The Betting Startups Podcast

BettingStartups.com

Interviews and conversations with the founders & CEOs of the most promising startups competing for a piece of the multi-billion dollar sports betting industry read less
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Episodes

The Gamble & The Glory: Ep. 06 - Rasmus Sojmark, SBC
3d ago
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 topicHis early days working in the industry, which led him to move from Copenhagen to London in 2007 to be closer to operatorsThe origins of SBC as an industry meetup group in London that ran quarterly meetups of 150-200 peopleHis decision to go all-in with SBC in 2012 to build an events and media business focused on the betting and gaming industryHow he validated he was on the right path with SBC, and how he knew he had found product/market fitWhy he’s “not looking for an exit” for SBC, despite generating “tens of millions” in revenueThe 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 peopleWhy 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. 105: Building audiences before products w/ Trevis Waters from PlayerProps.ai
Mar 6 2024
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 spaceHis journey as co-founder and COO of DFS Karma and Bet Karma, which were both acquired just last weekWhy he has focused on building an audience through Facebook groups, which now represent over 100,000 engaged usersHow 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 launchingWhere he sees PlayerProps.ai fitting into the ‘betting tools’ ecosystem, and how he is differentiating it from the many other tools in the marketHow 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   -- 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. 05 -  Charles Gillespie & Kevin McCrystle, Gambling.com
Feb 16 2024
The Gamble & The Glory: Ep. 05 - Charles Gillespie & Kevin McCrystle, Gambling.com
We're back with Ep. 5 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 Charles Gillespie & Kevin McCrystle, CEO & COO of Gambling.com Group.   Hear them discuss: The go-to-market plan for launching the business in 2006, which involved moving to Shanghai to launch a sports betting information site focusing on the Chinese marketAbandoning the China strategy after 4 years to "make two really key pivots" that better leveraged their SEO expertiseThe story of acquiring the Gambling.com domain name for $2.5m in 2011, and why that helped them achieve product-market fitHow the repeal of PASPA derailed their plans to list the company in Sweden, and instead led them to list on the NASDAQ in 2021Whether the perception of affiliates as "a necessary evil" by operators aligns to their experience as one of the industry's largest performance marketing companiesGambling.com's role as a founding member of the Responsible Gambling Affiliate Association, and what the trade association serves to achieveHow they've maintained their strong co-founder relationship over the almost 20 years since starting the companyAdvice to other entrepreneurs based on their main lessons learned from building Gambling.com to a nine-figure market capTheir perspective on ambition, and what continues to drive them as entrepreneurs despite all the success they've achieved to date   Learn more:  ➡️ Gambling.com Group website ➡️ Charles Gillespie on Linkedin ➡️ Kevin McCrystle 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. 102: Building a family business investing in betting startups w/ Andrew & Ethan Ehrenberg from Eberg Capital
Feb 13 2024
Ep. 102: Building a family business investing in betting startups w/ Andrew & Ethan Ehrenberg from Eberg Capital
Ep. 102 features Andrew & Ethan Ehrenberg from Eberg Capital, which help creators and their fans develop closer, more authentic relationships across sports, gaming and the arts.   Hear them discuss: The origins of Eberg Capital, which they started alongside their father after graduating from universityTheir thesis on the betting industry, and why they decided to align their investing activity to opportunities within the spaceThe inner workings of how their firm evaluates deals and makes investment decisionsNavigating the dynamics of investing together as a family, and how that might potentially evolve in the futureHow being relatively young in age allows them to be “the voice of the user” and “really understand what consumers in that demo are looking for”The role they play within their portfolio companies, and what they’re doing to support their foundersWhat project they would pursue as founders if they weren’t focused on investing through Eberg CapitalWhich companies they are most excited about and keeping a close eye on   Learn more 👇 ➡️ Eberg Capital website ➡️ Andrew Ehrenberg on Linkedin ➡️ Ethan Ehrenberg on Linkedin   --- 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. 99: Automating risk management for in-play DFS w/ Greg Dean & Gianni Settino from HotStreak
Jan 25 2024
Ep. 99: Automating risk management for in-play DFS w/ Greg Dean & Gianni Settino from HotStreak
Ep. 99 features Greg Dean & Gianni Settino from HotStreak, which is AI-powered sports gaming technology.   Hear them discuss: Their backgrounds at other startups, including Gianni’s time as the first engineer at Draft before its acquisition by Paddy Power BetfairThe origins of HotStreak as an NFT-based collectibles game that they pivoted into the current in-play DFS productThe challenges of building scalable in-play microbetting technology, and why “risk management became the dominant problem”The opportunities they see in B2B despite the fact they’ll “probably stay direct to consumer”Automating risk management, any why “taking humans out of risk management is the end goal”Why they “remain long-term bullish” on web3 technologies despite their early pivot away from NFTsHow poor risk management and correlated pricing has contributed to challenges for other DFS operators   Learn more 👇 ➡️ HotStreak website ➡️ Greg Dean on Linkedin ➡️ Gianni Settino on Linkedin     --- 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. 98: Embracing the grind w/ Pierre Lindh from Next.io
Jan 16 2024
Ep. 98: Embracing the grind w/ Pierre Lindh from Next.io
Ep. 98 features Pierre Lindh from Next.io, which is a content-driven conference company that focuses on both in-person and online events.   Hear him discuss: His reflections on 2023, which included new investment, a major re-brand, and a doubling of the headcount of the NEXT.io teamRising up to meet the new challenges that come with being on a growth trajectoryHis assessment on the state of the industry’s startup ecosystem, and why he thinks it’s important to look at North America and Europe differentlyWhy it’s important for early-stage companies “to fire bullets, not cannons”Creating room for experimentation and trying new thingsHis view on the state of industry trade media, and what trends he expects will shape its futureThe big shift he’s seen with industry events, and how that’s influencing NEXT.io’s strategy with its events businessIf he was to start a new business within the industry, what would it be focused onHis one bold prediction for 2024   Learn more👇 ➡️ Next.io website ➡️ Pierre Lindh on Linkedin     --- 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.