THE DAILY PAYOFF sat down with Joey Levy CEO & Founder of Draftpot, an innovative daily fantasy platform that offers restricitonless gaming, for a conversation on student entrepreneurs, big data, and of course how Draftpot’s unique approach is disrupting the fantasy space. You can find Levy on twitter @Draftpot where he welcomes interactions
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The Daily Payoff [TDP]: You’re getting a lot of attention – and its well deserved – you have a proprietary game mode without salary cap restrictions.
Joey Levy [JL]: Yes for sure, but we do have a traditional GM mode which caters to people who want the strategy involved with the salary cap – but our most popular setting is fan mode which does not have restrictions. This allows us to tap into wider demographics and acquire users with little to no fantasy experience and the feedback has been tremendously positive.
TDP: How can we sign up?
JL: The site is https://Draftpot.com the great thing is that you can play instantly without cumbersome signups and logins. We don’t want any restriction from our users being able to enjoy Draftpot. Of course we welcome registrations but at your convenience.
TDP: Did Draftpot come from pure innovation or necessity? A bit of both?
JL: I think its been a combination, I knew there was a need for an alternative platform to offer restriction-free games. I started doing more research into the nature of DFS. I was always a player but when I heavily got into the business I realized how big of an opportunity it could be. It really is the instant gratification of the games that drive the revenue. The space is in its infancy but nevertheless moving. The industry provided its viability but at the same time was early enough to develop a product to differentiate itself. That’s where Draftpot fills the gap.
TDP: data is very closely linked to the fantasy game. Are you working with any data providers or analytics companies?
JL: We work with Sportsdata LLC (subsidiary of Sports Radar). They provide the API calls for all the sports we’re involved in. That’s how we get the data. As far as the web development itself – that’s done in house by the cofounders
TDP: Tell us about the endeavor – founding the company, developing the platform, raising capital – all as a Columbia student.
JL: Its been a challenge dealing with classes while trying to build a business., especially one that requires so much time and effort. That being said we have been able to manage our classes, develop the website, administer it, and improve it constantly. My partner (fellow Columbia University student) directly oversees the web development. We currently have over 2,000 users and have amassed 20K in entry fees. My job is to continue that trajectory. We are constantly coming up with new and innovative ways to market this
TDP: So Draftpot was founded by a fantasy player/college student the result filled a void and introduced fantasy sports to a much larger demographic — given this perspective any other “first of its kind” claims that Draftpot can make?
JL: Sure thing. We have the first user driven chat area where you can talk trash during competitions. This is an element of the game that was taking place offline for years but Draftpot allows that user interaction online. If you go to Fanduel or Draftkings or any other site when you are tracking your contests in real time it really just a list of whose participating and the order – while we provide that information because its necessary – we also have a chat box on that same page where you communicate with those same participants. It can get quite fun – we’ve had tournaments where there has been over 600 people all interacting and talking smack.
TDP: What sports do you currently offer and what’s next?
JL: Of course we offer the major domestic leagues. We will be adding college football and college basketball when those seasons start. We will have PGA up before the US Open, MMA is coming very soon, we are also exploring adding Esports to our platform – we would be the first site to offer both traditional and Esports.
TDP: Any advice for the student entrepreneur?
JL: Defiantly going to require full time commitment. To do it right you can’t do it on the side. To be successfully your venture simply has to be full time. Pursue what you want to pursue but understand what you are getting into and commit accordingly.
TDP: Okay, time to plug Draftpot
JL:We always want more users, so please go to https://Draftpot.com to sign up for an account with promo code “TheDailyPayoff” and get a free $4 coupon to start. To any interested investors: we are raising capital and are wrapping up our seed round now, for more information please reach out to me [email protected]