The Betting Startups Podcast

Ep. 154 features Travis Geiger, who joins Jesse in this special episode that zooms in on the upcoming Starties awards show on March 12. Hear them discuss:
Their reflections on the crazy journey in the last 30 days since The Starties were announced
A look into the 250+ nominations that were submitted for the 9 award categories
The creation of the Starties Academy, and the inspiration behind creating a voting committee to ensure fairness and transparency
The unique venue where The Starties will be held in NYC
An update on ticket availability (look below for a link to buy your ticket!)
The announcement of award finalists across each award category
 
Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.
 
🎟️ General Admission tickets for The Starties are now on sale, with very limited capacity: https://thestarties2025.eventbrite.com
💰 Claim your $200 discount on a Full Event Pass to NEXT Summit NYC with code SB2NYC52: https://next.io/summits/newyork/#tickets
📱 Follow The Starties on Linkedin and Twitter
 
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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. 153 features Tyler Amirault and James White from HotTakes, which is the ultimate free-to-play sports betting simulator.
 
Hear them discuss:
How their time at Western University led to HotTakes, starting as a passion project before becoming a full-time venture
The idea behind HotTakes—letting sports fans try betting for free, win real cash prizes, and learn without risk
Their business model, which monetizes user attention and shares value with players through an affiliate-driven rewards system
Why they've been so successful as affiliates at a time when so many other affiliates are struggling
The recent launch of their redesigned app as their entry point into the US market
Why they believe betting growth comes from new players, not competing for existing high-value bettors
How having top industry advisors such as John Gordon, Paris Smith, and Benjie Cherniak has unlocked new opportunities for HotTakes
Plans to raise $3M in Series A for user acquisition, key hires, and brand-building
 
Speaking of the NEXT NYC Summit, capacity is limited and tickets will sell out. Secure yours now and get $200 off your Full Event Pass with code SB2NYC52. Get your ticket here: https://next.io/summits/newyork/#tickets
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ HotTakes website 
➡️ Tyler Amirault on Linkedin 
➡️ James White on Linkedin 
 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/
 
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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. 152 features Tiffany Santisteban Lagos from EmpowerYourPlay, which transforms gaming rewards by integrating micro-giving to charities of players’ choice.Hear her discuss:
EmpowerYourPlay winning the recent Pitch ICE competition, and the benefits that has brought
How EmpowerYourPlay is using charitable giving as a new player retention mechanism for operators
The insights she got from speaking to over 10,000 players before launching, and how that helped validate her hypotheses
Why Gen Z and Millennials are driving a shift toward purpose-driven spending
Why her experience building EmpowerYourPlay has been "like drinking water from a firehose"
How attracting top talent on equity-only roles has helped Tiffany bootstrap EmpowerYourPlay to this point
Current efforts to raise £750k in pre-seed funding to scale operations
The ambitious goal to donate over $50M to charities in the coming years
 
Speaking of the NEXT NYC Summit, capacity is limited and tickets will sell out. Secure yours now and get $200 off your Full Event Pass with code SB2NYC52. Get your ticket here: https://next.io/summits/newyork/#tickets
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ EmpowerYourPlay website 
➡️ Tiffany Santisteban Lagos on Linkedin 
 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/
 
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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. 151 features Simon Gerszberg from ShotQuality, a sports data extraction company using CV, AI and data science to optimize pricing for Sports-books and syndicates.
 
Hear him discuss:
How a chance college roommate pairing sparked the beginning for ShotQuality
The strategy shift that saw them move away from selling analytics to colleges - despite having 25 Division 1 teams as clients
How their first sportsbook deal came from betting into the market using ShotQuality data
His experience successfully navigating the dreaded operator integration roadmap
News of their expansion from a basketball-only product to a multi-sport offering
His perspective on the sports data ecosystem, and where ShotQuality fits within it
The joint role of computer vision and human validation in their technology platform
How he successfully fundraised a seven-figure seed round as a first-time founder
 
Speaking of the NEXT NYC Summit, capacity is limited and tickets will sell out. Secure yours now and get $200 off your Full Event Pass with code SB2NYC52. Get your ticket here: https://next.io/summits/newyork/#tickets
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ ShotQuality website 
➡️ Simon Gerszberg on Linkedin 
 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/
 
--
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. 150 features Pierre Lindh from NEXT.io, the world’s iGaming community.
Hear him discuss:
The life and legacy of Nico Jansen
His retrospective on the ICE conference's debut in Barcelona
Why he feels like NEXT is only now hitting its stride after 12 years of perseverance
The risky shift in strategy that NEXT made last year, and how that's paid off since
The challenges of building a premium content business with a subscription model
His views and insights on how to build and grow community
Why he thinks about the NEXT NYC Summit as "the Davos for iGaming"
The recent announcement of The Starties, the awards show by startups, for startups that will be held alongside the NYC Summit
Speaking of the NEXT NYC Summit, capacity is limited and tickets will sell out. Secure yours now and get $200 off your Full Event Pass with code SB2NYC52. Get your ticket here: https://next.io/summits/newyork/#tickets
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ NEXT.io website 
➡️ Pierre Lindh on Linkedin 
 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/
 
--
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. 149 features Michael Testa from Wunderfan, with guest host Thomas Coiner. Wunderfan redefines sports loyalty by rewarding fan engagement through an innovative "It Pays to be a Fan" model.
 
Hear them discuss:
Wunderfan’s unique slogan "It pays to be a fan", and how that applies to fan loyalty
Michael's entrepreneurial journey in customer loyalty and in a startup acquisition
How Michael's co-founders, Blake Patterson and Geran de Klerk, are leveraging their past successes for Wunderfan
What they learned from the success of building Wunderpar, a golf-focused version of Wunderfan
Why they've invested so heavily in the scalability of their "Attend-to-Earn" and "Watch-to-Earn" technology
How they've acquired their first 10,000 users in just four months
Why Michael is such a fan of product-led growth tactics, and how they're using them with Wunderfan
How their campus ambassador program has resulted in a cost-per-install of less than $1
Current efforts to raise a $2.5M seed round to accelerate Wunderfan's expansion
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Wunderfan website 
➡️ Michael Testa on Linkedin 
 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/
 
--
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. 148 features Mark Flores Martin, Founder and CEO of XGENIA, an AI-first company revolutionizing game creation by enabling developers to create games in minutes.
 
Hear them discuss:
His journey from ethical hacking and VR gambling to founding XGENIA
How the XGENIA team combines expertise in gaming, AI, and technology to create innovative solutions
The groundbreaking features of XGENIA, including AI-powered slot machine generation and advanced animation systems
Where XGENIA fits within the casino ecosystem and its complementary role to traditional game studios
Overcoming skepticism about the potential of AI in gaming and the widespread adoption of their technology by clients
The company’s journey from self-funding to attracting external capital for scaling operations
The transformative impact of AI on job roles within the gaming and gambling industry
Insights from pitch competitions like SBC and Sigma, and their plans for ICE Barcelona
XGENIA’s ambitious roadmap for 2025, including the release of a revolutionary AI game engine
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ XGENIA website 
➡️ Mark Flores Martin on Linkedin 
 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/
 
--
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. 147 features Bridge Dudley and Sebastian Fay, Co-Founders of Doink Sports, the ultimate research platform for sports betting, offering props, trends, +EV analysis, odds charts, and more.
 
Hear them discuss:
How their backgrounds in sports, robotics, finance, and tech led to founding Doink Sports
How a friend’s $40 parlay win inspired the idea for Doink Sports and became the foundation of their business
How building a failed furniture marketplace app shaped their thinking and approach bringing Doink Sports to market
Challenges of accessing reliable betting data and managing tech as a two-person team
B2B opportunities with their technology infrastructure
Reflection on the NFL season, and lessons learned in their second year of football
Using livestreaming and education to build community and increase product adoption
Bootstrapping their way to profitability, and how they're thinking about capitalizing the next stage of growth
Their recent experience applying to Y Combinator for a second time
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Doink Sports website 
➡️ Bridge Dudley on Linkedin 
➡️ Sebastian Fay on Linkedin 
 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/
 
--
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.

In this episode, Jesse and Thomas huddle up to reflect on 2024 for BettingStartups, and lookahead to 2025. 
They discuss:
Their biggest reflections and highlights from 2024
News that Optimove is returning as the headline sponsor of The Betting Startups Podcast in 2025
A lookback at 8 of their favorite clips from this year's podcast episodes
The success of their media partnerships in 2024, and how those will grow in 2025
Their high-concept pitch for the soon-to-launch Startup Hub and founder community 
 
Watch the video version of the episode here.
 
Get $200 off your Full Event Pass for the NEXT NYC Summit by using discount code SB2NYC52 at checkout: https://next.io/summits/newyork/
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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. 145 features Alexey Vorobey from AIstats, an AI-powered live score app that provides football fans with real-time match analysis, performance trends, and smart metrics across over 2,200 leagues worldwide.Hear them discuss:
His career pivot away from being a lawyer and into tech entrepreneurship
How AIstats creates unique stats and predictions with machine learning
Why he's not a believer in the xG metric, and "the crusade to replace it with some more advanced and smart things"
The marketing tactics they used to acquire over 73,000 users in the first 3 months
Converting free users to paid subscribers, and how they plan to increase the conversion rate over time
The importance of localization, and delivering an experience to users in a familiar context
Field notes from his current efforts to close a $1m seed round, which is 75% subscribed
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ AIstats website
➡️ Alexey Vorobey on Linkedin 
 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/
 
--
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.