The Betting Startups Podcast
Interviews and conversations with the founders & CEOs of the most promising startups competing for a piece of the multi-billion dollar betting, fantasy sports, and iGaming industry
Ep. 223: Launching the "Plaid for prediction markets" w/ Andrew Gonzalez from Parlay X
Ep. 223 features Andrew Gonzalez, CEO & Co-Founder of ParlayX, for a wide-ranging discussion on entrepreneurship, prediction markets, institutional trading infrastructure, fundraising, product-market fit, and the rapidly evolving relationship between sports betting and prediction markets.
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Hear them discuss:
Andrew's journey from Southern California and UCLA to crypto investing, venture capital, Flowdesk, and ultimately launching ParlayX after deciding to bet on himself as a founder. Why leaving a well-funded startup to build ParlayX full-time was one of the biggest risks of his life and how support from family and friends helped shape that decision. How ParlayX evolved f...Ep. 222: Bringing poker tournament mechanics to sports predictions w/ Robert McCall from The Sharps
Ep. 222 features Robert McCall, Founder of The Sharps, to discuss his journey from the cannabis industry into sports betting, building a skill-based peer-to-peer sports prediction tournament platform, and using AI to build the product from scratch.Â
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Hear them discuss:
How Rob went from the cannabis industry and competitive gambling into sports betting, with poker and blackjack tournaments inspiring the creation of The Sharps.The concept behind The Sharps, a skill-based peer-to-peer sports prediction tournament platform where players compete using props, parlays, and same-game parlays.
How the tournament structure works, including weekly, head...
Ep. 221: At the intersection of sports betting and financial trading w/ Frank Li
Ep. 221 features Frank Li, Co-founder of ESX, to discuss building a next-generation sports prediction market for technical bettors. Frank shares how his background in quantitative trading led him to prediction markets, why ESX is focused on live sports trading, and how content, community, and customer feedback have fueled the company's early growth.
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Hear them discuss:
Frank's journey from quantitative sports betting and prediction markets to co-founding ESX, and the inspiration behind creating a trading-first sports betting platform. How ESX differentiates itself by targeting technical and semi-professional bettors with live sports trading tools, social features, a...Ep. 220: Solving the pain of manual marketing compliance w/ Neil Dillon from Solas Compliance
Ep. 220 features Neil Dillon, Founder of Solas Compliance, to discuss how AI is transforming marketing compliance for regulated industries. Neil shares his journey from Betfair and Flutter to launching Solas, explains why compliance remains one of the biggest bottlenecks for operators, and offers practical insights into building enterprise-grade AI products for the betting industry.
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Ep. 219: How the world's #1 sports betting operator accelerates startup partnerships w/ Edward & Robert from Flutter
Ep. 219 features Edward Lyttel and Rob Fulforth from Flutter to discuss the company's AlphaHub innovation program and the 2026 Affiliate Draft. They explore how Flutter collaborates with startups, what they're looking for in this year's applicants, and why community, AI-powered fan tools, and betting innovation are shaping the future of sports betting.
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Hear them discuss:
How Flutter's AlphaHub helps startups build partnerships with leading brands like FanDuel, Betfair, Paddy Power, and Sky Bet The goals of the 2026 Affiliate Draft and what startups can expect from the application process Why community-driven products continue to be one of...Ep. 218: AI-first sports intelligence infrastructure w/ Devon & Tejas from Blitz
Ep. 218 features Devon and Tejas, Co-founders of Blitz, an AI-powered sports intelligence platform transforming how broadcasters, analysts, content creators, and sports organizations access and utilize sports data.Â
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Hear them discuss:
How two Duke graduates turned sports betting profits into a sports data startup The PrizePicks strategy that grew a small bankroll into tens of thousands of dollars Why they spent countless hours building and validating their own sports data infrastructure The challenges of cleaning, normalizing, and connecting fragmented sports datasets How Blitz evolved from a betting-focused product into a B2B sports intelligence platform Bu...Ep. 217: Turning sports narratives into "momentum markets" w/ Nick Meader from SpeedLabs
Ep. 217 features Nick Meader, Co-Founder & CEO of SpeedLabs, joining Jesse Learmonth to discuss the company's $6.5 million seed round, the creation of "Momentum Markets," and why he believes the next generation of sports betting products will be built around live narratives rather than traditional betting markets.
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Hear them discuss:
Nick’s journey from college bookmaker and betting entrepreneur to venture capital investor and founder of SpeedLabs How a conversation with poker legend Phil Hellmuth and industry veteran David Woodley helped spark the creation of SpeedLabs The concept behind Momentum Markets and why SpeedLabs is building liv...Ep. 216: Childhood games with adult stakes w/ Jackson Erminio from Spina
Ep. 216 features Jackson Erminio, Founder of Spina, joining Jesse Learmonth to discuss building a skill-based gaming startup, solving the liquidity challenge, and creating a marketplace where players can compete head-to-head in games they already know and love.
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Hear them discuss:
How Jackson went from selling sneakers and running a marketing agency to founding Spina, a real-money skill gaming platform built around familiar games like Connect 4, 8-Ball Pool, and Tic-Tac-Toe Why Spina pivoted from betting on anything between friends to live, head-to-head skill games with matchmaking and optional voice chat The startup's dual go-to-market strategy, c...Ep. 215: Unpacking WagerWire's new prediction market license w/ Travis Geiger
Ep. 215 features Travis Geiger, Co-Founder & CXO of WagerWire, joining Jesse Learmonth at SBC Fort Lauderdale to discuss the company’s transformation into its vision for building a regulated prediction market ecosystem. Fresh off securing a license-in-principle in Gibraltar, Travis shares how the company is positioning itself at the intersection of gaming, finance, and innovation.
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Hear them discuss:
Why WagerWire evolved into Wire Markets and how prediction markets became the company’s next major opportunity The challenges startups face integrating with sportsbooks, and why innovation often struggles within the regulated betting ecosystem Wire Markets’ Gibraltar licensi...Bonus Episode: First place at First Pitch w/ Andrew Gonzalez from ParlayX
This bonus episode features Andrew Gonzalez, Founder & CEO of ParlayX, joining Jesse Learmonth moments after winning the SBC Summit Americas First Pitch competition in Fort Lauderdale.Â
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Hear them discuss:
Winning the SBC First Pitch competition, and what it means to him Andrew’s entrepreneurial story, including leaving his market-making career, navigating multiple pivots, and betting on himself as a founder The challenges institutions face with blockchain, compliance, and fragmented market access, and how ParlayX aims to solve them Launch plans, institutional partnerships, and the growing opportunity at the intersection of prediction markets and financial infr...Ep. 214: Combining responsible gaming with player retention to fix a leaky safety net w/ Alec Gehlot from PlaySignal
Ep. 214 features Alec Gehlot, Founder of PlaySignal, a responsible gaming platform helping operators intervene earlier, reduce self-exclusions, and create healthier player experiences.Â
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Hear them discuss:
The inspiration behind PlaySignal and why rising self-exclusion rates reveal a growing industry challenge How PlaySignal’s traffic-light system helps identify at-risk behavior and intervene before players reach a crisis point Why Alec believes responsible gaming should move from a back-office compliance function to a player-facing experience The concept of “RG 3.0” and how behavioral science, player psychology, and real-time engagement can reshape responsible gaming Balancing player protection and retention by helpi...Ep. 213: Meet the intelligence layer for the outcome economy w/ Gregory Tolmochow from Trendline Labs
Ep. 213 features Gregory Tolmochow, Founder & CEO of Trendline Labs, a startup building what it calls the “Bloomberg Terminal for prediction markets.”Â
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Hear them discuss:
Gregory’s journey from sports betting analytics and The Betting Insider to founding Trendline Labs Why prediction markets represent a major evolution beyond traditional sports betting The pivot from an AI-powered sports analytics tool to a unified prediction market terminal Building a platform that aggregates pricing, liquidity, and data across multiple prediction market exchanges How Trendline’s Optimus AI model helps users understand market pricing and identify opportunities The company’s vision to...Ep. 212: Meet the First Pitch finalists competing for $100k in prizes
Ep. 212 is the official First Pitch preview episode, where we will meet the 5 startups selected to present at SBC Summit Americas on June 11 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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In this episode, you will hear from the five finalists:
Javier Troncoso, InsightPlay.ai Matt Bresler, Odditt Matt Paulton, OddsBlaze Andrew Gonzalez, ParlayX Robert McCall, The SharpsÂ
SBC First Pitch brings together some of the most exciting startups within the betting and gaming industry to compete for a chance to win an exclusive prize package, valued at over $100,000 to assist in the winner’s develop...
Ep. 211: Building the AI-native orchestration layer for payments in gaming w/ Filip Michalsky from Soap Payments
Ep. 211 features Filip Michalsky from Soap Payments, an AI-native orchestration layer designed to simplify the complex payments stack for real-money gaming operators.
Hear them discuss:
Filip’s path from professional squash in the Czech Republic to Harvard AI data science and Fidelity Investments. The "iceberg" of payments: Navigating the hidden layers of issuing banks, acquiring banks, and convoluted funds movement. Using AI agents to slash payment onboarding times from months to a single week. How unified stablecoin rails enable "instant settlement," allowing operators to receive funds in five seconds. Protecting operators against "bad actors" with specialized de...Ep. 210: Building DFS 3.0 to prioritize "less spreadsheets and more friends" w/ Matt Kelley from Fast Draft
Ep. 210 features Matt Kelley from FastDraft, a fantasy sports platform recently merged with FantasySpin that focuses on high-velocity, mobile-first gameplay.
Hear them discuss:
Matt’s transition from building a million-dollar stats business to launching a platform for the 60M+ fantasy gamer market. Why the "attention deficit economy" needs 5-minute drafts instead of the traditional hour-long commitment. The origin story of FastDraft and how it grew out of the underserved dynasty and rookie draft subcultures. Details on the merger with FantasySpin and combining skill sets to create a "Voltron" marketing and product team. How they built and li...Ep. 209: Building the "aspirin" for casino game distribution headaches w/ David & Kavin from Hydrastack
Ep. 209 features David and Kavin from Hydrastack, a startup using AI to transform how casino games are developed, converted, and distributed across channels.
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Hear them discuss:
The origin story of Hydrastack and how industry pain points around game distribution sparked the idea Why converting casino games from land-based to online can take 6–8 months and how Hydrastack cuts that down to weeks How their proprietary AI models ingest and transform existing game code instead of requiring full rewrites The massive inefficiencies in the current gaming supply chain and how they impact manufacturers, operators, and players Why “r...Ep. 208: Digitizing the Super Bowl squares concept w/ Nathan & Brett from GridGorilla
Ep. 208 features Nathan Thomas and Brett DeBari, the founding team behind GridGorilla, a digital platform that evolves the classic Super Bowl squares format into a year-round, player-stat-based prediction experience.
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Hear them discuss:
Brett’s journey through tech sales at Dell and AWS to previous gaming startups, and Nathan’s 20-year engineering career ranging from biomedical startups to database architecture
How the team identified the "mass market" appeal of Super Bowl squares and adapted it into a year-round digital product
Moving beyond final scores to create player-performance grids involving stats like...
Ep. 207: Transforming traditional raffles into a B2B retention tool w/ Yaniv Spielberg from LuckyDraw
Ep. 207 features Yaniv Spielberg, founder of LuckyDraw, a B2B platform bringing prize draws and raffles into the modern gaming ecosystem.
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Hear them discuss:
Yaniv’s journey from lottery businesses to building and scaling Bragg Gaming Group into a public company listed on the NASDAQ and TSX The origins of LuckyDraw and identifying the gap in raffle-based gaming despite its global resurgence How prize draws work, including raffles, instant wins, and scratch cards, and why they offer more flexibility than traditional betting products Positioning prize draws as a horizontal layer across sportsbooks and casinos for...Ep. 206: The journey scaling to 250 million games played w/ Jason White from TallyUp
Ep. 206 features Jason White, founder of TallyUp, a free-to-play global game show platform blending casual gaming, wagering mechanics, and the attention economy.
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Hear them discuss:
The TallyUp concept: a free-to-play, ad-supported PVP gaming platform where players can win real money without risking their own capital How exponential growth mechanics (inspired by childhood ping pong bets) shaped the core gameplay model Building simple, “unbeatable” games that balance skill and chance while preventing bots and ensuring fairness Why TallyUp sits at the intersection of casual gaming, gamified marketing, and betting-adjacent experiences Solving the “CAC bloodbath” in real-mone...Ep. 205: Restoring the winning edge for recreational poker w/ John Caldwell from i3soft
Ep. 205 features John Caldwell, Co-Founder of i3Soft, a gaming technology company building next-generation poker and casino products designed to improve player experience, increase liquidity, and bridge the gap between poker and casino gameplay.
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Hear them discuss:
John’s unconventional journey from the music industry (Atlantic Records, Stone Temple Pilots, Hootie & the Blowfish) into poker and eventually gambling tech Building PokerNews into the leading global poker media platform and later transitioning to PokerStars during the online poker boom The core problem with online poker today: long tournament times and a broken experience for recreational pla...Ep. 204: Fixing the blind spots in sports betting marketing w/ Allan Stone from Intelitics
Ep. 204 features Allan Stone, CEO & Co-Founder of Intelitics, a marketing intelligence platform helping betting and iGaming companies better understand the true impact of their marketing spend and optimize performance across the full player lifecycle.
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Ep. 203: Bringing the 'Swipe Right' mechanic to fantasy sports w/ Toby Bucsescu from Blitz:Draft
Ep. 203 features Toby Bucsescu, CEO & Co-Founder of Blitz:Draft, which is reimagining the sports gaming experience by combining elements of daily fantasy, betting, and quick-play mechanics into a format built for speed and accessibility.
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Hear them discuss:
Toby’s path into the sports gaming industry and founding Blitz Draft The problem with traditional betting and DFS products How Blitz Draft creates a faster, more engaging user experience Key differences between draft-style games and conventional formats Product development insights and early user feedback Navigating regulation while building an innovative product Strategies for acquiring and retaining use...Ep. 202: Breaking: Gambly and Unabated merge to create a new powerhouse w/ Cal Spears
Ep. 202 features Cal Spears, founder of Gambly, returning to the Betting Startups Podcast to share an update on the company’s progress since launch, insights from the NEXT Summit in New York, and a major milestone for the business.Â
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Hear them discuss:
Cal’s return to the podcast and what has changed at Gambly since its launch in October 2024
Key takeaways from the NEXT.io Summit in New York and why prediction markets dominated the conversation
The story behind Gambly merging with Unabated and why combining forces made strategic sense for both...Ep. 201: Bootstrapping a niche content empire on quality alone w/ Taylor Caby from Establish the Run
Ep. 201 features Taylor Caby, Co-Founder of Establish The Run, sharing the story behind building the evolution of betting content, the business of premium sports analysis, and why high-quality information products continue to thrive in an increasingly crowded sports betting ecosystem.
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Hear them discuss:
Taylor’s background in poker, daily fantasy sports, and the path that led to launching Establish The Run How the DFS boom helped shape the modern sports betting content ecosystem Why building a subscription-based analysis product requires credibility and long-term trust with an audience The difference between entertainment betting content and ser...Ep. 200: Announcing the launch of BettingStartups Capital w/ Paris Smith
Ep. 200 marks a major milestone for the Betting Startups Podcast, featuring a special conversation between Jesse Learmonth and longtime industry leader Paris Smith to celebrate the 200th episode and announce a major new chapter for the platform.
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Hear them discuss:
Jesse and Paris’s shared history at Pinnacle, how a startup acquisition led to a six-year partnership, and the full-circle moment that brings them back together
The official launch of BettingStartups Capital, including its mission to back early-stage real-money gaming startups as one of the first checks in
What the...
Ep. 199: Turning crypto volatility into a pocket prediction game w/ Michael, Evan & Chris from FEEN
Ep. 199 features Michael, Evan and Chris from Feen, to discuss building a next-generation betting product, navigating early-stage product decisions, and finding differentiation in an increasingly crowded wagering landscape. The conversation explores Feen’s origin story, early traction, and how the founders think about product focus, user behavior, and long-term scalability.
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Ep. 198: The long road to a breakthrough inflection point w/ Pierre Lindh from Next.io
Ep. 198 features Pierre Lindh, founder of NEXT.io, returning for his fourth appearance on the Betting Startups Podcast. Pierre reflects on NEXT.io’s breakout year, the transition from scrappy startup to growth-stage business, the role of investigative journalism in iGaming media, and why emerging betting products may go global in 2026.
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Hear them discuss:
How 2025 became a “12-year overnight success” after more than a decade of compounding momentum The shift from runway preservation to investing aggressively in growth Why founders inevitably become bottlenecks and how to let go without losing vision The importance of finding...Ep. 197: Automating savings through betting w/ Benson & Daniel from Regen
Ep. 197 features Benson Bleier and Daniel Prior, Co-Founders of Regen, an automated savings platform built specifically for sports bettors. break down how Regen helps bettors automatically save money on every bet — win or lose — and why they believe savings and investing can become a core part of sustainable gaming.
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Hear them discuss:
Benson and Daniel’s paths from consulting, VC, and professional poker into building a betting-adjacent fintech startup How the founders met in Argentina through padel and decided to launch Regen How poker bankroll management inspired the original idea behind Regen What Regen does: a...Ep. 196: Enabling operator success using AI agents w/ Javier & Cristian from InsightPlay.ai
Ep. 196 features Javier Troncoso and Cristian Barbosa, Co-Founders of InsightPlay.ai, an AI-powered engagement platform using autonomous agents to help operators acquire, retain, and reactivate players at scale.
Fresh off a busy ICE Barcelona and a newly announced seed round, Javier and Cristian join Jesse Learmonth to break down how Insight Play is redefining player engagement through conversational AIÂ and what it takes to build an AI-native startup in global gaming.
Hear them discuss:
Javier and Cristian’s paths from media, affiliates, and iGaming into building an AI-native startup
How...
Ep. 195: Powering the live betting watch-along w/ Jonathan and Gavin from Bettortainment
Ep. 195 features Jonathan Baxandall and Gavin Puszczalowskyi, Co-Founders of Bettortainment, for a deep dive into live betting watch-alongs, sportsbook retention, and why most operators still underinvest in in-play engagement.
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Hear them discuss:
Jonathan’s decade-long career in iGaming, B2B data and acquisition teams Gavin’s 20+ years in radio broadcasting and early in-play content work with William Hill The origins of Bettortainment and why “live” is the most valuable moment to engage bettors What a betting watch-along really is and why it’s more than just commentary Why retention consistently matters more than acquisition, yet remains...Ep. 194: Building skill-based wagering infrastructure w/ Noah Fulk from EWagers
Ep. 194 features Noah Fulk, Founder and CEO of EWagers, for a deep dive into building compliant, skill-based wagering infrastructure and the hard lessons learned from pivoting a gaming startup from B2C to B2B.
Hear him discuss:
Noah’s background as a lifelong gamer and the early inspiration behind Ewagers The original B2C vision for peer-to-peer wagering and why the model ultimately failed The pivotal decision to pivot from consumer-facing product to B2B infrastructure What Ewagers does today, including payments, KYC, geofencing, and compliance tooling The underestimated complexity of building regulated ga...Ep. 193: Poker-as-a-service w/ Scott Wilson & Warren Dombowsky from PokerLab
Ep. 193 features Scott and Warren, founders of PokerLab, for a deep dive into the evolution of online poker and how PokerLab is positioning itself as a modern “Poker as a Service” platform built for today’s operators and players.
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Hear them discuss:
PokerLab’s origin story and the founders’ decades-long careers in poker and iGaming What “Poker as a Service” really means and how PokerLab differs from legacy poker platforms Why poker remains one of the stickiest products in gambling despite years of decline The rise of short-form poker and why attention spans are changing produc...Ep. 192: Ask Me Anything w/ Jesse from BettingStartups
Ep. 192 features Jesse Learmonth in a special "Ask Me Anything" edition of the Betting Startups Podcast, where he flips the script and answers questions from founders, operators, and builders across the gaming ecosystem.
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Ep. 191: Why web betting is dead w/ Joshua Swerdlow from ChatBet AI
Ep. 191 features Joshua Swerdlow, from ChatBet AI, an AI-powered sports betting platform built to deliver smarter, more personalized betting experiences through data and conversational technology.
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Hear him discuss:
Josh’s background and the leap he took moving from England to Tel Aviv What ChatBet is and how he is using AI to reshape the sports betting experience What his go-to-market strategy was and major lessons from launching Why Josh believes that the user experience sits at the center of ChatBet’s product philosophy and why it is so key The realities when it comes to gaining c...Ep. 190: Inside the Retention Shift w/ Irakli “Marcus” Davarashvili from Promofy
Ep. 190 features Irakli “Marcus” Davarashvili, Founder & CEO of Promofy, for a deep dive into the global rise of AI-powered gamification and how operators are rethinking loyalty, engagement, and retention.
Hear him discuss:
His 13-year journey across advertising, brand building, and iGaming leadership and how operational pain points at scale inspired him to build Promofy
What Promofy is: an AI-driven, no-code gamification platform that lets operators launch loyalty systems, missions, sports predictors, prize drops, kiosks, and full-page engagement experiences in minutes
How Promofy’s rapid traction and product innovation led to win...
Ep. 189: Bringing the fun back to sports betting w/ Artie, Ben & Ryan from Golden Camel
Ep. 189 features the three co-founders of Golden Camel, Artie, Ben, and Ryan, for a lively deep dive into building a sports-betting lifestyle app rooted in community, fun, and authenticity.
Hear them discuss:
How a series of career pivots led them to partner up on Golden Camel a number of years after the original idea was sparked Why Golden Camel rejects “beat the house” culture, instead leaning into fun and community - while also still providing utility Why they see brand as a differentiator within the betting tools category, and how they plan to leverage that t...Ep. 188: Building 'Zapier for iGaming' w/ James King from Flows
Ep. 188 features James King, CEO & Co-Founder of Flows, for a deep dive into building a no-code automation platform powering some of the biggest operators in global gaming.
Hear him discuss:
His 16-year industry journey across iGB Affiliate, Clarion Events, and Gaming Innovation Group and how industry-wide tech frustration inspired the founding of Flows What Flows actually is: a no-code automation layer that ingests real-time data and lets teams build alerts, bonus engines, jackpots, omnichannel loyalty, and more all without developers How operators integrate Flows, the speed of deployment, and why its Zapier-like interface is built...Special Episode: The future of racing w/ Daniel O' Sullivan & Sebastian Butterworth
This special episode features Seb Butterworth from Flutter and Dan O’Sullivan from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), for a deep dive into the future of horse racing — and how the sport is preparing to engage a new generation of fans.  Hear them discuss: The origins and findings of Project Beacon, and what the research reveals about younger and casual audiences Why horse welfare, race education, race day experience, and behind-the-scenes access are the four critical innovation themes How behind-the-scenes content can build emotional connection and improve understanding of horse welfare Why racing struggles with context and “the why” for non-core...
The Gamble & The Glory: S2 E2 - John Levy from theScore
The Gamble & The Glory showcases founders that built their companies into category leaders in the betting and gaming industry.
Hear him discuss: The early days of Sportscope and how it evolved into theScore How selling the TV network unlocked theScore’s digital transformation Selling the media...
Ep. 187: Finding a forever home as a prediction market w/ Jake Benzaquen from ProphetX
Ep. 187 features Jake Benzaquen, Co-Founder and CEO of ProphetX, for a deep dive into the company’s latest evolution from regulated exchange to sweepstakes model, to now filing with the CFTC to operate as a fully regulated marketplace for sports event contracts.
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