Will Martin is the founder of LiveDuel.com. LiveDuel is a decentralised prediction market for sports and esports. LiveDuel is revolutionising the sports book model to give sports fans a fairer outcome. Will studied Economics & Computer Science in UCC, Ireland, and then did a Master's in Global Entrepreneurship and Management in Barcelona, Taipei, and San Francisco.

01. How did you get involved in Techstars Startup Programs?

I first participated in a Startup Weekend in Taipei in 2012. Unfortunately for me it was in Mandarin, but thankfully a team needed some market research done in English and I was hooked.

After completing my masters in San Francisco, I participated in another Startup Weekend. It was an incredible experience and gave me a lot of insight into the nitty gritty details of starting a startup as opposed to my master's in entrepreneurship and management which focused more on theory.

When I returned to Ireland I knew I had to bring Startup Weekend to Cork. I organised two events which were a great success in bringing together a community of builders and doers in the burgeoning ecosystem.

The facilitator suggested I start the Startup Digest for my city to help promote the community and events between Startup Weekends, which run annually. I did that for three years while also facilitating events right around the world for Startup Weekend — the US, Canada, Germany, Poland, Norway, UK, and Ireland were just some of the events I was a facilitator for.

When Techstars launched Sports Tech Indy in 2018 I realised I had an opportunity to run the Startup Digest Sports Tech newsletter, which I have published every week since January 2019.

In 2022, I applied to the Launchpool Web3 Techstars Accelerator in Dublin and was successful. We just finished our program on June 30th and what an incredible experience that was! You can check out my pitch here: https://youtu.be/ccgTYT7GA-c.

02. How have Techstars Startup Programs impacted your life?

Techstars has been part of my life for a decade and counting! I have come through every major aspect of the Techstars ecosystem. I have learned so much, met so many people, and I continue to be amazed at the value and power of the network.

What I love most is that it keeps continuing to give and give. The ethos of give first is very unique and I think is the USP of Techstars. Getting people in a competitive world to collaborate and help each is phenomenal.

As an example, I reached out to alumni companies in similar spaces from Sports Tech Indy and Sports Tech Melbourne as well as from the Web3 cohort that I was part of. We are now looking at ways that we can help each other across all areas of startup life that we are facing like investor pipeline development, introductions, go to market, hiring, etc.

03. Why are you passionate about entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is always an interesting journey. People self-select to take the tough road in order to build something that people love and that solves a pain point for them. This is how we develop and move forward to better outcomes.

04. How else are you involved in your community's startup ecosystem?

I help run the Web3 community for Cork, Ireland. I am always willing to help out and share my learnings as I truly believe in the give first mantra. Being the curator for the Sports Tech digest is my main commitment outside of building LiveDuel.

05. What's next for your community's entrepreneurship ecosystem?

For sports tech, it is all about growing the community and readership of the Sports Tech Startup Digest. It is the same for the Web3 Cork Telegram group that I set up. Connecting the dots and the pieces of the puzzle is something that has always fascinated me and that starts with people. Bringing people together is central to building ecosystems and providing the foundation for them to build amazing products, services, and initiatives.

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