Episode
Leadership Is Learned During Days of Thunder Not of Sunshine
- Podcast
- The iGaming Leader
- Published
- Jul 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2885
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://share.transistor.fm/s/92273b5a
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Summary
In this episode of the iGaming Leader Podcast, Leo sits down with Andreas (Andy) Koeberl, aerospace engineer turned entrepreneur, who built HappyBet from three people to 180, survived COVID wiping out 100% of its revenue overnight, turned around BetGames from a shrinking business into one of the most profitable live dealer companies in the world, and is now building Autonomous Minds, an AI deeptech startup creating what he calls an "agent-first Palantir." Andy talks about what real crisis leadership looks like from the inside, why the sunny periods are more dangerous than the hard ones, and why the only advisors worth having are the ones who've also failed. Guest Bio Andreas (Andy) Koeberl is an engineer turned entrepreneur and CEO. He started his career in aerospace engineering before moving to Microsoft, where he honed his commercial instincts. In 2017, he co-founded HPYBET, a retail sports betting business that grew to become one of the top operators in Germany and Austria before being sold to SNI in 2020. He then joined BetGames as CEO to lead a full company turnaround, taking the business from decline to record growth years of 50% in 2024 and 45% in 2025. In late 2024, he co-founded Autonomous Minds, an AI deeptech startup building the data infrastructure layer for the agent era. Key Topics Discussed 00:00 – How COVID wiped out 100% of HappyBet's revenue in 90 days. 03:00 – Running a seven-figure monthly OpEx with zero revenue. 06:00 – The two-column whiteboard exercise Andy used to manage the crisis. 08:00 – Why not a single person quit during COVID 11:00 – "Andy bombs": dropping unscheduled harsh truths and why it kept the team together. 13:00 – "Shock them with your honesty." Advice from mentor Armin Sageder 15:00 – Leadership is learned during days of thunder,…