Voxcali

Sports betting is an exploding mobile-first industry with Asian American users emerging as primary drivers of its explosive growth.

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized sports betting in 2018, the industry has exploded all across the country. There are 38 states that allow some form of sports betting and over the last few years, it has developed into a big part of mainstream American culture.

Millions of citizens are participating. Pew Research Center reports about 1 in 5 adults in the United States say they have placed a sports bet in the past year, but the data gets even more shocking for Asian Americans. Studies show that around 22% of Asian Americans engaged in sports betting and a survey from the same year suggested that they make up about 5.5 percent of all sports bettors in the U.S.

Much of this growth is being driven by younger betters because of the fact that sports betting today is almost entirely mobile. Instead of physically going somewhere to place your bets, you can now do it through mobile apps like FanDuel or DraftKings, which allow users to place bets instantly during live games and track odds in real time. This turns sports into something much more interactive.

Sports betting gives fans a way to constantly engage by placing bets on outcomes and player stats. For younger users, it feels less like gambling and more like an entertaining game of strategy. Sports betting is based on odds that represent the probability of an outcome. If a team is highly favored, the winnings will be lower because they are more likely to win. Betting on underdogs comes with higher risk, but higher reward.

Other behavioral factors at play include the fact that Asian American audiences tend to be the most engaged sports viewers in the country. Nielsen reported in 2025 that Asian Americans spend about 15% more time watching live sports than the average viewer and are 33% more likely to subscribe to a sports streaming platform.

Sports, technology, and real-time data are merging and it's reshaping how people gamble completely. Today 94% of sports bets are placed online or through a mobile app, showing just how quick the industry has shifted.

As the field prepares for a tradition unlike any other, recent success spotlight premier picks to disrupt the leaderboard.

After last year’s dramatic playoff win to finally complete his career Grand Slam, Rory McIlroy returns to the Masters as the defending champion and betting favorite behind only Scottie Scheffler.  While the focus remains on whether McIlroy can go back-to-back, the 2026 betting landscape at Augusta offers high-value opportunities for three elite ball-strikers primed to disrupt the leaderboard.

At +1600, the odds for Xander Schauffele reflect his status as one of the world’s premier players.  The Taiwanese American has been in elite form, fresh off a solo 3rd place finish at the 2026 Players Championship, taking home winnings of $1,725,000.  With two major titles already under his belt from 2024, Schauffele’s precision off the tee makes him a formidable threat to claim his first Green Jacket.

For a higher-value play, look to Collin Morikawa at +2700.  The LA-native of Chinese-Japanese descent, proved he is back in peak form by winning February’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – claiming a $3.6M winner’s prize.  While a minor back tweak forced an early withdrawal from The Players Championship, his world-class iron play remains his greatest asset.  If his health holds, he could take home his third major at Augusta.

Hideki Matsuyama at +3300 provides the ultimate “horse for the course” pedigree having won the most prestigious tournament in all of golf in 2021.  This season he has been vintage, with a playoff runner up finish at the WM Phoenix Open – taking home just over $1M – and firing a field-low 67 on Sunday at The Players.  His consistent play and wizardry around the greens makes this line look like a massive oversight.

With the launch of her blog Song of Style Aimee Song became one of the first Asian American faces to step into the online fashion scene and transform her ideas into a global brand.

Back when Asian Americans were barely represented in fashion, Aimee Song was building her own platform, becoming one of the first Asian American women to break into the global fashion scene.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Song grew up in a South Korean immigrant home. She has spoken about being heavily bullied throughout school, which led her to struggle with insecurities and oftentimes she had to fake her confidence.

In 2008 Song was studying Interior Architecture at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco when she made the decision to start her own blog called Song of Style. She used it as a space to share her interior designs and ideas, not knowing she would eventually be known as an original pioneer of the blogging era. She began to post her outfits online, which began to catch the eyes of many internet users and once Song realized this, she quickly transitioned from her interior design niche to a fashion one.

As her audience continued to grow, her opportunities did as well. Blogging became a full time career for Song and brands started to take note of her power. She became one of the first online creators to monetize her platform through brand partnerships and she wasn’t just working with any brands. Song scored contracts with major fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Dior and since influencer marketing was still a new concept, she helped prove that digital creators can have an effect on the consumer market.

Aimee Song was able to expand Song of Style into a full on fashion line, collaborating with online retailer Revolve to turn her personal aesthetic into an actual brand. Song of Style was a commercial success and multiple drops were selling out immediately, which solidified Song as a triple threat: influencer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur.

Strengthening her resume even more, Song also became a New York Times best-selling author with her books Capture Your Style and World of Style. She has also earned recognition being named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and Business of Fashion 500 List in 2016. Today Aimee Song is still evolving her brand, launching high-end collections and keeping her 7 million Instagram followers updated as she shares her motherhood journey and attends Fashion Weeks around the world.

Vine stardom gave Liza Koshy the platform from which to make the leap from social media personality to full-on Hollywood actor.

Liza Koshy stands as a definitive pioneer of the digital era, representing a successful crossover from internet personality to actress in mainstream Hollywood productions.

Koshy first gained national attention in 2013 on the short-form video platform Vine, amassing 7 million followers before the app’s closure.  Her skits commonly contained high-energy physical comedy and various recurring characters.

One is Jet Packinski, who was the focus of the Vogue parody “73 Questions” which has been viewed on her YouTube channel 33 million times.  By 2017, she had surpassed 10 million subscribers and boasts nearly 17 million today.

The 29-year-old’s breakthrough into traditional media began in 2016 by starring in all 20 episodes of the Hulu series Freakish and Tyler Perry’s comedy horror film Boo! A Madea Halloween.

She further established her mainstream presence as a host, reviving the iconic Nickelodeon game show Double Dare in 2018, which earned her an Emmy nomination.  

Koshy also served as a correspondent for Vogue at the Met Gala during 2018 and 2019.

Her transition into feature films continued in 2020, starring in the Netflix dance comedy Work It alongside Sabrina Carpenter and providing voice acting for 2021’s My Little Pony: A New Generation and 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

In 2025 she guest started in two episodes of the Netflix series, Mo, set in her hometown of Houston, and voiced a TV host in the global phenomenon K-Pop: Demon Hunters.

Koshy studied marketing at the University of Houston for a year before moving to Los Angeles in 2015 to pursue her entertainment career full-time.  The Indian American currently maintains a massive digital footprint, with a combined following of over 70 million across social platforms.

From his 2008 debut with U-KISS to his record-breaking success with the Saja Boys, Kevin Woo continues to redefine what it means to be a global K-pop star.

Singer-songwriter Kevin Woo has carved a distinct path in the modern K-pop and R&B landscape, with a versatile career rooted in his Korean American heritage.

Most recently, his involvement as a member of the Saja Boys for the 2025 Oscar-winning film Kpop Demon Hunters has reached unprecedented heights.  The hit tracks “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” have collectively surpassed 700 million streams, marking a massive commercial resurgence for the veteran performer.

The inspiration for Woo’s Saja Boys role stems from his career beginnings as a cornerstone of the Korean boy band U-KISS.  He debuted with the group in 2008 during the early wave of global K-pop expansion and contributed to a prolific discography consisting of seven studio albums.  In 2011, the high-energy track “Neverland” and ballad “0330” solidified the group’s presence on the international charts.

Woo officially left U-KISS in 2017 to pursue a solo career, allowing him to explore a more personal artistic direction.  Since going independent, his most popular solo tracks have included the 2018 fan-favorite “Ride Along” and the 2025 R&B throwback “Deja Vu.”

Woo’s recent projects have propelled his monthly Spotify listenership to nearly 14 million.

The 34-year-old was born and raised in Danville, California.  XING Entertainment discovered Woo through an audition at the age of 15, at which point he left the United States for South Korea to undergo a rigorous K-Pop training program.

After the start of a successful journalism career, Sahra Nguyen shifted her plans to turn the US coffee industry on to Vietnamese robusta beans.

While the early days of the coffee industry were dominated by European traditions and Latin American beans, Sahra Nguyen played a huge role in bringing Vietnamese coffee into the spotlight. 

She was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised by Vietnamese refugees who escaped the Vietnam War by boat. Nguyen has shared that she struggled with her identity growing up. She was embarrassed that her parents did not have “respectable” professions and that it took years to realize that they were actually living the American Dream. 

Nguyen earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian American Studies at UCLA before working in the journalism field at companies like VICE and NBC. Not only did she host documentaries, she also created and produced her own series called “Deported”, which she sold to NBCNews.com.

This career allowed her to open up more about her culture and explore her identity further, but it wasn’t until 2016 when Nguyen noticed that Vietnamese coffee was beginning to become more popular in the States, but it was difficult to find authentic coffee made from Vietnamese beans. 

Finding this odd, Nguyen did some research and discovered that Vietnam is the world’s second-largest producer of coffee, which is what inspired her to take action. She traveled to Vietnam to learn more about the industry and began building relationships with farmers in the Central Highlands. Nguyen wanted to create a brand that would not only be successful, but also bring visibility and equity to Vietnamese farmers. 

After finding a partner in Vietnam, Nguyen was able to officially launch Nguyen Coffee Supply in 2018 and became the first specialty Vietnamese coffee importer and roaster in the United States. At the time, most coffee in the US was made with arabica beans and Nguyen made it essential to focus on robusta beans. 

In 2022 Nguyen Coffee Supply raised $2.6 million in seed funding, signaling its long-term potential. Since then the company has now expanded into thousands of retail locations across the country, including major grocery stores. 

Nguyen Coffee Supply has also received recognition from major publications like The New York Times, and Sahra Nguyen, herself, earned a spot on Inc. Magazine’s 2023 Female Founders list, cementing her position as a leading voice in the coffee industry.

From a $10 million Series A to its current $5 billion market cap, Eric Wu has built Opendoor into a comprehensive e-commerce ecosystem for housing.

Fintech real estate operator Opendoor has redefined the residential property landscape, scaling from a Silicon Valley concept to a dominant market force.  The company was founded in 2014 by a powerhouse quartet: Taiwanese American serial entrepreneur Eric Wu, Chinese American data scientist Ian Wong, product specialist JD Ross, and venture capitalist and managing director of Khosla Ventures Keith Rabois.

The founders brought a unique blend of domain expertise to the venture.  Wu, who bought his first home at 19 with scholarship money and eventually amassed 25 properties before graduating from the University of Arizona, previously founded Movity, which was acquired by Trulia in 2010.  Wong, a Stanford-educated data scientist, provided the quantitative backbone necessary to price homes at scale.

Wu served as Opendoor’s CEO from inception until 2022 and completed a transition into an advisory role by 2024.  In the new role alongside Wong, who has continued as a technical advisor, they continue to eliminate the friction of home selling through “iBuying,” a model that uses proprietary AI valuation models to provide homeowners with near-instant cash offers, bypassing the traditional months-long listing process.

Opendoor raised $10M in Series A funding from Khosla Ventures and Y Combinator in May 2014.  By the end of 2016 the company had already hit unicorn status.

Chamath Palihapitiya identified Opendoor as his second SPAC, launching its IPO in December 2020 with a valuation of $4.8 billion.  Since the company’s public debut, its valuation has hit all-time highs of $20 billion, albeit during the pandemic-era housing market.

Though the company experienced a 90% drop in 2022 due to rising interest rates and losses, today the market cap sits at over $5 billion, up over 350% in the past year.  This success has been driven by a shift toward “Opendoor 2.0,” a capital-light, AI-driven marketplace that prioritizes unit economics over raw volume.

Looking ahead, Opendoor’s goal is to manage the entire housing ecosystem, including title, escrow, and mortgage services, to provide a seamless, click-and-buy e-commerce experience for real estate.

Stitch Fix combined fashion and technology to create a platform that reshaped the way people shop for wardrobes.

In a world where fashion and technology both have a major presence, there are very few entrepreneurs who have been able to combine the two industries. One of them is Katrina Lake and she helped transform how people shop for clothing by blending scientific data with personal styling services.

Katrina Lake was born in San Francisco in 1982 to a Japanese mother who taught in the public school system and a father who is a transplant hepatologist and Professor of Medicine. Her father inspired her to become a doctor, but later she became more interested in economics and business during the beginning of her pre-med course.

Lake graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 2005 then later earned her Master’s of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 2011. While she was studying for her Master’s, Lake was also gaining experience working consulting jobs including roles at The Parthenon Group and Leader Ventures. She also took a job with fashion platform Polyvore, which is where she decided that she wanted to figure out how to use technology to improve the shopping experience.

A few months before graduation, Lake launched Stitch Fix, a site where customers fill out a fashion questionnaire and the platform would use algorithms as well as human stylists to send personalized clothing right to their homes. Stitch Fix’s model completely removed the stress of traditional shopping and instead made it easy for consumers. Customers could try the pieces on at home, keep what they like, then ship back the ones that didn’t work out.

This model grew rapidly and Stitch Fix began expanding across the United States and into the UK with millions of clients using the platform. In 2017, Lake hit a huge milestone when Stitch Fix went public on the stock market, making Katrina Lake the youngest woman to ever take a company public at the time.

Along with this impressive stat, Lake was also listed as one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business as well as one of Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in 2016 and even made an appearance as an investing Shark on popular TV show, Shark Tank. With Lake as CEO, the company was generating over $1.7 billion in annual revenue, but she eventually stepped down in 2021. Since then, Lake remains as a chair member at Stitch Fix and has also become a board member at both Grubhub and beauty company Glossier.

Filipino American Sage Robinson shares how posting viral content transformed his clothing brand from a hobby into an e-commerce business.

Kelli Luu (00:00)

Sagie (00:03)

Hi Kelli what's up?

Kelli Luu (00:21)

Sagie (00:32)

Kelli Luu (00:49)

Sagie (01:02)

stop saying I'm from LA altogether. And you know, I haven't really seen any videos about anybody really talking about the valley like that. So

Kelli Luu (01:36)

about the San Fernando Valley. Right. so before that virality that you had, before all of these viral videos that you were starting to put out, what was the grind looking like day to day?

Sagie (01:39)

Mm-hmm.

⁓ It was mostly just working on clothes and then just finding a rhythm or some type of route that really connected with people. I did like a lot of different types of like content that I'd see like fashion creators do use, people doing paintings, what their creative medium was when it came to putting out content. And then I guess…

The thing that really triggered it for me was just talking to the audience themselves, giving them a voice and a face to really relate to.

Kelli Luu (02:26)

So you feel like you really found your niche

Sagie (02:34)

I will try to. Yeah.

Kelli Luu (03:02)

Do you feel like you're representing both communities within your work?

Sagie (03:12)

Kelli Luu (03:18)

get it like we'll talk about that the your a little bit later.

Sagie (03:22)

But when it comes to like my day to day life, I feel like I do protrude like, ⁓ like kind of Filipino Asian. How do I say this? ⁓

Kelli Luu (03:27)

Sagie (03:37)

I just like was like, all right, I guess I'm just using spoons. So now I'm using spoons. I shovel food into my mouth when I eat now.

Kelli Luu (04:14)

you kind of tell us what your household looked like culturally growing up?

Sagie (04:20)

Kelli Luu (04:27)

Okay.

Sagie (04:49)

Kelli Luu (04:49)

were you did grow up in the Filipino household pretty much. Like the full experience.

Sagie (04:55)

yeah, like my mom would yell at me if I didn't cook rice before she came home, because me and my siblings always got home before she did. Had to the rice done and I had to have the meat defrosted. I feel like everybody had to do that.

Kelli Luu (05:06)

So you had to have the race done.

yeah, that's different. Yeah, well, we're Asian so we have to the rice then. ⁓ Okay, so were there any moments where you ever felt like you weren't enough of either identity?

Sagie (05:20)

Most definitely, especially growing up. ⁓ You know, I didn't talk like the same way that everybody or everyone expected a black kid to talk and.

Kelli Luu (05:30)

Did you grow up

around a lot of Filipino students or other Filipino kids?

Sagie (05:44)

Kelli Luu (05:48)

Sagie (06:09)

Kelli Luu (06:16)

walk us through some of those moments where you were like, I don't feel Filipino enough or I don't feel black enough. What did you have to do to overcome that?

Sagie (06:26)

Kelli Luu (06:49)

Sagie (06:53)

Kelli Luu (07:07)

Sagie (07:22)

Kelli Luu (07:22)

Yeah, you're gonna rock with me. Exactly.

Okay, cool. was there a moment where you feel like you started to feel fully comfortable in your identity? Or do you think you're still figuring that out?

Sagie (07:48)

I know where mine the niche things that I do, I know where they came from. And I like what I like when it comes to pockets of the culture itself,

Kelli Luu (08:14)

Sagie (08:16)

Yeah.

Kelli Luu (08:33)

Sagie (08:45)

Kelli Luu (09:09)

Sagie (09:11)

What I really did learn is just like how the industry itself works and the mentality, not the mentality, ⁓ but more so like the mindset of just like the clothing world, kind of how it works, the work schedule, workflow, and really how to talk to people in the industry itself. And in ⁓ in downtown LA when I need to go source fabrics,

⁓ They teach you how to talk to those people, where to find the actual good stuff and where to source everything. So it's like real A through Z type of program. ⁓

Kelli Luu (10:05)

Sagie (10:08)

So, yeah, you literally can learn like any type of position in the fashion industry through their course. ⁓ They even do like if you're only want to do just like tech packs where you're not even touching the clothes, you're just talking to the people overseas like, hey, I need this hoodie to be this size and it cropped at this

length, you know?

Kelli Luu (10:38)

Sagie (10:41)

a full class, like a tech-packed class where they teach you about all of that. I didn't take it mostly because, you know, I work with my hands. That's the main reason why I went to that school.

Kelli Luu (10:51)

Yeah, you want to like design and actually craft every right. Exactly. Okay, cool. So what does Nomadic mean to you beyond the name? Like what is where did this name come from? What does it mean to you today? What do you want it to mean in the future?

Sagie (10:57)

⁓ so I grew up Buddhist. That's how my parents met. and so, you know, growing up, I always, and, and we always had to, me and my family always had to like move around a lot. So I never really found like a place to really call home. And so, growing up like that and then having my mom just kind of reiterate the Buddhist teachings, ⁓ that she would teach us. It was just like,

I knew that nothing's permanent. know, change is a good thing. It's sometimes scary, but you you always have to just keep on moving. And that's just kind of where I was kind of landed on with Nomadic, just because I don't know where this brand will go. I just know that I will keep going with it. ⁓ I want it to evolve into many different things. I want to be able to touch on many different things. you know, if

Kelli Luu (12:00)

Sagie (12:07)

Kelli Luu (12:25)

What was that design process like? What goes into these products that you're putting onto your website?

Sagie (12:43)

Kelli Luu (12:51)

Yeah, with like the writing. ⁓

Sagie (13:10)

Kelli Luu (13:12)

Sagie (13:33)

Kelli Luu (13:38)

A little sun and the stars.

Love it.

Well, people definitely like it on TikTok and Instagram. ⁓ have these viral videos given you business?

Sagie (13:58)

Kelli Luu (14:00)

Now it's three orders a week.

Well, that's great. That's a lot better than one or two every now and then, you know? So when you're designing, are you thinking about the art itself? Because I know you you draw, you like to paint. Are you actually thinking about the art of what's going on this and

Sagie (14:23)

Kelli Luu (14:38)

Sagie (14:43)

The majority of the time I just make stuff for me. ⁓ honestly like the majority, like whenever I make clothes, I just think about, oops, things about like what I would want to wear and hopefully people like gravitate towards it. I just kind of, well, yeah, anything that I make, I just make for me. But when it comes to like differentiating between like my art and like my clothing, I kind of tend to do…

Kelli Luu (14:50)

Sagie (15:13)

made in like the it's very 80s coded or 90s coded and i'm like i would like to you know do it myself of in my own type of way ⁓ comparative to like my ⁓ my art which is more so just my personal life experience and how i how i would like to portray it out to the world or express myself

Kelli Luu (15:49)

Sagie (16:07)

Kelli Luu (16:12)

Sagie (16:22)

Kelli Luu (16:29)

Sagie (16:34)

to… I would probably push out like three, four videos a week. Now I'm trying to do more like five, six days a week. I'll try and hit seven. I'm just like, man.

Kelli Luu (17:09)

The consistency is definitely key when it comes to social media but you know once the algorithm kind of picks up exactly that you're posting and that you're consistent and that people like you then you you're good from there so I always tell people once they get a viral video like you can't stop you just gotta keep going because that video is gonna do well your next one might do well and then the one after that and then it's just an endless cycle from there so definitely keep up what you're

Sagie (17:23)

Kelli Luu (17:40)

Sagie (17:43)

I'm trying to find my best balance between both things just because I am working at the same time, working a day job. So when it comes to financial, it was definitely ⁓ definitely like a thing that I was trying to work around. That's why everything that I make is just made to order. ⁓ I don't have pre-clothing to just sell and just once someone orders it, I just package it and ship it out.

Kelli Luu (18:00)

Great.

Sagie (18:21)

Kelli Luu (18:31)

Sagie (18:42)

Kelli Luu (18:47)

Sagie (18:58)

In all actuality, just really wanted to make clothes because I never had a whole lot of money to buy new clothes. So I would always just go thrifting and take some clothes that just didn't fit me well and just fit it to how I wanted to fit.

Kelli Luu (19:34)

Sagie (19:40)

Kelli Luu (19:43)

Yeah, definitely you got to. All right, so we'll wrap up. We have a couple more questions. ⁓ What does success look like for you in the next two to three years?

Sagie (19:59)

And honestly, just that for now in the next two, three years, yeah, I would like to be there where I don't have to clock in for work and just, yeah, just keep on doing what I love, keep making money off the things that I create. Maybe move out of the States, who knows?

Kelli Luu (20:25)

Really?

Sagie (20:36)

Kelli Luu (20:38)

you want to live in the Philippines?

Sagie (20:41)

Kelli Luu (20:43)

I know that's how a lot of people feel once they go back to you know their their motherland so alright, so my final question is looking back on your journey so far What would you say you are the most proud of that people don't see?

Sagie (20:55)

I guess I'd have to say that the most thing I'm most proud of is…

kind of ⁓ it kind of speaks to my character a little bit, like why it's so hard for me to answer that question. I don't know why, what, one thing specifically, but I guess just being able to make sales is just like the biggest thing for me. Having my website that I have get a lot of, you know, clicks and views and people actually buying, checking out.

the stuff that I have, that's kinda the most thing I'm currently most proud of.

Kelli Luu (21:36)

Sagie (21:48)

Kelli Luu (21:49)

Sagie (22:01)

Kelli Luu (22:18)

Sagie (22:36)

Newly minted CEO Asha Sharma marks a new era for Microsoft Gaming with the custom AMD-powered Project Helix.

Asha Sharma was named EVP and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Gaming in February 2026, marking a historic leadership transition for the Xbox brand.  Since stepping into the role, she has been engaging directly with the online community to better understand the player experience, citing Halo and GoldenEye as personal favorites.

Sharma has signaled a “Return to Xbox” strategy reset focused on revitalizing the brand’s core identity.  Her primary commitments include prioritizing the console as a core hardware foundation, breaking down technical barriers for developers, and exploring new business models.  She pledged that as these models evolve Microsoft will not chase short-term efficiency or flood the ecosystem with “soulless AI slop.”

On March 5th, Microsoft unveiled Project Helix, a next-generation console powered by a custom AMD system on chip that natively plays both Xbox and PC games.  Designed to deliver an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance, the platform will begin shipping alpha hardware to developers in 2027 to empower them to build more immersive, dynamic worlds.

Before her promotion to CEO, Sharma provided vital leadership as the President of Microsoft’s CoreAI product division beginning in 2024.  Her career has also included a high-impact tenure as the Chief Operating Officer of Instacart, where she started in 2021 and acted as a primary architect of the company’s 2023 $9.9B IPO.

Beginning in 2017 she spent four years as Meta’s Vice President of Product & Engineering, serving as a driving engine behind global platforms including Messenger and Instagram Direct.  Sharma’s start in leadership roles was with the startup Porch Group in 2013, after beginning her career at Microsoft as a marketing intern in 2010.

The Indian American executive is a native of Racine, Wisconsin, and earned a bachelor of science in business from the University of Minnesota in 2011.

In addition to her role at Microsoft, the 37-year-old serves on the corporate boards of The Home Depot and Coupang.