Building The Brand with James Burtt
Can you start at the bottom of an industry, back yourself before anyone else does, raise millions, build a fast-growth startup and sell it within three years? FOR THE FULL STORY GET KAROLINA’S NO.1 BEST SELLING BOOK ‘HER PLAY’ [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Play-Make-Your-Luck/dp/1918271194] Karolina Pelc is an entrepreneur, investor, advisor, author and the founder of BeyondPlay, the iGaming startup she launched in 2021, raised £6.1 million for, and sold to FanDuel within just three years. Want more BTB goodness!? Connect Here: https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletter [https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletter] Karolina’s journey started far from the world of startup exits, venture capital and acquisition deals. At 19, she trained as a casino dealer in Poland, worked in tough casino environments, moved to London, lived in difficult conditions, worked on cruise ships, and eventually fought her way into the online gaming industry from the very bottom of the career ladder. In this episode of Building The Brand, Karolina breaks down how she turned lived experience in real-world casinos into a powerful insight about the future of online gaming. She explains how she raised £1.2 million from a pitch deck, built BeyondPlay through the pandemic, scaled the team to 50 people, navigated product pivots, licensing complexity, investor pressure, founder burnout and eventually sold the company to FanDuel. She also shares why she does not believe in luck, why starting again can be a strategic move, why founders cannot make everyone like them, and why hustle only works when it is intentional. Karolina shares: ▪️ Why she does not believe luck created her success ▪️ Why she was willing to start again in a junior role ▪️ How real-world casino experience shaped the idea for BeyondPlay ▪️ Raising £1.2 million from a deck during the pandemic ▪️ Why approval cannot be the operating system for founders ▪️ Selling BeyondPlay to FanDuel within three years ▪️ What really happens during a fast acquisition process Find out more about Karolina Pelc here:https://karolinapelc.com/ [https://karolinapelc.com/] Key Moments: 0:00 — Karolina Pelc on quitting, growth, pressure and selling BeyondPlay 1:07 — Why Karolina does not believe in luck 3:16 — Starting, funding and selling BeyondPlay within three years 6:57 — The brutal training process to become a dealer 8:00 — Her first major casino customer and early resilience 12:19 — Arriving in London and the reality of starting again 17:35 — Homelessness and learning the hard way 21:20 — Reality distortion filter, belief and ambitious goals 24:05 — Understanding the different levels of the casino world 30:47 — Moving from casinos and cruise ships into online gaming 34:35 — The idea that eventually became BeyondPlay 37:21 — Raising £1.2 million during the pandemic 44:18 — What BeyondPlay actually built 50:33 — Regulation, licensing and startup complexity 52:21 — The risky second product that changed the company 57:00 — Founder mode and transparent leadership 59:00 — Why CEOs cannot have everyone agree with them 1:00:12 — Work-life balance, values and startup reality 1:06:40 — People pleasing, burnout and founder pressure 1:09:30 — Building BeyondPlay with an exit in mind 1:11:13 — Selling the company in two months 1:14:54 — What the day of signing the deal actually felt like 1:17:13 — Leaving the company after acquisition 1:19:49 — Achievement addiction, writing the book and what comes next 1:24:14 — Who Karolina wrote the book for
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