Panic with Friends – Investing for Profit and Joy
Today’s guest, Erik Groset – Co-founder of Fantasy Sports Company and CEO of BetFully, is a friend of mine from San Diego. He’s a cool founder – a grinder, and CEO of a portfolio company in our fund – Social Leverage Fund II. I met Erik while still living in Coronado, back in the dog days of sports betting legal battles as everyone was trying to get gambling approved. Erik survived building a cash flow business around the edges with BetFully, which is why I wanted to talk with him about what it’s like being a successful founder.Â
In addition, I wanted him to give us the lay of the land on this inflation apocalypse he’s worried about as the summer of 2022 rages on. Founders everywhere are worried about layoffs, and there’s a lot of young money in the market over the last 10 years – Erik has been through a few cycles, so we catch up to share some wisdom for other founders out there. I really think you’ll enjoy this episode, so have a listen. One fun fact, Erik has also written a children’s book – Bruce the Lumberjack: Fun Interactive Bedtime Book for Toddlers
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You can also listen right here on the blog:
More details on the podcast are below…
Guest: Erik Groset
Profile: Co-founder of Fantasy Sports Company and CEO of BetFully
Where to Find Him: LinkedIn, Twitter
What’s Erik Panicked About?: An inflation apocalypse for startups.
Show Notes:
- Introduction (00:40)
- Welcome Erik (05:01)
- Bull markets and 30 foot puts (06:03)
- BetFully basics (07:03)
- Help with gambling problems (08:52)
- Surprises about the betting industry (10:17)
- Barriers to entry (10:45)
- ‘Race to the Bottom’ Thesis (11:25)
- Dabbling in NFTs (12:20)
- Size of Sports betting market (14:58)
- Customer loyalty (16:03)
- UI is key (17:45)
- San Diego Startup scene (18:48)
- Riding out the storm (19:36)
- Guerrilla marketing (22:09)
- Sports betting advertising (23:01)
- Betting on Formula 1 (24:18)
- Cheat code for product/market fit (25:33)
- A quick celebrity story (27:48)
- Closing thoughts (33:01)
- Wrapping up (33:41)
© Panic with Friends, 2022. All rights reserved.
Host: Howard Lindzon | Producer: Knut Jensen | Researcher: Pete WeishauptDisclaimer: All information provided is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice, or an offer to buy or sell any security. For full disclosures: https://howardlindzon.com/disclaimer/
