Samuel “Sam” Porta, Startup Launch alumnus and founder of Queues, recently placed 10th in a World Series of Poker event, cashing out over $14,800 from a field of 2,500 participants. A multi-CREATE-X alumnus, Porta has participated in Startup Launch twice, as well as taking both Startup Ideas and Idea-to-Prototype. Porta’s company creates a product that uses computer vision to collect live wait times. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 2021 with a B.S. in computer science. The company received over $1 million in seed funding. Below is a Q&A with Porta.

What’s something people don’t realize about poker?

The cool thing about poker is it’s statistics. If it was a game of luck, you could not have people who consistently win and do well. When you study and you learn the edges, you play differently, and you play in ways that give you a mathematical edge over your opponents. What a lot of people don't realize is luck only plays a factor when you're looking at any given hand. 

What was your strategy while playing competitively during this poker competition?

It's that funny thing at a table; everything conveys information. For me, I always wear a face mask when I play because I'm a very expressive person. As a founder, it's a great trait, but when you're playing poker, it's not ideal. You don't want to be giving away a lot of information. I'd say it is a very social game, but it is player-dependent. If you're not paying attention, you miss information.

The first hand I played at that tournament, I knocked out a player based on information I gleaned from the table talk they were having beforehand. I was able to put him in a spot that was not theoretically correct but is what we call an exploitative deviation. 

How have you seen the risk of entrepreneurship play out for you and your peers?

I'd say it's just been really lovely seeing the growth. A lot of people who I knew, they're no longer in entrepreneurship. They tried it out and it wasn't for them, but that was the beauty of it too. It's the perfect time to experiment with that and better to know early. I've seen entrepreneurs who went into industry and then go right back at it, and others would go off and join other startups and that, for them, was the way. 

The darkest time for me from an entrepreneurship point was in 2020. We’d just won the InVenture Prize. I’d been trying for three years to win. Then the day after, there's a Georgia Tech-wide press release. People test positive for Covid-19 at the InVenture Prize; get tested. The next week, all of Georgia's in lockdown. What could have been a really big moment for us suddenly was overshadowed by a once-in-a-century pandemic. It was just one of those brutal moments. 

Life is meant to give you curveballs. Adversity is part of the journey. Is there anything else that I would rather be doing with my life? 

One of the benefits of Covid was suddenly we had all these amazing Georgia Tech students whose internships were canceled. We had 17 full-time interns working at Queues within the next month, and we outputted more over that summer in lockdown than we ever did before. 

Even if, for whatever reason, your startup fails, there's so much you've learned that you wouldn't have otherwise learned. There are so many entrepreneurs whose first three startups failed, but their fourth ones have taken off and they're doing fantastic. And that fourth one never would have succeeded if it wasn't for the first three.

How do you think CREATE-X has prepared you for high-stakes situations?

When I came to Georgia Tech, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I also had the humility to know I don't know what that means, and there's more that I don't know than I do know. 

So, for me, the CREATE-X experience was all about learning skills and methodologies that have been tried and tested. It's understanding things that past successful founders have done. They did all the successful things, but underneath the hood it was all these tiny iterations, tweaks, improvements, and small gains. It takes 1,000 steps to climb the hill. The last one is not the most important; it's just the most symbolic because you finally get there.

What resources would you suggest to those who are interested in entrepreneurship?

Good to Great by Jim Collins. The biggest thing from that book is the concept of leadership. Everyone has a place on the bus. Your job as founder is to make sure they’re sitting in the right seat. We hire people we think are great fits and once they’re there, we find where they belong. 

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. I love it because it's all taught through anecdotes. He's taking you through real-life examples of him and the FBI. It's modern negotiation theory that's been practically tested.

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't by Simon Sinek.
If you're a founder or a CEO, your job above all else is to be a leader. Unfortunately, there's not much good leadership training. It's your job to create a culture where your people can succeed.

What’s next?

We're looking to deploy in the venue space. We're in talks with the Atlanta Braves right now. We've also just launched a new product for Queues for parking. Our goal is to try and modernize and improve these spaces with this AI tech.

As we celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurs like Sam Porta, we invite you to join us for to see the next batch of founders building products to solve real-world issues. Don’t miss out on Demo Day, August 29, from 5-7 p.m. at the Exhibition Hall. It’s a chance to meet these problem solvers, explore their ideas, and perhaps even find the spark for your own entrepreneurial journey. Register today! Tickets are free but limited. We look forward to seeing you there!