In high school, we are often told that some of our interests are a waste of time. They are not considered “productive.” We can’t possibly make a living from it…can we?
At BETA Camp, we believe that you should be able to do what you love. No matter what you go into, as long as you have a business mind and a knowledge of technology, you will be invincible.
Here are some examples of our friends and our role models who made careers out of their passions. If you want to get mentored by amazing people in these industries, it’s not too late to apply for BETA Camp 2021! Check out our program.
If you’re a Sports Fan
The North American sports market is over 71 Billion Dollars. You don’t need to be an all-star athlete to get a piece of this pie.
JACIE DEHOOP, ROSLYN MCLARTY AND ELLEN HYSLOP
FOUNDERS OF THE GIST
Jacie, Roslyn, and Ellen founded the Gist in 2017, a newsletter for women covering sports in Canada and the U.S. The newsletter now has over 60,000 subscribers and partnerships with brands like Lululemon and Soul Cycle.
The founders all studied business and went on to work in finance and accounting.
For the last three years, The GIST has shaken up the male-dominated sports media space by creating an inclusive and accessible community for all sports fans through a fun and female voice. Their goal is to change the way sports content and story-telling speakers to underserved sports fans, welcoming all types of fans into the sports conversation.
Less than 14% of sports journalists are female.
Less than 4% of sports media coverage is on female athletes
Less than 2% of C-Suite executives in major league sports are women
Now brand partners pay the dollars to be included in their newsletter to access these underserved women sports fans. Now that’s a business model and a cause we can get behind.
JOSH POHLKAMP-HARTT
HOCKEY STATISTICIAN FOR THE BOSTON BRUINS
Josh is an avid hockey player and has a PhD in Statistics. He started his career working at Apple on Apple Maps before joining the Boston Bruins as the primary Data Analyst.
Josh collects and analyzes data from practices and games that help with drafting and in-game strategies. For example, he would record and report data from hockey games and analyze past information on players and teams for the Bruins. This may include how many goals or errors each player makes in the game which help coaches determine who should be in their starting lineup.
Who said you need to be a pro player to be part of the team?
If you’re a Gamer
Gaming is a 150 billion dollar industry and there are so many different jobs in the gaming industry. Are you obsessed with League of Legends? Why not go work for Riot Games, the creator of League of Legends?
RICHARD YE
SOFTWARE ENGINEER AT RIOT GAMES
Meet Richard. He was previously a Software Engineer at Riot Games in Los Angeles.
He developed the core League of Legends client features on the web, developed tooling for other engineers, and worked on the data analysis team to track user and revenue data.
No, he didn’t have skins to give away to friends.
RAN MO
LEAD PRODUCT MANAGER AT EA GAMES (CREATOR OF THE SIMS)
You don’t need to code to be able to help build games. Ran is the lead product manager at EA games focusing on console, mobile, and emerging gaming opportunities (AR/VR).
Prior to EA Games, Ran worked at Youtube and BCG and got his MBA from Wharton School of Business. He also founded a VR studio (pop-up) cinema which exposed thousands of audiences to VR immersive storytelling.
If you’re an Artist
Believe it or not the art industry in 2019 had a total of $64.1 Billion Dollars in Art Sales. Here are two companies that defy the stereotype that everyone in the art industry is a struggling artist!
AMIRA RAHIM
FOUNDER OF BETTER THAN ART SCHOOL
Amira is an artist and the Founder of Better than Art School, an 8 week intensive program that teaches modern painters how to master their craft and sell their paintings.
She knows that so many artists spend thousands of dollars in art school or other courses but still don’t make enough money trying to sell their art. It’s her mission to teach artists how to create high-priced, high-value art that sells, how to sell their work, and how to build a profitable business.
SCOTT LYNN, ALBERTO SIMON, AND HAI MINH TRAN
FOUNDERS OF MASTERWORKS
Founded by an art collector, a head of product in the Financial Tech space, and a Creative Director at some of the world’s most successful companies, Masterworks is the first investment platform for Art.
For the first time, anyone can purchase shares representing ownership of a painting. Masterworks sources paintings and commits its capital to purchase them. They file an offering circular with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer it publicly. Investors can then invest in the painting by purchasing shares. When Masterworks sells the painting, each investor shares in their proportionate share of any profit or loss.
Talk about innovation on a tech and business model level!
