At Lotto N Crowd, we’re digitising the lottery. It was inevitable for things like gaming because we’re doing online banking and all this stuff. We’ve created a proprietary algorithm to actually help lottery winners increase their odds of winning by helping them do pull play and actually use it online.
Finding the market must have been difficult at times?
Absolutely. We’re just getting off the ground. But we’ve actually got it operational internationally, in five states in the US and we got a lot more coming here in the near future.
What states are these?
We have Florida, Texas, California, Delaware and New York.
Which one of those was the one you found most tricky to get into?
It hasn’t been too tricky. The biggest trick is with every new bit of legislation. But I think everybody knows it was inevitable for this timeframe to come, and a lot of people are receptive to actually being moved online. It’s just going to take a little bit longer to get all the states up and running.
For the consumer you’ve got to represent something new, something fresh. How are you pushing their user experience?
First off, we’re helping the store owners connect with their local communities, so they can continue to have their current customer base and actually increase their customer base by going online in their local areas. We’re building good experience for the store’s marketing and then it also gives them a customer base where they are allowed to play online. This gives them the option to play from the comforts of their home. As well as adding an additional incentive where for lower amounts, anything under $600, we can credit their account instantly after winning and they’re going to get alerted instantly. Then there’s no more lost tickets and no more damage taking, so it smooths out the process for everybody.
Which was the first state you moved into, which was the one that made you think you had something to expand?
We’re based out of California and a lot of the work we did right there. That was the easiest method because we’re so local. But if you look at legislation, Jersey was the first legislator that actually started bringing gaming online, raising awareness.
I take it that’s something you continue to look at with other states because you must be thinking about expansion?
We’re definitely big on expanding to all of the states, but it was easier to go international first, because we don’t have to deal with legislation. Right now, though, we’ve got these five states up and running, and when they see how everything goes with these five states, I’m sure a lot more will want to actually jump in faster.
Are there any particular states next in mind at the moment?
We’re looking at a lot of them. A lot of them are asking questions. We’re having interviews with different states to bring no awareness up. I think they’re all pretty much going to eventually come on board.
How do you deal with your competitors, what’s your USP there?
Technically, what we’re doing, we don’t really have a lot of competitors. Because we’re being innovative about it in our community outreach and financial literacy. The statistics of lottery winners is horrible... usually most of them file for bankruptcy in three to five years. So, we’re giving them financial literacy and investment opportunities – vetted investment opportunities – that they can get.
Do you have teams that do that?
Absolutely. I own my own financial company, Xclusive Financial Class. I’m not only the Communication Director, I provide some of the investments in the financial literacy programme.
Are the investments just over the United States or are they worldwide?
We have worldwide investments so anybody can actually get in. The financial literacy piece is open to everyone, but we actually take your lump sums our lottery winners and try to help them out. So, there’s an opportunity to help them continue their financial journey instead of being bankrupt three to five years later.
once we get to break those barriers, we will be able to be more innovative and more creative with how we actually help these peopleWhat you’re talking about there is grassroots level corporate social responsibility and responsible gambling. Was that something you wanted to do first? Or was that something that came about when you were developing the system and the business?
Lotto N Crowd started before me. They came to me and we connected. I have the financial company, so it was a match made in heaven for me to come in and actually do what I’m already doing. What I love to do is teach financial literacy – it helps the situation with the investors. But it comes back to what I said earlier; we see a gap in the in the market and in the industry.
Where does the online lottery market evolve to now?
Well, we look at it like this: we don’t call petroleum jelly Vaseline for no reason. When you’re the first at it, you get the market name; we call diapers Pampers because they were the first industry to do it. We know there’s going to be a lot of people to follow suit, try to come in and be as innovative as us – but we’re just going to try to stay ahead of the curve and make sure that we’re the most innovative out there. Innovation is one of those things that you have to look at every day; you have to keep pushing.
Is that something you’re looking to do internationally as well?
Yes. We’re trying to stay as advanced as possible, working within the parameters that are allowed in this system. But once we get to break those barriers, we will be able to be more innovative and more creative with how we actually help these people with large windfalls of money become more productive financially.
When you look at the markets you’re outside of the US, which is the biggest one?
I can’t really say bad numbers – but we’re doing a lot in the UK and all the partner territories are doing very well.
So, with your with your programme of teaching financial literacy, that includes the international as well?
We play by the same principles internationally. Sometimes, certain things don’t apply, so they just don’t get that piece. But investing that money to make money is kind of a worldwide knowledge cash asset, cash flow.
Is there something you are particularly proud of you want to tell us about?
Well, my love is actually teaching financial literacy, so I’d like to give people a few words that you must learn to actually increase what you’re doing. It comes down to income vs expenses, and a strategy for that is income shifting – you have your assets versus your liabilities, and cash asset cash flow is another strategy that applies for it – you got to understand that cash flow is king. That’s your financial stat sheet. No matter who you are, that’s what people look at. What is your income versus your expenses, your assets vs liabilities and how much cash flow. That’s how long your money actually stays with you.
