2019-09-01 Entrepreneur Magazine

(Darren Dugan) #1

Office Space


22 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / September 2019 Photograph / ADAM FRIEDBERG


BRIJAL PADIA/VP, customer
“My team oversees all our cus-
tomer touch points, and we have
a Slack channel called Voice of
the Community, where we reach
out to a cohort of our customers
for feedback about ideas we’re
thinking about implementing.
Their passion for our product
is one of the things that makes
working at DraftKings so special.”

GREG KARAMITIS/Senior
vice president, daily
fantasy sports product
“To be on our team, you need to
be a really passionate sports fan.
My team and I go out and watch
the Thursday- and Monday-night
football games and participate in
a private fantasy contest among
ourselves. We bond over watching
sports, having drinks, and playing
with the product.” 

Inside DraftKings


DRAFTKINGS REALLY LIKES its odds. Since launching in 2012, the daily fantasy sports site has
raised close to $650 million in funding, and has deftly navigated the thin legal line between
skills-based games and gambling. Now the company has finally entered the $150 billion sports
betting market, thanks to the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision that allows states to legalize
the practice. As a result, DraftKings is betting on itself, evident in its recent hiring spree
(employee count has doubled) as well as its new Boston HQ. Designed by IA Interior Archi-
tects, the space includes production studios, custom tickers with real-time fantasy salaries and
odds, and sports-themed “huddle” spaces. Employees’ time is focused not just on sports but on
the community they can help foster among customers. And as staffers themselves regularly link
up to watch games or join in-house fantasy contests, they all feel like part of a winning team.

Interviews by HAYDEN FIELD

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