Karolina Pelc Founder and Author
Built & Sold A Multi-Million Tech Startup In Just 3 Years: Karolina Pelc Made A Fortune Without Luck!
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?
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.
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.
IN THIS EPISODE, SHE 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
WATCH THE FULL EPISODE ON YOUTUBE
