Story of a start-up

When thinking of ways to describe launching your own business it is hard not to rely on clichés. It is a rollercoaster, it’s tougher than you expect, there are ups and downs and you will consider giving up.

However, the process of transforming Passoker from an idea based on the pass-the-pint pub game I had watching football at university seven years ago to a brand new real-time gaming product has, to borrow another old chestnut, been the best experience of my life.

Two years ago I began seriously looking into developing Passoker with my father John. The burgeoning in-play market gave Passoker an opportunity and we thought: ‘It’s now or never’.

With no previous egaming experience ““ not to mention a full-time job to hold down too ““ I knew we couldn’t do it alone. We’d already decided Passoker would primarily be a B2B product, so we had to get in front of operators. The idea was to bring someone in who had access to bookmakers but would take a genuine interest in the game. Step forward ex-England footballer Viv Anderson.

I can’t say we didn’t have more than a little bit luck here. List of potential targets drawn up, Viv was the first person approached ““ by virtue of alphabetical order ““ and thankfully the game caught his imagination. Viv’s been anything but a silent partner and my advice to other start-ups would be to surround yourself with people who can add value. You also need unlimited reserves of patience and persistence and definitely can’t afford to be greedy when attracting investment.

Having Viv on board gave me confidence to quit being a trader and go full-time on Passoker. The relief from not working effectively two full-time jobs was immense but it was just as scary. However, the next major breakthrough justified the decision and we signed with Victor Chandler who will be first to take Passoker to market, running the game alongside their sportsbook, gaming, casino and poker offerings. It’s a huge endorsement and I’m indebted to Paul Louis for making it happen while Jonathan de la Rosa and the technical team have also been a great help.

I feel my experience from other sectors brings a fresh perspective and different ideas, far outweighing any disadvantages from being a relative newcomer. Of course, you need help and advice along the way and it pays to meet as many people as possible. Figures from across the industry have given time and thoughts and David Sargeant from Zukido is one in particular who’s become a trusted advisor.

I’m fully aware much still needs to be done but winning Start-Up Launchpad at EiG last week was a fantastic reward for everyone involved in Passoker and all their effort of the past few years. If the game goes well then the scope for growth is huge and we already have other ideas to work on. There’s lots of talk about consolidation deals and the importance of scale but hopefully we can show you can also succeed with good ideas and hard work.