The Betting Startups Podcast

Ep. 112: Meet the SBC First Pitch Finalists!

Ep. 112 is the official First Pitch preview episode, where we will meet the 5 startups selected to present at SBC Summit North America on May 9.
 
In this episode, you will hear from:
John Goehrke and Steven Astrachan from 916 Gaming
John Pereira and Ben Howard from EdgeSports
Calvin Konya from Linemate
Shawn Tucker from StatX Sports
Desiree Dickerson from THNDR
 
These startups will be competing for a prize package valued at over $40,000 on May 9 at SBC Summit North America.
 
If you don't have a ticket for the event yet, use discount code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP for $300 off your pass.
 
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming market. 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. Visit Optimove at SBC North Americas in NY  on May 5 to May 7.

Ep. 111: Building a sports betting masterclass w/ Andrew Pace from inplayLIVE

Ep. 111 features Andrew Pace from inplayLIVE, which is the #1 in-play sports investing platform.
 
Hear him discuss:
His background earning a living betting on sports, and how that journey has evolved over the years
The “aha” moment he had during Covid to build a community of people dedicated to in-play betting
How inplayLIVE has applied an e-learning framework to sports betting to educate people through a masterclass-style curriculum
The success that their teachings have created, including 20+ people that have become millionaires through sports betting
Why inplayLIVE is focused on strategies on in-play betting only, and not pregame betting
The dynamics he sees with US sportsbooks more aggressively limiting and restricting player accounts
The longterm viability of betting on sports for profit, and whether people can still generate meaningful income from it
The business challenges of working with offshore sportsbooks and grey market jurisdictions
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ inplayLIVE website
➡️ Andrew Pace on Linkedin
 
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming market. 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. Visit Optimove at SBC North Americas in NY  on May 5 to May 7.

Ep. 110: Investor Vibe Check for Q1 2024

Ep. 110 is our quarterly Investor Vibe Check, where we chat with 3 industry investors to get their perspective on the landscape from their side of the table.  
 
The vibe check for Q1 features Connor Williams (Velo Partners), Andrew Ehrenberg (Eberg Capital) and Robin Reed (HappyHour.io).  
 
Hear them discuss:
What they make of the uptick in 2024 Q1 funding announcements, and whether they expect to see that pace persist
Why Q1 saw several notable strategic investments into B2B startups by industry incumbents
DraftKings’ and Fanduels’ Q1 acquisitions of Jackpocket and BeyondPlay, respectively, and the future outlook for more operator M&A at the earlier stage
The state of integration roadmaps with operators, and whether frustrations expressed by some B2B startups are overblown
The disconnect between early-stage funding and revenue generation from funded companies, as cited in the recent Game Changers report (Download here Free!)
What continued consolidation at the operator level means for startups, and to best prepare for future shifts in the landscape
Rapid fire predictions for notable M&A deals to watch for in 2024
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Connor Williams on Linkedin
➡️ Andrew Ehrenberg on Linkedin
➡️ Robin Reed on Linkedin
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.

Ep. 109: Modeling the relationship between weather and home runs w/ John Leekley & Paul Dorian from Home Run Forecast

Ep. 109 features John Leekley & Paul Dorian from Home Run Forecast, which is an index rating that measures the favorability of conditions for ball fight.
 
Hear them discuss:
How Paul fused his background as a meteorologist with his passion for baseball to develop the Home Run Index
What goes into developing a model like the Home Run Index, which is “about 60-65% accurate”
How the Home Run Index helps bettors with over/under markets, and fantasy players with start/sit decisions
Their go-to-market strategy, and the different ways they are thinking about further commercializing the product
How recent changes to MLB rules have improved the game from a fan perspective
Their thoughts on baseball’s future
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Home Run Forecast website
➡️ John Leekley on Linkedin
 
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.

Ep. 108: The value of building in public w/ Chris Shreeve from Locker Room Labs

Ep. 108 features Chris Shreeve from Locker Room Labs, which are sports app development specialists.
 
Hear him discuss:
His background owning a marketing services agency, and the lessons he learned running a services-based business
How Locker Room Labs is taking a different approach as a services business by “providing value first before aggressively selling”
The value of building in public for startups, and developing your personal brand as an entrepreneur
Why focusing on a niche and “a specific vertical and sticking to it is incredibly powerful”
How he views innovation within the sports betting industry through his first year in the space
Why he thinks “it's never too early to create, scalable enterprise level processes” for startups
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Locker Room Labs website
➡️ Chris Shreeve on Linkedin
 
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.

The Gamble & The Glory: Ep. 06 - Rasmus Sojmark, SBC

We're back with Ep. 6 of The Gamble & The Glory, where we meet founders that have built their companies to become stalwarts of the sports betting, fantasy, and iGaming industry.
 
In this one, we speak with Rasmus Sojmark, CEO & Founder of SBC.
 
Hear him discuss:
How his interest in the psychology of sports betting led him to study it in university, which included writing a 175 page dissertation on the topic
His early days working in the industry, which led him to move from Copenhagen to London in 2007 to be closer to operators
The origins of SBC as an industry meetup group in London that ran quarterly meetups of 150-200 people
His decision to go all-in with SBC in 2012 to build an events and media business focused on the betting and gaming industry
How he validated he was on the right path with SBC, and how he knew he had found product/market fit
Why he’s “not looking for an exit” for SBC, despite generating “tens of millions” in revenue
The importance of building a strong network and reputation, and why “being helpful and nice to people certainly helps”
How he thinks about success, and why appreciating the journey is more important to him
“Being a perfectionist”, the art of delegation, and putting trust in your people
Why prioritizing his health has made him a better entrepreneur
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ SBC website
➡️ Rasmus Sojmark on Linkedin
 
 
The Gamble & The Glory is made possible by Segev LLP, a full solutions law firm purpose built for the gaming and betting industry. To learn more, visit: www.segev.ca

Ep. 107: Creating a new category of betting markets w/ Johnny Coetzer from BetLabs

Ep. 107 features Johnny Coetzer from BetLabs, which is reinvigorating the sports betting experience for bettors while helping operators elevate their game.
 
Hear him discuss:
The lessons he learned playing chess and tennis growing up, and how they prepared him for life as an entrepreneur
How his idea for Boost Bets was derived from the spread betting concept (except it provides the downside protection for players that spread betting doesn’t)
Why he’s prioritizing working with platform providers as his primary distribution strategy
B2B sales and the challenges of getting a product prioritized on an operator or platform provider’s roadmap
Winning the pitch competition at last week’s SiGMA Africa event in Cape Town
The insights from the recently published ‘Game Changers’ report published by BettingStartups.com, which included data from 68 industry startups (Free download at Next.io!)
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ BetLabs website
➡️ Johnny Coetzer on Linkedin
 
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.

Ep. 106: Building HQ Trivia for live sports w/ Noah Bernstein from Locker

Ep. 106 features Noah Bernstein from Locker, which is getting fans off the bench and in the game.
 
Hear him discuss:
The million dollar offer he received to drop out of college to start his first company - which he didn’t take on the advice of his Mom
How Locker is blending mechanics from HQ Trivia and traditional fantasy sports to create a live second screen experience
The ideation process he followed to develop the Locker concept and ensure it was sufficiently differentiated in a crowded DFS market
His vision for building Locker into “a game studio for watching experiences of sports”
The increased regulatory scrutiny on the DFS space right now, and why he is confident that Locker’s game format is compliant
How building a team of experienced mentors and advisors has helped him to grow as a younger entrepreneur
Opening a new round of funding around the Superbowl, which became oversubscribed within two weeks
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Locker website
➡️ Noah Bernstein on Linkedin
 
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.

Ep. 105: Building audiences before products w/ Trevis Waters from PlayerProps.ai

Ep. 105 features Trevis Waters from PlayerProps.ai, which is a new app fully powered by AI for all things player props research.
 
Hear him discuss:
How his passion for fantasy sports led him to write an ebook in 2011, which was the catalyst for him focusing his career on producing educational content within the space
His journey as co-founder and COO of DFS Karma and Bet Karma, which were both acquired just last week
Why he has focused on building an audience through Facebook groups, which now represent over 100,000 engaged users
How he is leveraging Discord, and why he’s “a million percent confident” that he has “the largest pre-product, pre-revenue Discord group in the industry”
How he is leveraging his audience to launch PlayerProps.ai with a goal of generating “$100,000 in subscription revenue in the first 24 hours” after launching
Where he sees PlayerProps.ai fitting into the ‘betting tools’ ecosystem, and how he is differentiating it from the many other tools in the market
How he thinks about the sports betting education, and whether people want to put the work in to actually learn core concepts
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ PlayerProps.ai website
➡️ Trevis Waters on Linkedin
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.

Ep. 104: Facilitating real-money bets for golfers w/ Matt Rum from LoopGolf

Ep. 104 features Matt Rum from LoopGolf, which is golf’s premium betting app.
 
Hear him discuss:
How Matt and his co-founder conceived the LoopGolf concept while working together at Square
How LoopGolf is streamlining the competitive nature of golf by facilitating popular game formats with integrated payments
The regulatory complexity of the payments domain, and why payments are LoopGolf’s “single biggest moat”
How Matt thinks about team structure as he builds out the LoopGolf organization
Feature prioritization and developing product roadmaps
The marketing channels and tactics that LoopGolf is leveraging to drive product awareness and user acquisition
Why onboarding is so important with consumer apps, and how Matt is thinking about optimizing it for LoopGolf
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ LoopGolf website
➡️ Matt Rum on Linkedin
 
 
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This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.