High-Stakes Poker Legend → Founder, Investor, Builder
Cole South once sat across from Phil Ivey, battling for six-figure pots with nothing but nerve, math, and instinct. Today, he's playing a new game — one with no cards, no dealers, and no ceiling.
After turning a $50 online deposit into millions, Cole did something few in poker ever do: he walked away on top.
Why?
Because he realized the biggest leak in poker isn't variance.
It's time.
"You're not building an asset in poker — if anything, you're building a growing liability."
So he sandboxed his poker hours, retired from high-stakes, and went all-in on business.
First came BirdRock Baby — an e-commerce brand that quietly racked up millions in sales by doing one thing better than everyone else: caring more. Then Gold BJJ — a martial arts brand that caught fire when Mark Zuckerberg showed up to a jiu-jitsu tournament wearing their gear.
Mark Zuckerberg wearing Gold BJJ gear
He didn't stop there. Cole co-founded and invested in startups like DraftDay, Expert Insight, and Hold'em Manager. He bet early on tech and fintech — names like Addepar and Ramp — and built a portfolio the same way he built his poker career: edge first, ego last.
Now, he's known for something bigger than poker — his frameworks for turning obsession into leverage.
In his now-famous "Sandbox Your Poker Time" thread, Cole laid out the playbook for every rounder who feels the tug toward something more:
Find your why.
Build something real.
Go all in again — just in a different arena.
Because the same drive that wins hands can build empires… if you learn to play the right game.
At Rounders to Founders, Cole will break down what it takes to transition from playing for chips to playing for equity — and how to use that "degenerate level of focus" that once crushed tables to now build companies that print freedom.
If you've ever stared at the felt and thought, "What's next?"
Cole South is your answer.