Most people know her as @Mscryptomom on Twitter, but Brenda Gentry is quietly becoming one of the industry’s top leaders in web3.
She got into the space during the pandemic and has since grown a major community leveraging Twitter.
Currently, she’s building a web3 sports betting platform called Bundles Bets and has plans to combat companies such as DraftKings & Fanduel.
In this sitdown, we discuss how she differentiated herself in the space to build a huge brand, what Bundles Bets is, and how it started as well as a few crypto price predictions.
Vetted Sports
Tell us, how did you originally get into the web3 space?
Brenda Gentry (MsCryptoMom)
I had been in banking for almost 20 years, but I got into crypto and web3 because of my daughters. My oldest, who was supposed to be studying computer science, just didn’t care for it so she was deciding that maybe another technology was more interesting. So then she got into trading crypto, and I just saw the gains. And as a family, we got in together because we were, at that time, still under the same roof because of COVID. So it was very fun at that time for all of us to get into a new thing.
Vetted Sports
I read that you jumped into the space headfirst and started your company without a plan B. What was your mindset when you were doing that?
Brenda Gentry (MsCryptoMom)
It was funny because, in 2019, I had been thinking that I needed something new. I was going up the corporate ladder, but I felt like I had gone as far as I wanted to, and just didn’t feel like okay. I wanted something different and 10 years before that I had been an entrepreneur. I won awards from the Small Business Administration for a mortgage company that I had started back then. We went on to do six or seven figures in the first year so I knew that entrepreneurship was something I wanted to go back into. When this opportunity presented itself, I didn’t even think twice I just put the money that I had set aside into different altcoins and Bitcoin at that time.
Vetted Sports
You’ve been able to carve out a niche and a pretty strong audience in the web3 space. What was the thinking process behind this? Did you have like a strategy about how you went about that or was it just organic?
Brenda Gentry (MsCryptoMom)
That’s a good question. My daughter’s always joked because they told me to get on Twitter, and I only had about 100 followers for like 3, or 4 years. Every time I tried to say something on Twitter and show it to them, they’d be like, “Mom, that’s lame. Just delete your Twitter already.” So to them, the fact that I grew a brand so fast, was a surprise. What happened that year is everybody was home and most people or most moms, were just looking for something else to do. Personally, I had got tired of the crypto politics and I just was like, “I just need my brain focusing on something more motivational.” There were so many crypto bros and none of them looked like someone I would listen to personally. So I wanted to show that there were more than just crypto bros who got into Bitcoin. That’s why I was like, “I’m just gonna show my face.” Before people said, “Oh, no, nobody shows their faces on Twitter.” I even gave myself the name Crypto Mom and that was very bold at that time because crypto was not something people wanted to be affiliated with, per se. So that’s why people started following me. I guess they realized I was different and that I was not here to just be in during the bull market and be gone.
Vetted Sports
Tell me more about Bundles Bets. How did you get the idea as well and what is the problem that you’re aiming to solve?
Brenda Gentry (MsCryptoMom)
The opportunity presented itself in 2020. I was just an investor at first and was buying different tokens like everybody else. Some of them did well, and some of them didn’t. I really stayed very close to the founder of a token that stood out to me and he decided he was done with DeFi. I happened to be one of the top wallet holders for the token at that time and he told me this was the highest market it was going to be for about two years and that I needed to plan accordingly, even though I didnt believe him. So when he was getting out, I said to him I’ll take over the platform, and I’ll change it into sports betting because my family and I love sports. Before it was just prediction markets. So I took it over, put the developers in there, and put a lot of my own money in not knowing that we had a bear market coming. But yeah, I started building it and there weren’t too many sports betting platforms at that time in web3. The ones that were, we’re not looking to get licensed. At least not in the US. A lot of them were just staying offshore and just doing what they got to do just to make a quick buck. I wanted to do things differently. I want to be able to compete with the monopolies like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Vetted Sports
What has it been like building during the bear market?
Brenda Gentry (MsCryptoMom)
It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. I had planned and I had a budget, but when the bear market happened, everybody on my team depended on me, and I just didn’t want to let families go. Not only did we have Bundles Bets, but my daughters were also leading our media marketing company. So we had people on that side as well. We didn’t want to lose people, especially with Bundles Bets so it got really challenging. A lot of the VCs that I was applying to were cautious because of the markets and FTX. SBF was also building something similar to what I was building. He was building a sportsbook. So most of the VCs I was going to were like, “Oh, we’re gonna hold off and wait until we see what SBF is doing.” Come to find out, his sportsbook was really crappy. Nobody even uses it. So I had to redo my pitch deck and go back and say, “Hey, I’m already licensed in five states and I’m already doing pushing development more than most sportsbooks have.” So when I realized, I spent most of the money from my own pocket, I had to be realistic with myself and say, “Hey, it’s time to seek investors and, seriously, pay attention to the markets until we get back to a bull market.”
Vetted Sports
As far as the long-term vision, where do you see the platform within the next five or 10 years?
Brenda Gentry (MsCryptoMom)
I think we’re gonna be one of the pioneers in the web3 space. Being a female CEO, and having a type A personality, I’m a go-getter. I have a very strong personality. So it’s an industry that I know I can get in and I can make a difference even though it’s male-dominated. A lot of these laws that pertain to sports betting are lumped into like gambling. Sports betting is not gambling. It should be a game of skill. I’ve been talking to a lot of the leaders in different states about how there need to be some changes in how we lump up sports betting, horse racing, and casinos. Sports betting is different. There are so many things that go into sports betting than just throwing your money and assuming that the Golden State is going to be the next champion. So I’m going into the industry, not just to make a difference but also want to change how they look at us in the industry.
Vetted Sports
Speaking about visions, what’s your ETH and Bitcoin price prediction for five years from now?
Brenda Gentry (MsCryptoMom)
2028, right? I would say that ETH will definitely be around $10,000, but I don’t want to use the word definitely because I did that with Bitcoin last year, then we had so many black swan events that we couldn’t predict like Ukraine and China or Terra Luna and FTX. Those are so many black swan events that nobody saw coming, but at least in the next eight years, I think ETH should be at $10,000 and Bitcoin definitely be at $250,000.
Vetted Sports
Well, let’s hope you’re right. Last, but not least, let us know where is the best way for people to connect with you and even learn more about Bundles Bets.
Brenda Gentry (MsCryptoMom)
I’m on Twitter and Instagram @MsCryptoMom1. Bundles Bets is www.BundlesBets.com
