# @blake_lawrence on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcdwtVhO_kZ
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69534922-blake-lawrence-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/cb35496f76.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-25T13:41:16.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Blake Lawrence (@Blake_Lawrence) — https://gondola.cc/Blake_Lawrence

## Caption

I told investors we need to break the law.

They gave me $5 million.

In 2014, I was asked what would turn Opendorse into a billion-dollar company.

I told them straight up: we’re gonna have to do something illegal*. At the time, college athletes couldn’t be paid for their name, image, and likeness. So the only path to a billion-dollar business was building the infrastructure for an industry that didn’t legally exist yet, and finding a way to profit on it.

In 2021, that became a reality, opening up the floodgates.

🎧@theentrepreneurs.studio full podcast link in bio. 

#CollegeSports #NIL #CollegeAthletes #Startups #NCAA
*We didn’t ACTUALLY have to do anything illegal. We just had to wait for the rules to change. And we did.

## Stats

- **Views:** 3,850
- **Likes:** 102
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 3

## Tags

ncaa, startups, nil, collegesports, collegeathletes

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