The Betting Startups Podcast

Ep. 71: Making bets using food and drinks as currency w/ Filip & Troy from FoodFight

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: Swinging for the fences as a third-time founder w/ Justin Park from Betty

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: Overcoming adversity when you bomb your big pitch w/ Geoff Doyle from Bettor Vision

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
 
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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.

Betting On It, S1 E8: Drew & Sahil pitch BetsBooster to an expert investor panel (Season 1 finale!)

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⚡

Betting On It, S1 E7: Building a marketing blueprint w/ James McLoughlin

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: Using gamification to drive betting customer loyalty w/ Dan Taren from Scrimmage

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.

Betting On It, S1 E6: Financial modeling for startups w/ Kenneth Giles from Forecastr.co

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⚡

Betting On It, S1 E5: Running a successful crowdfunding campaign w/ Aaron Basch from Sparket

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: Building a free-to-play content aggregation platform w/ Hussain Naqi from Inside The Pocket

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.

Betting On It, S1 E4: Embracing the entrepreneurial grind

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⚡