrade value proposition, such as the current partnership with Unabated Why he prioritizes engaging on Twitter when so many other things compete for his time and most other industry CEOs eschew this Drawing inspiration from Airbnb by focusing on “doing things that don’t scale” during Sporttrade’s early days, including personally texting customers that have failed deposits How he maintains a positive mindset and attitude in the face of skepticism around Sporttrade’s model Learn more 👇 ➡️ Sporttrade website ➡️ Sporttrade on Twitter ➡️ Alex Kane on Linkedin ➡️ Alex Kane on Twitter

Ep. 43 introduces you to Todd Ballard, co-founder and CMO of ALT Sports Data, which provides proprietary trading solutions focused on alternative sports. Hear him discuss: His experience as an early employee at GoPro, and the journey of going from startup through to IPO The world of alternative sports, and what makes their billion-plus fans “a highly engaged, passionate audience group” How he and his co-founder validated the idea for ALT Sports Data, which included some brief consideration to the idea of becoming a sportsbook (which an advisor said was “the worst idea”) How leagues and data rights holders within alternative sports are looking at the betting opportunity, and why they believe they can bring new audiences to operators Following your passion and why keeping “the least amount of daylight between your personal life and your professional life is a good key to success” Learn more 👇 ➡️ ALT Sports Data website ➡️ Todd Ballard on Linkedin

Ep. 42 introduces you to Leigh Nissim, founder and CEO of Future Anthem, which uses data and AI to personalise the player experience for everyone. Hear him discuss: How he saw the opportunity for personalization during his time leading the digital businesses of both IGT and Scientific Games Why most companies struggle with personalization despite it being high on their agendas Raising a multi-million dollar Series A round for Future Anthem, and why he considers that milestone to be “the end of the beginning” The challenges of being a B2B supplier to operators, and how early-stage suppliers can shortcut some of the sales process His 3 top pieces of fundraising advice for other founders Learn more 👇 ➡️ Future Anthem website ➡️ Leigh Nissim on Linkedin

Ep. 41 introduces you to Rob Klages and Kevin Kamto from AthleteX. Hear them discuss: Some of the core ideological concepts behind crypto and blockchain technology Their philosophical principles of transparency, openness, and fairness, and why only blockchain technology could enable those within the AthleteX platform Why "tokenized fantasy sports was always an intuitive idea", and how a hackathon initially gave them the opportunity to explore it The challenges of UX in web3, and what needs to be done to widen the appeal of crypto to the mass market "Hunkering down and building" during the bear market, and why they are confident that crypto prices will rebound Learn more: ➡️ AthleteX website ➡️ AthleteX Discord server ➡️ AthleteX on Twitter

Ep. 40 is guest hosted by Lloyd Danzig from Sharp Alpha Advisors, who introduces you to Nik Bonaddio, founder and CEO of BigBrain. Hear Nik discuss: Appearing as a contestant on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, winning $100,000, and quitting his job the next day to pursue his first startup Launching Numberfire as Moneyball for fantasy sports, and scaling it to $2m in revenue before exiting to Fanduel in 2015 His experience working as Fanduel’s Chief Product Officer, and why after 4+ years he “wanted to kind of get back to the craziness of startups” Why it was “kind of obvious” to him that the DFS model could be applied to the brain games category, which was the catalyst for BigBrain His strategy to build a cap table with both betting industry investors and industry-agnostic VC firms including First Round Capital, BoxGroup, Ludlow, and Golden Ventures His long-term plan to buy the Pittsburgh Pirates, and why his first move as owner will be to reduce ticket and concession prices Learn more 👇 Episode Guest: ➡️ BigBrain in the app store ➡️ BigBrain website ➡️ Nik Bonaddio on Linkedin Episode Host: ➡️ Sharp Alpha Advisors website ➡️ Lloyd Danzig on Linkedin

Ep. 39 introduces you to Rob Pizzola, co-founder of The Hammer Betting Network, which is the industry leader in providing trusted sports betting content. Hear him discuss: His journey as a longtime betting content creator, and one of “the OG’s of Gambling Twitter” The grind of betting professionally at scale over several years, and why he “would give up sports betting in a second” if he could Why he believes in being price sensitive when betting on sports, and how that belief led him to become co-owner of Bet Stamp The problem he has with betting content creators that misrepresent themselves, and how he is bringing transparency to all content published on thehammer.bet How he was able to onboard dozens of top creators to build the network in only a few weeks, and how he plans to scale content creation on the platform His advice for people who aspire to become sports betting content creators Learn more 👇 ➡️ Hammer Betting Network website ➡️ Hammer Betting Network on Twitter ➡️ Rob Pizzola on Twitter

Ep. 38 introduces you to Michael Zavagno, co-founder and CEO of TopProp Fantasy, which is the next generation of daily fantasy sports. Hear him discuss: Why he believes that TopProp’s head-to-head fantasy contests will “bring that competitiveness” back to fantasy sports The learnings from launching last NFL season as a web-only product, and how that helped shape the recently-launched TopProp mobile app The importance of intuitive UX, and how the app’s swipe-based mechanic has helped TopProp attract a younger demographic than the industry average What he’s hearing from investors as he raises a $1.5m round, which is currently half subscribed Which NFL player he thinks will win the MVP title this season Learn more: ➡️ Michael Zavagno on Linkedin ➡️ TopProp Fantasy website ➡️ TopProp Fantasy on Twitter (Host note: this episode had some minor audio issues that unfortunately couldn't be improved. It's still 100% worth listening to, but we wanted to acknowledge that it might sound slightly different than usual. We'll do better! 🙌)

Ep. 37 introduces you to Kenneth Giles, co-founder and CEO of SimBull, which is the stock market for sports. Hear him discuss: Leaving his “very stable nine to five job” as an actuary and why he decided to follow in his family’s path of entrepreneurship How he came up with the concept of a sports stock market, which he believes can grow into a standalone category alongside betting and fantasy Taking a contrarian approach by focusing on longer-term markets at a time when microbetting is attracting a large amount of attention and investment His experience going through the Techstars Sports Accelerator, and how “it makes you think about all aspects of your business” How he views the fundraising environment as SimBull finalizes plans to raise a $1.5m seed round this fall Learn more: ➡️ SimBull website ➡️ SimBull Twitter ➡️ SimBull in Apple app store ➡️ Kenneth Giles on Linkedin

Ep. 36 introduces you to Ross Fruin, co-founder and CEO of GridRival, which is the home screen for race fans. Hear him discuss: How GridRival acquired 22,000 users within the first 5 days after launching, and how product virality helped it scale it to over 180,000 users in the first year GridRival’s progression from season-long fantasy into DFS, and what he’s thinking about as the next step in his long-term plan The challenges of the quickly changing data landscape within motorsports, and why he thinks it’s possible that data collection “may be a problem we end up solving internally” Being dismissed by investors as a niche operator before successfully raising $3m from investors who saw the motorsports audience as on that could drive venture-scale returns How he built an all-star advisory board at GridRival, and his advice for other entrepreneurs on what they should consider when looking for advisors Learn more: ➡️ GridRival website ➡️ Ross Fruin on Linkedin

Ep. 35 introduces you to Cooper Lycan from SoBet, a sports betting media platform that publishes sports betting content from independent experts. Hear him discuss: SoBet’s origins as a peer-to-peer betting product, which he pivoted into a premium content platform after learning about the challenges of “the liquidity issue” His take on the creator economy and why it’s important to build a platform that allows creators to remain independent His experience raising money in the current environment, and why it was the “hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life” How serving in the military helped has helped make him a more resilient entrepreneur and leader Learn more👇 ➡️ SoBet website ➡️ Cooper Lycan on Linkedin

Ep. 34 introduces you to Dean Sisun and Jake Benzaquen from Prophet Exchange, which is the US sports betting exchange. Hear them discuss: Moving to the UK to build experience in a regulated market where betting exchanges are a mature product category Their impending product launch in New Jersey, and what it means to each of them to reach this milestone after four years of effort The need to educate US customers on the benefits of using an exchange, and their focus on “building the most simple product possible” What they are doing to ensure there is liquidity on the platform on launch day Their experience raising money from investors against a plan that carried regulatory uncertainty, and why theirs was “not the sexy pitch, but the right one" Learn more 👇 ➡️ Prophet Exchange website ➡️ Dean Sisun on Linkedin ➡️ Jake Benzaquen on Linkedin

Ep. 33 introduces you to Brent Winston, co-founder and CEO of BetSwap, which is the most efficient, fully integrated, secondary marketplace technology for sportsbooks and platform providers. Hear him discuss: His recent experience winning the First Pitch competition at the SBC Summit North America event How BetSwap’s secondary marketplace for sports bets complements existing cashout features to the benefit of both bettors and operators Being met with skepticism by trading teams during the B2B sales process, and how he’s overcome that to sign several partnerships for the upcoming NFL season The importance of getting validation by “having the right people backing you” His perspective of the newly regulated Ontario betting market as a resident of Toronto Learn more 👇 ➡️ BetSwap website ➡️ Brent Winston on Linkedin