How Online Community Propelled FanDuel To Become An $11B Company (& How The Co-Founders Are Doubling Down On It)

Dec 14, 2020

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Sports are well-known for their strong support and sense of community, so leveraging this power virtually makes sense. Today's guest, Nigel Eccles, is the co-founder and CEO of Flick, a live group chat platform for sports influencers and their fans. Previously, he founded FanDuel and has worked in sports and the sports betting space for over 20 years. In this episode, Nigel reflects on his journey as a founder and what it was like building FanDuel. He gives us insights into fundraising, how they managed to do a pivot from their previous platform, Hubdub, and got funders to stay. We then move onto Flick, learning more about how it works and why there was an impetus to start it. A key piece of success in the space are communities and how sticky they are. Nigel sheds light on some of the difficulties that come with online communities and the importance of creating spaces where people want to hang out. Having founded several companies now, Nigel shares why the only advice applicable to every single startup is to deeply understand the customer and their needs. We wrap the conversation up with hearing about managing growth, why Peloton has been the best tool Nigel has added to his life in the last year, and where you can go if you want to learn more about sports cards and betting. Tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[01:09] Nigel’s background and how it led him to work in sports and sports betting.
[02:00] Hear about some of the hurdles that came with starting FanDuel.
[03:40] Dealing with the stress of being a founder; how Nigel has navigated his way through.
[05:48] Why Nigel feels it is increasingly hard to build solid small businesses.
[06:45] What FanDuel was like when they were at Series A funding.
[07:45] How Nigel convinced funders that it was necessary to make a pivot, leading to FanDuel.
[09:12] The value of spending time with other entrepreneurs and the lessons you will learn.
[10:15] Hear about Flick, its business model, and how they make money.
[11:25] Flick’s numbers, including users, and how the company measures performance.
[12:25] Insights into online communities; challenges, influencing experience, and retention.
[15:30] There is no silver bullet for what it takes to make a startup successful.
[15:37] The only universal piece of startup advice: Be obsessed with your customer!
[16:53] Flick’s customer development framework and the blended approach they take.
[18:50] How fundraising for Flick differed from FanDuel.
[20:21] What drew Nigel to start StarStock, a marketplace for sports cards buyers and sellers.
[22:07] Why Nigel doesn’t have a grand vision and just focuses on working with people he likes.
[23:10] Hear why Nigel decided to leave FanDuel and the move to sell the company.
[24:15] The staff challenges that come with hypergrowth; what Nigel has learned along the way.
[27:23] Resources if you want to learn more about sports cards and sports betting.
[29:19] How Peloton has exceeded Nigel’s already high expectations.
[29:58] Hear some of Nigel’s must read business books.

Resources From The Interview:

Nigel Eccles on LinkedIn
Nigel Eccles on Twitter
Flick
FanDuel
Tony Hsieh
Crunchbase
Ev Williams
Lesley Eccles on Twitter
Relish
Andreessen Horowitz
LeBron James
StarStock
Ooni
Flutter Entertainment
Y Combinator
Seedcamp
‎Heros For Sale Podcast
‎Stacking Slabs
‎House of Jordans
Discord
Peloton
The Queen's Gambit
Must-read book: Zero to One, The Lean Startup, What You Do Is Who You Are

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