The Betting Startups Podcast

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.

 

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
• Bu...

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. Hear them discuss:

• Allan’s journey into betting, from online poker to affiliates and founding Intelitics
• The origin story of Intelitics and the gap in marketing intelligence...

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.

 

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 engag...

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. 

 

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 domi...

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.

 

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 h...

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.

 

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

• ...

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. Hear them discuss:

• The founding story behind Feen an...

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.

 

Hear them discuss:

• How 2025 became a “12-year overnight success” after more than a decade ...

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.

 

Hear them discuss:

• Benson and Daniel’s paths from consulting, VC, and professional poker into building a betti...

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 AI  and what it takes to build ...

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.

 

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 Betto...

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 ...

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.

 

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...

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. Hear him discuss:

• The biggest lessons from nearly 200 podcast episodes, including why industry experience and distribution matter more than ever for startup success
• What surprised him most in 2025: prediction...

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.

 

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 lau...

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 gamifica...

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 - whil...

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...

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 c...