The Betting Startups Podcast

Ep. 80: 20 years of launching businesses in the US online gambling industry w/ Cal Spears from RotoGrinders

Ep. 80 features Cal Spears, serial industry entrepreneur who joins to take us through his history in the US online gambling industry before PASPA’s repeal in 2018.
Hear him discuss:
The online poker boom in the early 2000’s, which led him to co-found PocketFives.com in 2005
The passage of UIGEA in 2007, which prompted him to sell PocketFives and relocate to Costa Rica with his co-founders
Launching RotoGrinders 2010 after observing the emergence of daily fantasy sports tournaments from startup companies such as DraftKings and Fanduel
The pivotal moment known as Black Friday in 2011, which led to him re-acquiring PocketFives, and pivoting it from an affiliate to a subscription-based business
Negotiating a revenue share deal with Jason Robins during DraftKings’ first year in business, which “was the best financial decision [he’s] ever made”
The 2015 DFS scandal that involved a former RotoGrinders employee, which led to the US government trying to regulate the DFS industry
The repeal of PASPA in 2018, which paved the way for RotoGrinders’ sale to Better Collective in 2019
Cal’s advice for younger entrepreneurs entering the space today
 
This episode was guest hosted by Cooper Lycan, founder of Sobet, which you can learn more about in Ep. 35 from last August.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Cal Spears on Twitter
 
Episode host:
➡️ Cooper Lycan on Linkedin
 
This episode is brought to you by GeoComply, a leading provider of cutting-edge anti-fraud and geolocation solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity.

Ep. 79: Building a commission-free betting exchange w/ Jacob Fortinsky from Novig

Ep. 79 features Jacob Fortinsky, co-founder & CEO of Novig, a commission-free sports betting exchange.
Hear him discuss:
Why he thinks “that the fundamental business model of this industry is broken and untenable.”
Why he believes that a commission-free exchange is the future of betting
Learnings from Novig’s recent beta product rollout, which will launch in CO this fall
His experience taking Novig through YCombinator last year (which remains the only betting company to go through YC!)
Today’s announcement about raising $6.4m from Lux Capital and a who’s-who of Silicon Valley investors
His contrarian decision to not raise capital from industry investors
Why he has a "chip on his shoulder", and how he deals with skeptics
 
Learn more 👇
 
➡️ Novig website
➡️ Novig on Twitter
➡️ Jacob Fortinsky on Linkedin
 
This episode is brought to you by GeoComply, a leading provider of cutting-edge anti-fraud and geolocation solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity.

Ep. 78: Using AI to bring personalization to sports betting w/ Chris Reynolds from Epoxy.ai

Ep. 78 features Chris Reynolds from Epoxy.ai, which is a personalization technology company providing tools to develop new forms of customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.
Hear him discuss:
His experience building fan engagement technology products at his last startup, which was acquired by Comcast
How he believes artificial intelligence and machine learning will be leveraged by the betting industry
How personalization helps operators reduce customer acquisition costs, drive retention, and lower churn
Why he thinks Epoxy is “onto something” when it comes to the “holy grail” of converting sportsbook customers to iCasino
The strategic investor that wasn’t included in the PR for Epoxy.ai’s recent $3m fundraise
The challenges of recruiting top-level AI/ML engineers, and why his engineering team is their “secret sauce”
 
Learn more ⤵️
 
➡️ Epoxy.ai website
➡️ Epoxy.ai on Linkedin
➡️ Chris Reynolds on Linkedin
 
This episode is brought to you by GeoComply, a leading provider of cutting-edge anti-fraud and geolocation solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity.

Ep. 77: The matched betting opportunity w/ Jack Taylor from ProfitDuel

Ep. 77 features Jack Taylor from ProfitDuel, which is bringing matched betting to the US market.
 
Hear him discuss:
Matched betting as a ‘side hustle’ to generate side income
The role and prominence of matched betting within the UK gambling ecosystem
His main learnings from the mature UK market as ProfitDuel launches in the US
Why he does’t believe that free bet offers from US operators will “dry up”
The lack of focus on player harm reduction in the US, which “could really, really cause a massive problem” in that market
 
This episode was guest hosted by Dean Sisun, co-founder of Prophet Exchange, which you can learn more about in Ep. 34 from last August.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ ProfitDuel website
➡️ Jack Taylor on Linkedin
 
Episode host:
➡️ Dean Sisun on Linkedin
 
This episode is brought to you by GeoComply, a leading provider of cutting-edge anti-fraud and geolocation solutions that detect location fraud and help verify a user’s true digital identity.

Ep. 76: Mastering the customer conversion funnel w/ Sam Factor from WalterPicks

Ep. 76 features Sam Factor, founder & CEO of WalterPicks, which is a next-generation fantasy insights app. 
Hear him discuss:
Starting his career as a math teacher before pivoting into tech entrepreneurship and content creation
How WalterPicks is helping fantasy players make decisions using AI “powered by millions of advanced historical player stats”
The importance of top-of-funnel for subscription-based consumer products
How WalterPicks social accounts attracted over 1 million followers and 1 billion impressions, resulting in 20,000 paying subscribers
Reaching profitability with less than $1m raised, and how he thinks about the role of growth capital
Why he isn’t pursuing B2B opportunities for WalterPicks’ technology, even though “there definitely is opportunity for WalterPicks in the B2B market.”
Building a “task-oriented work culture rather than a time-oriented or meeting-oriented culture”
 
Learn more ⤵️
 
➡️ WalterPicks website
➡️ WalterPicks on Twitter
➡️ Sam Factor on Linkedin
 
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This episode is brought to you by the much anticipated iGaming NEXT: New York event, which returns March 6-7 2024 in a new state-of the-art venue in Manhattan's financial district.
With 1,000+ senior delegates expected, the summit is focused on connecting startups with investors, and operators with suppliers, which makes it the conference where serious business gets done.
Limited tickets are available at super early bird rates starting on August 1st, which you’ll find at www.igamingnext.com 

Ep. 75: Investor vibe check for Q2!

Ep. 75 is our first quarterly Investor Vibe Check, where we chat with 3 industry investors to get their perspective on the landscape from their side of the table.
 
This debut vibe check for Q2 features Chris Grove (Acies Investments), Davis Catlin (Discerning Capital), and Wayne Kimmel (SeventySix Capital) - and it’s a banger, if we may say so!
 
The discussion explores where we’re at today, opportunities and challenges for companies in the space, and what lies ahead. If you're building within the space, this episode is a must-listen.
 
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This episode is brought to you by the much anticipated iGaming NEXT: New York event, which returns March 6-7 2024 in a new state-of the-art venue in Manhattan's financial district.
With 1,000+ senior delegates expected, the summit is focused on connecting startups with investors, and operators with suppliers, which makes it the conference where serious business gets done.
Limited tickets are available at super early bird rates starting on August 1st, which you’ll find at www.igamingnext.com 

Ep. 74: Innovating in pricing technology w/ Steve Gray from ZeroFlucs

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

Ep. 73: Streamlining the process for gambling affordability checks w/ Martin Burt from ClearStake

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: Improving sports data feed accessibility w/ Stefano Vaccarino from FTN Network

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: 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