This week, I interviewed serial entrepreneur Nigel Eccles. Known for his role as co-founder and former CEO of FanDuel, Nigel shares his incredible journey of launching and scaling multiple ventures, including his latest projects BetHog and BetDex. Nigel dives into the pivotal moments that defined his career, lessons learned from raising over $450 million in venture funding, and his insights into the evolving landscapes of crypto, Web3, and gaming.
Nigel’s candid reflections on timing, co-founder dynamics, and building resilient startups are a must-hear for founders, investors, and anyone curious about how to stay ahead in the world of tech and entrepreneurship.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
A speedrun through Nigel’s backstory
The early days of FanDuel and lessons from building a billion-dollar business.
Insights into raising capital—from seed rounds to $450M in funding.
Why timing and market dynamics matter more than ever.
The role of ethics and trustworthiness in choosing co-founders and investors.
Building for users: Why understanding your audience is key.
The future of online gaming, streaming, and crypto’s role in innovation.
Notable Quotes:
“If you’re a tech startup, you need a tech co-founder. It’s almost impossible to succeed without one.”
“The best hires often come from failed startups—they’ve been through the fire and still want to build.”
“The key to raising capital is timing and understanding what the market values.”
Connect with Nigel Eccles: Twitter | LinkedIn
Keywords: gaming, sports betting, FanDuel, crypto, web3, BetHog, BetDex, fundraising, venture capital, co-founders
Shout-outs: Connor Murphy, Bradley Tusk, Nic Carter
Leave a review and subscribe on
Email us: info@norioventures.com
Follow on X(Twitter):
Pete Townsend: https://twitter.com/petetownsendnv
MoneyNeverSleeps: https://twitter.com/MNSshow
Follow on LinkedIn:
Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
MoneyNeverSleeps: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28661903/
MoneyNeverSleeps newsletter: https://moneyneversleeps.substack.com/
Here are some great episodes to start with if you're new to the podcast!
Sam Williams is co-founder and CEO of Arweave, a blockchain protocol allowing us to remember and preserve valuable information, apps, and history indefinitely. In this episode, Sam shares the inspirational story of how Arweave got started, their life-changing experience with …
The MoneyNeverSleeps crew picked out six founders from past episodes talking about the hard decisions they've made along the way, including taking the leap, operating without a playbook, building teams, penetrating new markets, and finding your way home from the …
In this special segment, we’re featuring web3 investors, founders and mentors such as Joey Krug from Pantera Capital, Matthew Graham from Sino Global Capital, Teana Baker-Taylor from Circle, Sam Williams from Arweave, John Wu from Ava Labs, Clarisse Hagege from …
Joey Krug is the Co-Chief Investment Officer of Pantera Capital, the first institutional investment firm focused exclusively on bitcoin, other digital currencies, and companies in the blockchain tech ecosystem. Joey joins Pete Townsend on this episode originally recorded as part …
In this special segment, we feature four founders sharing how they dealt with one thing they didn't expect to face as a founder - Martin Brown from Unitek, Lizzy Hayashida from Change Donations, Andrew Mullaney from Premind and Paul Smyth …
We've remastered and packaged up two of our most popular episodes from 2023 that were originally going to be one episode looking at the venture capital mantra of ‘investing in lines and not dots’ with VC investing insights from Patrick …
This week’s guest is Connor Murphy, the CEO of Bridge. I met Connor at a Techstars event in Dublin in 2019 as he was just getting his latest venture off the ground in Bridge, and I started using the Bridge …
This week, I’m sharing an episode of the ‘Venture with Hesus’ podcast that I recorded in late 2023 with the unstoppable Hesus Inoma, as he interviews me on lessons learned from being part of the startup ecosystem the last 8 …
Linda Jeng is the Founder and CEO of Digital Self Labs, and she joins me in exploring the evolving landscape of stablecoins. Our discussion focuses on our key takeaways from Castle Island Ventures' latest stablecoin report, '...
We're diving deep into the fundamentals of fundraising for Web3 startups and early-stage ventures navigating their first capital raise. Fundraising is always challenging, but in web3, it’s a whole new frontier with unique hurdles. This session, originally presented at a …
This week, I’m joined by the brilliant Mai Santamaria for a far-ranging discussion inspired by Ian Goldin’s concept of The Butterfly Defect — a thought-provoking take on the risks and interconnectedness of our global systems....
In this special year-end episode, Pete Townsend is joined by returning guest co-host Alejandro Gutierrez for a wide-ranging conversation about what the future may hold with their 2025 predictions. Together, they explore transformative ideas, emerging trends, and groundbreaking technologies that …
Brian McDonald is a partner at Bay Advisory, a corporate finance firm helping founders navigate funding, scaling, and exiting their businesses. Brian first joined the show in 2021, and now, four years later, he returns to share updated insights on …
This week, we’re tapping into the intersection of hip-hop, technology, education and startups with a true pioneer—Arabian Prince. If you know your rap history, you know Arabian Prince as one of the founding members of N.W.A, the Rock and Roll …