SBC SUMMIT NORTH AMERICA Meadowlands Exposition Centre, New Jersey, US May 7-9, 2024
Laying the foundations: Betfred USA’s
herculean effort
Ahead of his speaking appearance at SBC Summit North America, Bryan Bennett, Consultant and Strategic Advisor at NorthCo
Strategy, reflects on his four years heading up Betfred’s US operations and the challenge of implementing a strategy capable of garnering recognition for a household UK brand across the pond.
Could you tell us more about NorthCo Strategy, the services the firm provides and the clientele it assists?
When I left my position as COO of Betfred USA in September 2023 after four years of running all US operations, I originally intended to take some time off and do a bit of consulting before jumping back into an operating role of some kind in 2024. However, after announcing my departure, I was so inundated by unsolicited inbound opportunities that I scrapped the time off piece and decided to jump right into opening my own consulting firm. Right now, it's a one- man shop, which I absolutely love by the way, and my clients are all in the iGaming and sports betting space, or closely adjacent to that space.
In your LinkedIn profile, you refer to being part of ‘wildly successful startups as well as spectacular flameouts’. Could you walk us down memory lane? What hits and misses stand out in your career to date?
Te hits are certainly more fun to talk about, but I probably learned more from the failures. I haven't always been in the iGaming world, so my biggest hit was as employee #13 for a free to play gaming company called Kabam. I joined the company when we were building Facebook apps but rode the rocket to over 600 employees and an eventual acquisition by Netmarble. My only regret is that I didn't stay longer to let all of my options vest.
P96 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
I then had a nice exit as part of the founding team at Rocketplay, a social casino company that we sold to AGS in 2015 where I subsequently led the Interactive division and was on the NYSE floor for the IPO in 2018. In terms of failures, mobile gaming company Booyah comes to mind as probably the most expensive. Tey had a massive success with one game, raised about $30m from VCs which is about when I joined, and the company completely shut down two years later...a flameout of epic proportions.
How do you use the knowledge you’ve gleaned from both sides - the successful and the not so successful - to advise today’s startups? What are the signs that a young gaming business has what it takes to make it in 2024?
First and foremost, I will only work with founders that I like and admire. Tat may sound elementary, but you can sometimes get too wowed by the opportunity or great products and tech while ignoring the people side of the business. Founders have to be willing to listen to honest feedback and not be afraid to pivot. Almost every successful startup will have at least two pivots early in their lifecycle and the two exits I've had were no different. Founders that ignore the warning signs and stay on the original course too long often fail.
As the saying goes, you're betting on jockeys not horses. So, in terms of signs of success, for me it
Bryan Bennett Consultant and
Strategic Advisor NorthCo Strategy
really starts with the people involved. From there, as long as they can get to product-market fit in a reasonable time and have the ability to execute, they have a chance. But in truth, 90 per cent of startups fail. So you need good people, a good product, some funding and a bit of luck to make it.
How do you reflect on your time at Betfred USA Sports? How did the US team scale over your fours years or so in charge?
My time at Betfred was a fantastic experience. I was given an enormous task, but also an enormous amount of latitude to start and run the US operations. I really do thank Fred Done, Mark Stebbings, Joanne Whittaker and the entire UK-based executive team for trusting me with the keys to the US business.
When I started in October 2019, I was the first employee and we didn't have an office. Four years later, we had over 100 employees, a robust HQ in Las Vegas and operations in 10 states. While we didn't scale like we had planned in terms of revenue and market share, the herculean effort it took to establish operations in 10 states is a testament to the fantastic team that joined me for the ride.
What challenges did you face in getting the Betfred brand recognised stateside? How significant were local partnerships in this regard?
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