NEXT.io Podcast

🎙 Podcast #87 by Pierre Lindh with Alex Pratt, Group MD of Clarion & the Digital Marketing Portfolio 

 In this episode Alex Pratt joins Pierre to discuss the current status of ICE and what to expect from this years show. We’ve seen some of the biggest exhibitors pulling out from ICE 2022 as a result of the date change. Alex discusses the hardships with all the changes, gives insight on how to organize an event of such extent and shares some of his predictions for ICE 2023.

ABOUT ALEX PRATT: 

 Pratt joined Clarion Events following its acquisition of iGaming Business, since rebranded as iGB, and the iGB Affiliate event series in 2016.

He served as managing director of the publishing portfolio for the business before being named Group Managing Director for Clarion Gaming & the Digital Marketing Portfolio in October of 2020.

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is brought to you by: 

 Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology 

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

 Sponsored by:

 Pragmatic Play - https://www.pragmaticplay.com

Fast Track: https://www.fasttrack-solutions.com

Yolo Group: https://yolo.com

🎙 Podcast #87 by Michael Pederson with Martin Nieri, Partner at iGaming Collective 

"Brand building is a business strategy for growth" says Martin Nieri. On this episode, Michael Pedersen together with Martin Nieri discuss brand and brand building in the iGaming industry. Martin answers questions what is a brand and, most importantly, what it isn't. The misconceptions when it comes to the necessity of using branding tools and ways to optimize your business through various branding tools, also Martin presents his top 5 iGaming brands and his reasoning behind it.

 ABOUT MARTIN:  

Martin spent the large share of his career in and running some of London’s most prominent creative agencies helping to build brand and advertising strategies for both start-up and blue chip organisations alike. He made the leap into iGaming in 2018 when he joined The Stars Group as Global Brand and Creative Director with a key responsibility being the over-arching rebranding of the PokerStars brand. In 2020, he joined GOAT Interactive as CMO (and then CEO) to lead the Premier Bet brand to record growth levels across its 19 African markets. Today, Martin is Partner at The iGaming Collective, a strategic advisory consultancy for the global iGaming industry.

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT #Podcast is brought to you by:

Pragmatic Solutions. – Leading iGaming platform technology.

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

Sponsored by:

Pragmatic Play - https://www.pragmaticplay.com

Fast Track: https://www.fasttrack-solutions.com

Yolo Group: https://yolo.com

🎙 Podcast #86 by Pierre Lindh with Tsachi Maimon, CEO of Aspire Global 

 Aspire Global outperformed the entire iGaming industry on the stock market since the start of the pandemic, and in this podcast Pierre & Tsachi sit back to talk about what made Aspire Global so successful leading up to the recent acquisition by Neogames, and what comes next for the company.

ABOUT TSACHI:  

Tsachi Maimon has been prevalent in the iGaming industry since 2008, having previously worked at Playtech before joining Aspire Global as a board member and CEO in 2013.

Bringing with him a wealth of industry knowledge, Tsachi has played a key role in the major developments the company has seen. Some of these include listing the company on the Nasdaq stock exchange, as well as the acquisition of games aggregator Pariplay and sportsbook supplier BtoBet. His leadership largely contributed to Aspire Global’s solid positioning as one of today’s most prominent iGaming B2B suppliers.

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is brought to you by:  

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology 

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

Sponsored by: 

Pragmatic Play - https://www.pragmaticplay.com

Fast Track: https://www.fasttrack-solutions.com

Yolo Group: https://yolo.com

🎙 Podcast #85 by Pierre Lindh with James King, CEO at Flows

In this episode, Pierre Lindh & James King, CEO of Flows explore their experience of raising capital as a startup. In 2021 money is cheap, which means that investees have more leverage than ever to set demands on their prospective investors. What are the pitfalls and what should first-time investees think about when raising capital to their idea?  Check out this episode to find out!

ABOUT JAMES KING

James King is the CEO of Flows, an integration platform that empowers your entire organisation to connect apps, innovate and drive digital automation, without code.

With over 10 years of experience in the iGaming space, King joined industry entrepreneur Robin Reed to launch Flows earlier this year after previously serving as the director of sales at leading industry tech and media powerhouse Gaming Innovation Group. Flows will make innovation accessible to everyone, by delivering API-led agnostic connectivity that liberates resources, delivers freedom of choice and allows its partners to build and move quickly.

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is sponsored by:

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

In this episode, Karolina talks to Lindsay Slader, MD of Gaming at GeoComply, about the fantastic journey of the company founded back in 2011 to serve a very niche market to secure institutional investment and being placed in Unicorn tech company leagues.

They talk about all things geolocation, from how it works to the importance of accuracy and Geocomply’s expansion to serve other business verticals than Igaming. And then, of course, as in Karolina's cheesy title, they talk Sports and The City, with Lindsay’s sharing some of GeoComply’s fascinating insights into the newly opened market, which by now, attracted over 1 million new bettors since its big launch a couple of weeks ago.

Lastly, they discuss the company and the management’s vision and commitment towards CSR, their work towards preventing child exploitation, promoting gender equality and RG initiatives such as Conscious Gaming and PlayPause.

ABOUT LINDSAY SLADER

Lindsay Slader is the Managing Director – Gaming at GeoComply.

She joined the company in its infancy in 2012, serving in various operational roles, most recently as VP, Regulatory Affairs. Over the last decade, Lindsay has provided expert testimony on geolocation technologies and regulatory compliance at several state and federal hearings and is frequently a public speaker and industry contributor on these topics. Prior to GeoComply, Lindsay’s background was in technical compliance, spending five years in business development and marketing at the leading compliance testing companies, GLI and TST, where she serviced both the iGaming and land-based markets.

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is sponsored by:

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

Benedict talks about Green Jade Games’ company shift to arcades, the importance of community building, why is it important and how to maintain the balance of a community of a rather wide range of consumers, as well as the metaverse and future possibilities regarding web3.

ABOUT BENEDICT McDONAGH

iGaming enthusiast entering the 17th year, having worked at industry defining brands such as PokerStars, Betfair and Mr Green. Obsession with making customer-relevant products, and never happier than when speaking to, and learning from, customers. Husband, father to four and finally settling into our latest renovation home, after 7 houses in 7 years!

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is sponsored by:

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

🎙 Podcast by Heidi Lofthus with Cordelia Morgan Cooper, Head of People at KaFe Rocks

Cordelia sheds light on KafeRocks recent and very hyped "people-in-focus perk" which allows for employees to enjoy unlimited time off. Surely there are pitfalls and risks to this you think? Heidi did too so she asked 😊

Listen in to find out the thoughts behind the project and understand the juggle of communication, trust and focus on results rather than hours worked!

ABOUT CORDELIA MORGAN - COOPER

I started my career working for the world's largest privately-owned recruitment agency in the UK 10 years ago specialising in Senior Finance recruitment. After moving to Malta in 2016, I made the transition in-house and since then, I have been developing, leading and mentoring internal recruitment teams within Igaming businesses. Last summer I joined KaFe Rocks as their Head of People and my role here encompasses the entire employee lifecycle from talent acquisition to retention, engagement, learning and development and employer branding. I am passionate about employee well being and driving innovation within the Igaming industry.

🔴 Click here to see the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/FUh5Eb32yxg

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is sponsored by:

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

🎙 Podcast by Pierre Lindh with Peter Christian Noer, Head of Country Team at Soft2Bet

Together with Pierre's old Betsafe colleague from 2011, Peter Noer, we look into some emerging industry trends to look out for in 2022. What are some regulatory predictions, gambling trends and of course it is not a podcast about the future without mentioning crypto.

ABOUT PETER CHRISTIAN NOER

An iGaming professional since 2011 and involved in most aspects of the business with brands such as Betsafe, Oddset and Tips from Danske Spil and Casumo. Now working as Head of Country Team for Soft2Bet - one of the fastest-growing B2B & B2C operators in the industry with an ever-expanding list of markets, brands and licenses.

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is sponsored by:

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

🎙 Podcast by Karolina Pelc with Harry Lang, CMO at Stint (ex Marketing Director Buzz Bingo)

In this episode, Karolina speaks to Harry Lang, most recently Marketing Director at Buzz Bingo, now CMO at Stint. They discuss his vast experience in marketing over the years, working with various product verticals for some of the market-leading companies, the direction that the industry is going given regulatory challenges and the opening USA market and its marketing approach. They talk about the omnichannel strategy, experiential first approach and Harry's newly published book: Brands, Bandwagons & Bullshit. A bit of everything in this chat and a perfect way for Harry to wave goodbye to Igaming as he embarks on a career journey in a brand new industry.

ABOUT HARRY LANG

Harry has worked in integrated marketing for over twenty years, originally in agencies and latterly as CMO, Marketing Director or as a consultant in a number of leading online gaming organisations including Buzz Bingo, Pinnacle, bwin.party, Genting and Mecca Bingo.

He's now CMO at Stint, the student work App that provides short shift staff to the hospitality and leisure industries. Stint was recently featured as one of LinkedIN's Top 10 UK startups.

A regular contributor to Campaign and Marketing Week, Harry recently published 'Brands, Bandwagons & Bullshit' as a guidebook to marketing. advertising, media and PR industries for aspiring professionals (available on Amazon).

You can contact Harry on Linkedin or @MrHarryLang

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This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is sponsored by:

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology

For more info, click here: http://pragmatic.solutions

In this episode, Karolina talked with Dermot Smurfit, CEO of Gan Limited, about the beginnings of the GAN journey, challenges in developing multiplayer skill games and the pillars of their expansion strategy, to become a leading content distribution platform in the US. We also discuss the reasoning behind the acquisition of Silverback Gaming, the importance of empowering Founders you invest in, the launch of Super RGS, and where Coolbet fits into the bigger picture.

ABOUT DERMOT SMURFIT  

With operations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Tennessee, Indiana, Nevada and California, GAN’s mission to bring America’s casinos online is far from over and leverages the enterprise technology system developed by GAN in Europe since 2002, as well as the digital user acquisition marketing and retention know-how within GAN Digital, the multi-client agency owned by GAN in Tel Aviv, Israel, which provides Marketing Services to American clients. Dermot is a corporate attorney by background and education and leads approximately five hundred people worldwide with engineering groups in London, Tallinn and Bulgaria, supported by technology operations in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dermot took GAN public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in May 2020 (NASDAQ: GAN) raising $167M in expansion capital in order to cement GAN’s market position as a leading player in the fast-growing U.S. Internet gambling market.

This episode of the iGaming NEXT Podcast is sponsored by: