An exciting new chapter for Sharpr
Sharpr has been acquired by The Insights Group
Sharpr has been acquired by The Insights Group
Big, breaking news today: Sharpr has been acquired by The Insights Group, a new media and events venture in the digital entertainment space co-founded by Esports Insider’s former co-founder (and a long-time friend of mine) Sam Cooke, alongside Alfie Wright.
This is an incredible moment for the newsletter that’ll help take Sharpr to new heights, but before I get into the details of all that and what it means, I wanted to talk through the “why” here.
Almost four years ago I started this newsletter with nothing more than a creative itch to scratch and a loose plan that maybe enough people would be interested in hearing me yap about the intersection of esports and betting.
Several years and lots of stories later, Sharpr has become a respected media brand that’s been cited in The Guardian, Barron’s, Digiday, and many other outlets. Our coverage has expanded far beyond esports and more broadly toward where the future of internet gambling is headed–from crypto and AI, to prediction markets and major mainstream scoops–all without betraying Sharpr’s core audience and what our subscribers care about: smart commentary on technological innovation and emerging markets in the gambling space.
It’s been a wild ride building this newsletter from scratch, and I’m grateful for everyone that’s come along for the journey. It’s admittedly tough to step back from something I’ve spent the last several years working on, but it’s time for me to move on and focus my time on some new challenges and opportunities in front of me.
Importantly, I want to address what a change in ownership here means, what myself and TIG are committed to during this process, and what readers can expect during the handoff:
First off, I’m not going anywhere: I’ll continue to write this newsletter during the near- to medium-term before transitioning into a consulting role where I’ll help oversee its editorial direction. I’ll also be joining The Insights Group as a strategic advisor.
Same content, just more often: The coverage you’ve subscribed to won’t be changing–the newsletter will continue to focus on original stories and thoughtful analysis, contextualizing news and keeping stakeholders abreast of where innovation is coming from and what it looks like–esports, crypto, AI, and more, included.
New lead author: At some point in the not-so-distant future, you’ll probably see a new name gracing the top of this newsletter. We’ll be conducting a thorough search to find a new lead writer for Sharpr, and once we find them, we’ll be working very closely together to ensure everything you love about this newsletter stays the same (and maybe even gets better!).
This unlocks new things: Funding and resource constraints have been a challenging aspect of writing the newsletter, but our partnership with TIG will bring better design, product experience, events, and allow us to publish more ambitious reporting on a consistent basis.
Your data and inbox experience are still respected: Your email is safe–no spam, no data selling–that doesn’t change. We’ll also continue living by the mantra that we’ll only show up in your inbox if we have something that’s worth your time and attention.
Now, what’s next for me?
Since parting ways with Rivalry in April, I’ve dove headfirst into starting my own strategic media consultancy, which has gone well enough so far that I’m going to concentrate my time on building it into something bigger. I have some exciting things planned, and will probably have more to share on that later—but for now, you can check out my work here, and hit me up if you want to talk communications or content strategy (or both).
Before I wrap up this long-winded, quasi-goodbye, I’d be remiss not to mention the people that have helped along the way, which without them, Sharpr would undoubtedly not exist today.
That list includes Chris Grove, who saw my vision before I had anything to show for it, helped fund the newsletter, and ultimately enabled it to get it off the ground. James Fudge and Thomas Lace—two names that’ve only appeared in this newsletter a handful of times—but have been instrumental, long-term partners in the newsletter’s content development and success, much more than anyone realizes.
And of course, none of this would have been possible without our readers–whether you subscribed on day one or day one thousand: thank you for inviting me into your inbox and taking time out of your day to read Sharpr.
– Cody
Congrats Cody! W
Congrats, well deserved!