By Emily Lauletta
Young entrepreneur Ben McPherron just invented the next big social platform in sports betting. Born and raised just outside of Boston, MA, McPherron has a passion for chasing new experiences in life that has taken him all over the country.
A transfer student who began his college career at Connecticut College playing on the school’s basketball team, he planned on spending his entire college career in New London, CT. It wasn’t until the 2019-2020 season, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, that McPherron started to rethink his plans. Up until that point, he always dreamed of being a collegiate athlete. But he started to wonder if there was more meaning for him in life than just basketball.
“I remember driving back to Connecticut College at the start of my sophomore year and my parents asking me, ‘Ben, are you sure you want to do this?’ and I replied back, ‘No, I’m not,’” he says.
It was then that McPherron decided to take a year off.
But the young entrepreneur was sure he didn’t want to spend his year off loafing around or wasting precious time.
Instead, he chose to hit the road. He and a few friends decided to embark on a cross-country road trip, aiming to hit all 48 continental, but ultimately reaching only 44.
Given the market equilibrium of the RV rental and purchase markets, McPherron and his friends quickly understood that they could finance a new RV that met the requirements of many asking bids online, and then sell it for just a small loss, while having a once-in-a-lifetime experience. That’s exactly what they did. With McPherron’s strong convincing, he and his parents financed a new RV, selling it for almost the same price just six months and 10,000 miles later.
This is just one of many instances that perfectly exemplify his drive, opportunistic spirit, commitment to his goals, and out-of-the-box thinking, traits that have allowed him to flourish as a McIntire student and as the Founder of an up-and-coming startup.
The cross-country road trip was no vacation, however. The Bostonite was also working remotely, producing a documentary that now lives at his old institution. The documentary, which featured McPherron interviewing people he met in each state he traveled to, showcases the importance of finding common ground and building community.
“The first question I would ask was ‘Give me your reflections on 2020 so far.’ I really just wanted to get a dialogue started,” he says. McPherron was able to talk to many different kinds of people with varied backgrounds, life experiences, and political affiliations. Amazingly, he was even able to find common ground between two people who stood on opposite sides of some of America’s most contentious issues. Across his long journey, McPherron began to better understand his passion for creating dialogues and building bridges between communities. “That’s what I’m trying to do with my company,” he says, “build a place for communities that I know to connect with one another.”
Of course, McPherron also enjoyed seeing new sites around the U.S. during his year away from home, including some of the most beautiful landscapes the country has to offer.
“I loved the Montana area,” he says. “We went across the Yellowstone Trail in our RV, and we got to see the most amazing wildlife.” It was on this trip that McPherron realized he wanted to follow a new path for the remainder of his college career to gain new and different perspectives.
On his trip, traveling with friends who were also UVA students and hearing about their experiences on Grounds, he visited the University himself. McPherron quickly knew Charlottesville was where he wanted to grow as a young entrepreneur.
“I immediately knew it was going to be an awesome place, and my draw to the school wasn’t just the academics: It was also being in Charlottesville and the social side to the school.”
McPherron stresses the importance of setting aside six or seven hours on weekends to enjoy time with his friends and spend time outdoors. Some of his favorite locations around Charlottesville are The Virginian and Trin, given that he can sit outside and still catch the games on TV.
Of course, sports is a passion that has stuck with McPherron since he was young. Not only was McPherron a collegiate athlete, but he’s a lifelong basketball fan and a part of the communities that are created from sports fandom. This is how the McIntire student got the idea for Beat the Book Inc., a first-of-its-kind social and data analytics platform for sports betting and fantasy sports.
His early interest in entrepreneurship was another draw to the Commerce School, and since his enrollment, he has reflected on all the ways his classes have kept him engaged, allowing him to continue to grow his company. “McIntire taught me to be agile in every aspect of my life,” he says.
McPherron’s professors, including Professor Eric Martin, have been integral in helping his team to solve the early bugs when first creating his digitally based company. “In class, we talk about this curve of entrepreneurship. Once you reach the rock bottom point, you see the other side of it, which Eric Martin told me about. It’s called informed optimism.” Using this method, McPherron realized his app would be best served in transitioning markets where he could cater to the sports betting community—particularly those who invent their own algorithms.
Now that he has secured investors and is completing his B.S. in Commerce, he’s excited for the possibilities that the future holds. When asked what advice he would share with future Hoos, he says, “Invest in relationships and in people, and don’t be afraid to take a risk once in a while.”
Seeing the end of his undergraduate education as bittersweet, McPherron doesn’t hold back with his gratitude for what UVA, and especially McIntire, has offered him: “Something that I was yearning for when I came here was a home, and I found a home in Charlottesville.”
