The Betting Startups Podcast

BettingStartups.com presents its newest sub-series, 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 debut episode, we speak with David Briggs, co-founder & Director of GeoComply. Hear him discuss: His start in the industry launching Ladbrokes' first digital offering in 1999 Launching GeoComply to support New Jersey's iGaming rollout in 2013, which was "the most stressful time in [his] career" The "very difficult, hard yards" of GeoComply's first 5 years, and "grinding out the smallest incremental bits of growth" during those years How GeoComply prepared for PASPA's repeal in 2018, and David's thoughts on the first five years of regulated online gaming in the US The importance of being committed in business and in life, and why "commitment is its own reward" How he thinks about work-life balance, and why having it "isn't the same as being half-assed about your career" Embracing rejection as an entrepreneur, and the importance of maintaining humility  GeoComply's first acquisition of OneComply earlier this year, and why it was "a very natural first acquisition" Championing The Challenger Series event, and why he wants "to bring a bit more power back to founders"   Learn more  ➡️ GeoComply website ➡️ David Briggs 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. 83 features Matt Deutsch from Bettor Sports Network, which is Sports Talk 3.0. Hear him discuss: His 17-year career as a professional sports broadcaster, and starting “the first ever radio channel dedicated to fantasy sports” on Sirius XM in 2010 How Bettor Sports Network is bringing more innovative ways for sports fans to engage Acquiring the Fantasy Alarm app earlier this year, and the role of gamified experiences in content Why he thinks the content space isn’t yet saturated - even though it’s crowded The importance of “leaving on a good note” when you make career changes, and how that’s paid off for him Current efforts to raise a $1.25m round, and the type of investors he is looking for to join the cap table   Learn more ⤵️ ➡️ Bettor Sports Network website ➡️ Matt Deutsch 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.   Going to G2E Las Vegas? Claim your free expo hall pass ($269 value) by using promo code BSP when you register using this link. 

Ep. 82 features Sim Harmon from Kutt, which is the social betting platform. Hear him discuss: The issues he sees with the current state of sports betting, and how he’s addressing it with Kutt’s peer-to-peer model Why he believes that focusing on social and community features will help Kutt to differentiate The opportunity he sees with bets on politics, entertainment, and other non-sports markets Bootstrapping Kutt “until he couldn’t anymore”, and the challenges associated with fundraising The personal sacrifices required to take an idea from zero-to-one His predictions for the Superbowl - which might have been compromised after week 1!   Learn more ⤵️ ➡️ Kutt website ➡️ Sim Harmon 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.   Going to G2E Las Vegas? Claim your free expo hall pass ($269 value) by using promo code BSP when you register using this link. 

Ep. 81 features Megan Lanham from Rithmm, which is a personalized predictive analytics tool for sports betting. Hear her discuss: Her 10-year career as a Division 1 basketball coach, and how that experience prepared her for competing in business How she came up with the original idea for Rithmm while studying at MIT The opportunity she sees in “providing access to incredibly complex analytical models” in an intuitive user experience Competing as a subscription-based B2C product in the ‘betting tools’ category, and the B2B opportunities she sees for Rithmm Her experience raising $3.75m over the last year from investors that include Boston Seed The importance of being “targeted and disciplined with staying the course” as an early-stage startup   Learn more ⤵️ ➡️ Rithmm website ➡️ Megan Lanham 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.   Going to G2E Las Vegas? Claim your free expo hall pass ($269 value) by using promo code BSP when you register using this link. 

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 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 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 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 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   -------   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 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.   -------   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