Ryan Badger
Ryan is a co-founder of Basecomp. He spent years building ecommerce tools at Shoprocket before turning that work towards prize competitions, and he runs competition sites himself rather than only building for the people who do.
WinWink was Basecomp's first customer long before it was anyone else's example. Most of what the platform does exists because something was painful there first: ticket numbering that could not drift, instant wins committed before a ticket is sold, and a draw anyone can check for themselves.
Articles by Ryan Badger
Instant Wins vs End-of-Competition Draws: Which Model Works Best?
A practical comparison of instant wins and end-of-competition draws for prize competition operators, including customer experience, risk, cashflow and operation...
What Happens When a Prize Competition Undersells?
A practical guide for competition operators on handling undersold competitions, including terms, extensions, alternatives, customer communication and trust.
Competition Ticket Pricing: How Operators Should Think About Margins
A practical guide to pricing tickets for prize competitions, including prize cost, ad spend, ticket volume, payment fees, customer perception and margin.
How to Choose Prizes That Actually Sell Tickets
A practical guide for UK prize competition operators on choosing prizes that match audience demand, margins, marketing channels and customer trust.
What Is the Prize Competition Council? What UK Prize Competition Operators Should Know
A practical guide to the Prize Competition Council, the Voluntary Code register, what the PCC monitors and where DCMS responsibility still sits.
The Real Cost of Running a Competition Website on WordPress
A practical look at the hidden cost of running a prize competition website on WordPress, including plugins, developer time, manual work and operational risk.
Competition Website Features Checklist: What Every Operator Should Look For
A practical checklist of the features UK prize competition operators should look for when choosing or reviewing a competition website platform.
Prize Competition Payment Providers: What Operators Need to Prepare
A practical guide to payment provider readiness for UK prize competition operators, including applications, risk reviews, chargebacks and operational records.
How to Migrate a Competition Website Without Breaking Your Business
A practical migration guide for UK prize competition operators moving from WordPress, plugins, agency builds or custom systems to a dedicated platform.
How to Start a Prize Competition Business in the UK
A practical guide to launching a UK prize competition business, covering structure, prizes, platform, compliance, marketing and operations.
Why We Built BaseComp: From Running WinWink to Building Better Competition Software
Learn why BaseComp was created, combining real prize competition operator experience with deep software and ecommerce platform expertise.
Meta RMG Approval for Competition Websites: A Practical Guide
A practical guide for competition operators preparing for Meta real-money gaming approval, with key website, compliance and trust considerations.
Responsible Play Tools for Prize Competition Operators
Understand responsible play tools for prize competition operators, including customer controls, limits, support processes and risk monitoring.
Publicly Verifiable Draws Explained: Why "Trust Us" Is No Longer Enough
Learn what publicly verifiable draws are, why they matter for competition operators, and how they can increase trust beyond livestreams.
Choosing the Right Competition Website Platform
Learn how to choose the right platform for a prize competition business, including trust, operations, marketing, compliance and scale.
WordPress vs Dedicated Competition Platforms: What Operators Should Know
Compare WordPress competition websites with dedicated competition platforms and understand the operational trade-offs as you scale.
Competition Website Launch Checklist
Use this practical launch checklist to prepare a prize competition website before going live, from compliance and prizes to payments and marketing.
Free Postal Entry Routes Explained for UK Competition Operators
Learn how free postal entry routes work for UK prize competition sites and why operators need to make them genuine, clear and fair.
Lotteries, Skill-Based Prize Games and Free Draws & Prize Competitions
Understand the key UK distinctions between lotteries, skill-based prize games, and free draws & prize competitions, and why the mechanics matter more than the l...
The Voluntary Code of Good Practice Explained
A practical guide to the Voluntary Code of Good Practice for UK prize competition operators, covering customer protection, transparency and trust.
The complete guide to running provably fair competitions in 2026
Everything you need to know about cryptographic transparency, regulatory compliance, and building trust with your customers. A practical guide for UK competitio...