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Rahul Sood, founded VoodooPC, straight out of High School on his credit card and turned it into a global brand before selling it to HP. Next stop was launching Microsoft Ventures which lead to connecting with his now partner Karl Flores to start \u201cUnikrn\u201d, the largest Esports betting platform in the world. \xa0Great deep dive into Rahul\u2019s world, his passion for Gaming and Esports and why Unikrn will become the next Unicorn by building the future of digital gambling. \xa0\nKey Highlights\nVoodoo PC, from a passion project started in a garage to a global brand (now HP Omen brand)\nMicrosoft Ventures Fund \u2013 starting a venture found from scratch, building accelerators to connect start ups to Microsoft customers, leading to a valuation of over US$ 4 billion by the time he left\nUnikrn \u2013 how it all started with his buddy Karl Flores, raising funds, bringing in high profile investors\nUni-coin ICO and reasons for launching it and the compliance behind it\nWhat is Unikrn and how did the idea come about \u2013 from betting on yourself to betting on major Esports tournaments \xa0\nGoal was to be the biggest bookmaker in Esports \xa0\n\nUMode \u2013 bet on yourself \u2013 how it works and only on Unikrn\nGoing from 2 countries to 40 and the challenges which come with it, different betting formats and trends globally\nThe opportunities and challenges because of the pandemic\nHow Games are priced, driven by AI bots \u2013 2-3 years ahead of others \xa0\nFrom live in-game betting, different handicaps, special betting options unique to each game\nChallenge is localization, currently 4 languages and customization to local betting behaviour\nBusiness still churning money, large overheads, big team, still in building mode\nBuilding the future of Digital gambling - challenge with Investors who don\u2019t understand the business\nUnikrn\u2019s connection to the E-gaming ecosystem, from Publishers, Teams, Streamers, Influencers to streaming platforms (affiliate programs)\nVirtual Horse-racing, from breeding them to racing and winning price money\nLearnings, success and failures as an Entrepreneur and from his time at Microsoft - Focus on your passion and adapt to change as quickly as you can\nInterplay between traditional sports & Esports after Covid \u2013 the future of entertainment\n\xa0\nAbout\nRahul Sood is the co-founder of Unikrn, a global Esports entertainment and sports betting platform built on cutting edge blockchain and gaming technologies.Previous to Unikrn, Sood created the first incubation fund for startups at Microsoft, and eventually he consolidated their global startup activities and launched Microsoft Ventures.A serial entrepreneur, Sood spent 18 years in multiple startups prior to joining Microsoft. He founded luxury and gaming computer manufacturer VoodooPC, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard. Sood is an early shareholder and advisor to Maingear, Razer, ZED, and Vrvana which was recently acquired by Apple.Unikrn\u2019s mission as a global esports entertainment platform is to heighten the experience of watching and participating in esports. Unikrn uses blockchain technology to optimize the payment flow for customers while allowing them to bet using the currency of their choice on a full array of Esports and Video Game offerings.Unikrn is venture backed with investors such as Ashton Kutcher, Mark Cuban, Liz Murdoch, Shari Redstone, and many others. Unikrn built an end to end betting platform that can be licensed by commercial operators, and they have opened their doors to multiple international markets. Unikrn has been featured on Forbes, Fortune, ESPN, CNBC and countless publications around the world.Sood is active in the startup community, helping and mentoring a variety of startups. In his spare time, Sood enjoys wake surfing & wake boarding, standup paddle boarding, cycling, racing cars and spending time with his family. He lives in Seattle, you can find him on Twitter @rahulsood. You can find Unikrn on Twitter @unikrnco.\n\xa0\n-----------------------------------------------If you are enjoying