Pierre Lindh has spent almost his entire professional life inside iGaming. He started at 18, and 20 years later, the conferences, companies, and relationships that make up the industry are still a major part of who he is.
“This is my life. You know what I mean? This is how I grew up in these events. And it is very much who I am,” Lindh says in the latest podcast episode of Bet It Drives, joining Yevhen Krazhan, CSO at GR8_TECH, in Lisbon.
As one of the people behind NEXT.io, Lindh operates at the intersection of media, events, commercial relationships and journalism — areas that do not always sit comfortably together.
“We are here to be an ally of the industry. But we also have to do the reporting that’s needed,” he says.
That balance is particularly difficult in trade media, where the companies being covered can also be partners, advertisers, and long-standing industry friends. Lindh says the challenge is to protect editorial independence without pretending those relationships do not exist. At the same time, he sees those relationships as one of iGaming’s biggest strengths.
“The only way for this industry to thrive is for the industry to cooperate,” he says, pointing to the regulatory, political and public pressure the sector continues to face.
The biggest new opportunity on Lindh’s radar is prediction markets. After initially questioning whether they were simply another trend or an alternative version of sports betting, he came away with a much stronger view.
“This is not just a vertical of igaming or alternative to sports betting. This is its own industry.”
That belief pushed NEXT.io to move quickly with NextPredict. A conference development process that would normally take around two years was compressed into eight months. He also sees an opportunity for companies coming from iGaming. Sportsbook operators already understand player engagement, betting products and the technology required to build for high-volume users, experience that could translate well into prediction markets. But for Lindh, the opportunity goes beyond sport. The investment and attention in the sector suggest that something much broader may be taking shape.
Away from media and emerging markets, Lindh also reflects on the similarities between entrepreneurship and endurance running.
“Building a company is a marathon and not a sprint,” he says. “As I say, really and truly, it is both. You have to sprint and do a marathon at the same time.”
The full conversation goes further into Lindh’s view of the industry, the rise of prediction markets, the realities of running an independent media business, and a few unexpected moments along the way.
Watch the full episode of Bet It Drives with Pierre Lindh below.