Sam StoffelFounder & CEO

I found a system where I could guarantee a profit regardless of what happened using free bets. I taught myself to code, learned Facebook ads, hired people, and just figured it out as I went. I stayed patient—“this too shall pass”—when legal threats or problems came up.

It’s simple match betting. You sign up to bookie A for a free bet and back, say, England to win. Then you go to a betting exchange and bet against England and cover the draw. One side has to win. Because the free bet isn’t your money, you make a profit and don’t take a loss.

Their model is a loss leader—free bets to rope you in, then they want you addicted. We showed people how to take the free bet, lock in a profit, and run a mile. They don’t like winners, so they ban accounts that start winning.

Yes. Five different companies tried to sue us. The first was Paddy Power claiming we induced a breach of contract. They threw everything, but it went nowhere because they had no ground.

Very frustrating. We knew it was risk-free in practice, but because it sits under gambling, we weren’t allowed to say “risk-free” or mention people paying off debts. We learned to change the language and skirt as close to the line as possible without crossing it.

Peak turnover was about £8M a year. I sold the company for £10M at age 34.

Not what people expect. I saw a finite pot that goes down when you spend it. It wasn’t enough to retire forever. I wanted to focus on a new idea, so I invested most of it straight away.

Stocks like Nvidia and Meta because I’m long-term on AI; a building in Nottingham for creator-focused co-working; and my new startup, Subspot.

It’s Shopify for subscriptions—payments, website, customers, shipping labels, analytics all in one place. After 10 years running a subscription business, I hated data scattered across 10 tools that didn’t match, so I’m fixing that.

First ask: what will you do after selling? Most entrepreneurs don’t retire. Often it’s better to do 10× more of what’s already working before pivoting. Only sell when you’re sure you can’t scale further and you’ve validated that with others.

Learn the formula—study people who already did it. “Copy and pivot”: do what works and improve one thing—marketing, speed, or support. Focus on one business. When I split focus across apps, interiors, property and my main company, everything underperformed.

I kept testing and doubled down on ads when competitors pulled back. I also added a £1,000 up-front product (from £20/month). It became 50% of the business because I wasn’t afraid to experiment.

You can’t sell anything to anyone. Find the person with a problem you can fix. Know their pains and fears, and pitch the solution so they see how it changes their life.

A rebrand wiped our Google rankings and revenue swung from +£100k/month to –£100k/month. An investor turned out to be a con man. Lesson: keep a 12-month cash buffer, be very careful who you bring in, and don’t trust easily.

Constant exaggeration, inconsistent stories, and—biggest red flag—when I asked about failures, he said he had none. Anyone successful has failed at something.

Property is a tool; shares are a tool. I split between both. Shares are easier to liquidate; property can be great but isn’t passive—you can still get surprises. Make money in business and park it smartly.

Teach kids that starting a business is an option. Cover basics like good vs bad debt, not just “get a job.” Culture should cheer success, not punish it—because that helps the whole economy.