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Episodes
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Ep. 74 features Steve Gray, founder of ZeroFlucs, which provides pricing technology for sportsbook operators.
Hear him discuss:
His background building sportsbook trading solutions at Entain
How ZeroFlucs is helping operators expand the appeal of same game parlays
The challenges of being a B2B supplier on an operator’s integration roadmap
Why he thinks that consolidation amongst operators creates opportunity for ZeroFlucs
His decision to bootstrap the company thus far, and how he thinks about the role of growth capital
Getting “torn to shreds” by an advisor, and why having honest mentorship is so important
Building organizational culture as a globally distributed team
Learn more ⤵️
➡️ ZeroFlucs website
➡️ Steve Gray on Linkedin
Monday Jul 10, 2023
Monday Jul 10, 2023
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
Friday Jun 30, 2023
Friday Jun 30, 2023
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
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
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
Tuesday Jun 13, 2023
Tuesday Jun 13, 2023
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
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Friday Jun 09, 2023
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.
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
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⚡
Tuesday May 30, 2023
Tuesday May 30, 2023
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⚡
Friday May 26, 2023
Friday May 26, 2023
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.
Monday May 22, 2023
Monday May 22, 2023
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⚡