From Poker Champion to AI Pioneer: How David Daneshgar is Revolutionizing Business Communication

David Daneshgar’s journey from World Series of Poker champion to tech entrepreneur exemplifies the perfect blend of calculated risk-taking and innovative thinking. As the co-founder and CEO of Whippy AI, Daneshgar has leveraged his unique background in professional poker – where he clinched a World Series title in 2008 – to pioneer an AI-powered communication platform that’s transforming how businesses interact with their customers. His transition from reading opponents at the poker table to reading market opportunities has led to the creation of a solution that’s addressing critical communication bottlenecks across multiple industries.

In an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur Loop, Daneshgar shares his fascinating journey from the poker tables to the startup world, revealing how his experience in high-stakes decision-making has shaped his approach to entrepreneurship. The founder’s innovative platform, which combines Voice AI agents with comprehensive communication tools, is already helping businesses achieve up to 80% reduction in manual support work while ensuring no opportunity slips through the cracks.

1. Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.I’m David Daneshgar, the co-founder and CEO of Whippy AI and co-founder of BloomNation. I started my career as a professional poker player and won the World Series of Poker in 2008. That background taught me how to manage risk, stay disciplined under pressure, and bet big when the odds were right. Over the last decade, I’ve applied those principles to building technology companies that solve communication bottlenecks for businesses.

2. Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?
Whippy is an AI-powered communication platform built for industries where speed and efficiency matter—like staffing, pharmacies, real estate, and law. Our platform includes SMS, email, WhatsApp, VoIP, and most importantly, Voice AI agents that engage with leads, patients, and applicants in real time. Our Voice AI agents can handle interviews, patient intake, legal screening, and customer follow-ups 24/7. They speak multiple languages, can fill in CRMs and ATSs, and are customizable by industry. In many organizations, we’ve seen them cut down up to 80% of manual support and data entry work—freeing up human employees to focus on higher-value, income-producing tasks.

3. What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?
I come from a small business family—my cousin is a dentist, my brother is a PI lawyer. I watched them constantly miss opportunities because they weren’t able to answer the phone or follow up in time. One day I thought, “What if that missed call was a million-dollar case?” Or a patient who never returned? That moment pushed me to build something that would make sure no opportunity slipped through the cracks—no matter the industry or time of day.

4. What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?
One of the biggest early challenges was skepticism around Voice AI agents. Customers were used to generic bots that didn’t work well. So we started small: we gave teams internal test environments where they could try the AI on low-risk calls. One of our first breakthroughs came with a staffing agency. They were only screening 400 applicants per month and missing 60% of their inbound leads. After deploying our AI agent, they started touching 100% of applicants in under a minute, scaled to screening 1,000 applicants monthly, and saved 88% on their screening costs. That case study became a turning point.

5. How did you identify a gap in the market or need that your business fulfills?
We ran a test where we applied to 200 staffing firms as the perfect applicant. Over 40% never responded. The vast majority of the rest never followed up beyond the first message. They were literally burning ad dollars. It was a high-volume, multilingual communication problem—perfect for AI. Many of the applicants spoke Spanish and recruiters didn’t. That mismatch created a massive opportunity to automate outreach and engagement in a way that scaled with zero drop-off.

6. What have been your key strategies for growth and gaining traction/users?
Our strategy is to focus deeply on one industry at a time. We find a market with strong product-market fit, land a key ambassador or lighthouse client, run a measurable test, create a case study, then build an internal playbook around that industry. From there, we double down with trade shows, key integrations, and a specialized team that speaks the industry’s language. We’ve seen this work across staffing, pharmacies, real estate, and now legal—with expansion into other high-volume service sectors coming soon.

7. How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?
Our Voice AI is at the top of the market—it supports inbound and outbound calls, customizable voices, multilingual conversations, and fills in ATSs and CRMs in real time. But what really sets us apart is the platform around it. Whippy is not just Voice AI—it’s a full communication suite: omnichannel inbox (SMS, email, WhatsApp), VoIP dialers, and sales automation. Because everything is integrated, it works together: if an AI agent qualifies a hot lead, it can instantly transfer the call to a rep via our VoIP. That same contact can get follow-ups via SMS or email—all tracked and managed in one place. The power isn’t just in the AI—it’s in the system that surrounds it.

8. What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?
Smart, hardworking, and determined founders usually succeed—but only if they commit fully. You can’t have a backup plan. And don’t fall in love with your product—fall in love with the problem. Talk to users more than investors, ship fast, test constantly, and treat momentum like gold. Entrepreneurship is a compounding game—and consistency beats genius every time.