H.I.G.H. (How I Got Here)

In this episode of "H.I.G.H. The How I Got Here Podcast," host Travis Waters interviews Nic Sulsky, the CEO of The Curling Group. Nic shares his personal journey, from aspiring professional baseball player to a successful entrepreneur in the world of fantasy sports and now, professional curling.

Key topics and timestamps:

Aspiring to be a professional athlete [01:31:07]

Moving to Australia and realizing a new path [03:32:00]

Transitioning to the entertainment industry [05:07:29]

Creating his own kids' television show [07:54:83]

Starting his first company, InGamer [10:33:43]

A life-changing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis [12:35:89]

Becoming CEO of The Curling Group [13:46:17]

Launching the new mixed-gender Rock League in 2026 [14:48:07]

In this video, Trevis Waters and Matt McCuen discuss Matt's career journey in the sports betting industry.

Here are the key takeaways from their conversation:

Early Ambitions: Matt's interest in sports broadcasting began in eighth grade [00:23], despite having a speech impediment in his youth [01:05]. He pursued a communications degree with the goal of becoming a sports broadcaster or writer [01:05].

The DeadPres Brand: In 2018, he and his friends created the DeadPres brand on Twitter as a hobby [03:00], coinciding with the growing acceptance of sports betting.

The COVID-19 Turning Point: The COVID-19 pandemic became a significant opportunity for the brand [07:49]. They gained a massive following by focusing on betting opportunities in smaller international leagues like the Korean Baseball Organization and table tennis [09:09].

Entering the Industry: Matt's first formal role was a freelance writing position for a sports media company [10:04], which quickly led to a full-time focus on his work in the industry [10:24].

Career Growth: He later became a senior betting analyst for Action Network [11:59] and emphasizes the importance of networking and creating unique, consistent content to stand out [12:47].

In this podcast episode, Mark Phillip, CEO of the advertising agency Are You Watching This?! and its gambling arm, Metabet, discusses his career journey and the inspiration behind his companies.

Key topics from the interview include:

Childhood Dreams: Mark's early aspiration to be a toll booth worker [01:19] and his path from wanting to be a math teacher to studying computer science [02:39].

Dropping Out of College: His decision to leave college in 1999 to pursue his goals in the workforce [03:09].

Founding Are You Watching This?!: The story of how he missed an exciting Jets game and realized the need for a service that could notify sports fans of thrilling moments in real-time [03:59]. He later quit his job in 2006 to fully focus on the company [29:17].

The Business Model: The use of patented "excitement analytics" technology to identify and predict exciting moments in sports games, acting as a "Red Zone channel for every sport" [30:51].

The Future: The company's goal to create a recommendation engine that goes beyond a fan's favorite team and uses "excitement analytics" to understand a person's unique "fan fingerprint" [36:50].

Episode 2 - H.I.G.H. (How I Got Here) Podcast - Rick Wolf

Wondered how CEO became to be CEO? This episode goes over life altering events that led to the creation of PlayerProps.ai