Nik Bonaddio
{{short description|American Internet entrepreneur|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nik Bonaddio
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| birth_name = Nicholas Bonaddio
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| nationality = American
| alma_mater = Carnegie Mellon University
| occupation = internet entrepreneur
| known_for = Founder of numberFire, Chief Product Officer at FanDuel
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| website = [http://www.nikbonaddio.com/ nikbonaddio.com]
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Nik Bonaddio is an American Internet entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of the sports analytics site numberFire. In 2017, he was named Chief Product Officer at FanDuel, who acquired numberFire in September 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://www.king5.com/article/news/nation-now/super-bowl-draftkings-fanduel-launch-new-games-with-1m-jackpots/465-c9f6c8cb-218f-46b8-9edd-07238ab19a68|title=Super Bowl: DraftKings, FanDuel launch new games with $1M jackpots|access-date=2018-02-26|archive-date=2018-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226211832/http://www.king5.com/article/news/nation-now/super-bowl-draftkings-fanduel-launch-new-games-with-1m-jackpots/465-c9f6c8cb-218f-46b8-9edd-07238ab19a68|url-status=dead}}
Career
After graduation, Bonaddio began work at Yahoo! as a software engineer.{{cn|date=September 2021}} Bonaddio founded numberFire in 2009, after a successful appearance on ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with Regis Philbin.{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/09/20/numberfire-raising-seed-round-to-build-the-last-fantasy-football-tool-youll-ever-need/ |title=NumberFire Raising Seed Round To Build The Last Fantasy Football Tool You'll Ever Need |work=TechCrunch |date=20 September 2011 |accessdate=24 September 2013 |first=Rip |last=Empson}} During the show's 10th anniversary run, Bonaddio won $100,000, which was then used to found numberFire.
Since its founding, numberFire has grown to over 600,000 subscribers and has gained recognition in the marketplace for accurate predictions, including correctly predicting winners of the Super Bowl and the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.{{cite news|url=https://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/02/03/numberfire-predicts-the-super-bowl-winner/|title=NumberFire predicts the Super Bowl winner |work=TheNextWeb |date=3 February 2011 |accessdate=24 September 2013 |first=Courtney |last=Boyd Meyers}}
numberFire was purchased by FanDuel in September 2015. Terms were not disclosed.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/19/fanduel-acquires-numberfire/|title=FanDuel Acquires Sports Analytics Company NumberFire|website=TechCrunch|date=19 August 2015 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-23}}
After spending three years as the Chief Product Officer at FanDuel, Bonaddio left in 2020 to start BigBrain, an online gaming company.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/06/bigbrain-launch-seed-funding/|title=BigBrain aims to bring live mobile trivia back to glory|website=TechCrunch|date=6 May 2021 |language=en-US|access-date=2022-11-17}}
Education
Bonaddio was raised in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a suburb in the North Hills neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and graduated from nearby North Allegheny Senior High School. During his time at North Allegheny, he was featured multiple times in local newspapers for awards received for his online design collective, Lockjaw and was active in the soccer and tennis programs.
He received a B.S. in 2004 from Carnegie Mellon University in Information Systems, followed by a M.S. in Information Systems Management in 2005.{{cite news |title=numberFire: The Team |url=https://www.numberfire.com/info/the-team/ |accessdate=24 September 2013}} During his time at Carnegie Mellon, he was a two-time All-American athlete and record holder in track and field{{cite news |title=Carnegie Mellon University Men's Track |url=http://athletics.cmu.edu/sports/mtrack/records |accessdate=24 September 2013}} and a member of the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity.{{cite news |date=19 August 2009 |title=Brother wins big on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" |work=Kappa Delta Rho Fraternity |url=http://www.kdr.com/news.asp?ID=24 |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
Awards
A prominent member of the emerging NYC tech scene, Bonaddio has been featured in a variety of publications and conferences. In addition to routinely contributing to ESPN, he has been featured in Sports Illustrated in 2011,{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1189605/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131017100412/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1189605/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 17, 2013|title=A Game Of Risk |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=4 August 2011 |accessdate=24 September 2013 |first=Will |last=Carroll}} FastCompany in 2012, and Under30CEO and Entrepreneur magazine{{cite news|url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226710|title=An Analytics Platform That Has Mastered Sports Predictions |work=Entrepreneur Magazine |date=23 May 2013 |accessdate=24 September 2013 |first=Michelle |last=Juergen}} amongst others in 2013.
Other ventures
In addition to his professional life, Bonaddio is also a highly-ranked and successful high-stakes daily fantasy sports player. In 2022, he finished 3rd in FanDuel's World Fantasy Baseball Championship, and 1st in FanDuel's World Fantasy Football Championship. In March 2023, Bonaddio also finished 1st in FanDuel's World Fantasy Basketball Championship, becoming the first non-professional in the industry's history to win back-to-back live final titles, as well as the first to finish in the top three in three straight finals.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.nikbonaddio.com/ Official website]
- [http://www.numberfire.com/ Company website]
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Category:American computer businesspeople
Category:Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy alumni
Category:21st-century American businesspeople
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