Show Notes
🎙️ NEXT.io Podcast #259 with Wojciech Stellmach, CEO of BugsyEmpire. In this episode, Wojciech Stellmach CEO of BugsyEmpiere, explains what’s actually working right now across emerging verticals: from sweepstakes (sweeps 2.0) to prediction markets and why “easy money” is a myth. We unpack the shift from talking about grey markets to “grey products”, why payments + marketing access can create real advantage, and what operators must get right in marketing tech, tracking, and foundations before spending big. ⏰ Timestamps: 00:31 - Sponsors message 01:50 - Welcome Wojciech 04:15 - Why BugsyEmpire moved into sweepstakes and emerging verticals 06:55 - The real USP: platform relationships + deep product/tech checks 09:23 - “Grey products” vs grey markets 10:53 - Sweepstakes hype vs reality 11:17 - What “grey products” means 14:43 - Other emerging verticals: prediction markets, DFS, pari-mutuel + more 20:41 - Ad rules tightening (Google/TikTok) 23:28 - Why emerging verticals can beat black market brands 28:53 - Why most operators fail at paid media 39:13 - Paid media breakdown: social vs search vs brand/programmatic 01:06:10 - Winning operators checklist: focus, tech, payments, lean teams 01:07:49 - NEXT New York + Emerging Verticals Summit (9 March) 🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nextdotio/podcasts CONNECT WITH NEXT.IO ✩ Website: https://next.io/This episode of NEXT.io is brought to you by: Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technologyhttps://pragmatic.solutions/ Pragmatic Play – Industry-leading content providerhttps://www.pragmaticplay.com/en/
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