On this episode of the Knup Sports activities Present, host Ryan Knuppel sits down with Dean Sisun, co-founder of ProphetX, to debate the revolutionary peer-to-peer sports activities betting change and its distinctive strategy to the betting trade. Dean shares the journey behind ProphetX, beginning along with his background in finance and keenness for sports activities betting, which led him to create a platform that challenges conventional sportsbook fashions. ProphetX permits bettors to set their very own odds and commerce straight with each other, fostering a community-driven strategy to sports activities wagering whereas addressing widespread frustrations with excessive charges and limiting practices present in conventional sportsbooks.
Dean dives into the challenges of launching a betting platform, significantly in a regulated market, and the way ProphetX shifted to a sweepstakes mannequin to supply a authorized and accessible expertise throughout 40 states. He additionally explores the platform’s concentrate on offering tighter pricing, eliminating person limitations, and fixing the basic “hen and egg” drawback in marketplaces by leveraging strategic partnerships. The dialog highlights how ProphetX is designed to coach customers, simplify peer-to-peer exchanges, and provide an revolutionary various to the sportsbook expertise.
Ryan and Dean additionally talk about the significance of community-building, early adopter suggestions, and the way forward for sports activities betting exchanges. Dean gives invaluable recommendation for aspiring entrepreneurs, emphasizing the necessity to take dangers, concentrate on a transparent imaginative and prescient, and associate with the correct individuals. Tune in to listen to extra in regards to the challenges and alternatives of disrupting the sports activities betting trade, together with Dean’s insights on innovation, regulation, and what’s subsequent for ProphetX.
Ryan Knuppel
Hey, what’s happening, all people? Ryan Knuppel right here, Knup Sports activities Present, episode 2 hundred and thirty-eight. Welcome to the present. Recognize you tuning in, as all the time. Right now we now have one other superb visitor. I can not wait to dive in.
As , we like to deliver you leaders in sports activities, gaming, and enterprise to showcase what they’re doing. These superior individuals doing superior issues. So we now have one other one for you at this time. I’m excited to try this. Hopefully, you’re having fun with the vacations, had an awesome Thanksgiving, and watched some superb soccer. The Bears sort of choked it away—loopy sport on Thanksgiving. I’m trying ahead to some Christmas basketball and all of the enjoyable over the following few weeks.
All proper. That’s about it—no actual housekeeping for at this time. No extra occasions or gaming occasions for me for the remainder of the 12 months. We’ll begin showcasing a few of these at first of twenty twenty-five. However for now, I get just a little break from touring, so I’ll be right here working a number of reveals and conserving the enterprise afloat.
With out additional ado, let’s go forward and convey on our visitor at this time. Right now we now have Dean Sisun. Dean, how are you?
Dean Sisun
I’m doing properly, Ryan. Thanks for having me on.
Ryan Knuppel
I can not wait to dive in and discuss you and ProphetX. Dean is with ProphetX. However first off, Dean, inform us just a little bit about your self—the place you’re from, what you do, and the trail that led you to ProphetX.
Dean Sisun
Pleased to. So, the place do I need to start? I’m initially from the suburbs of New York. I grew up there my complete life. I went to varsity at Vanderbilt and lived in Nashville for one more 12 months and a half after I graduated. I cherished it down there. I labored in finance and was in funding banking throughout my time there.
All the time, although, I had a deep ardour for sports activities betting. I used to be betting even in highschool and faculty. You possibly can name me an fanatic, amongst different phrases. At one level, whereas I used to be in finance, I considered this concept for ProphetX. It’s a market for bettors to commerce with one another—primarily an change the place individuals can set costs or take others’ provides.
I used to be in banking for a 12 months and a half out of faculty, then transitioned into this. My co-founder and I, who additionally went to Vanderbilt, began engaged on this when PASPA wasn’t repealed but. We began trying into this in twenty seventeen, main into twenty eighteen. When PASPA was repealed, we thought of transferring into the UK market as a result of it was absolutely authorized there.
We stated to ourselves, “Let’s launch a check market on the market whereas it’s unlawful within the US.” We had heard rumors about what the legalized US house would possibly seem like, and it sounded costly. As two twenty-three-year-olds out of faculty, we didn’t have a lot cash. So, we thought, “Let’s construct traction within the UK, increase funds, and are available again to the US.”
One factor led to a different. We’re out of the regulated market. We are actually working as a sweepstakes platform, however underneath the gist of nonetheless an change the place individuals can change with each other on their sports activities trades. So anyway, that’s just a little bit about me. Most of my background could be very ProphetX-related, however that’s how I received into this. I used to be betting for a very long time. I considered this concept in faculty. I went into funding banking after college after which finally transitioned into this.
Ryan Knuppel
Nicely, it’s humorous. Out of all of that, my very first thought was, did you ever get to march down Broadway in Nashville holding a victory publish whenever you went to Vanderbilt? Or did you miss out on that journey whenever you have been there?
Dean Sisun
I’m attempting to consider our greatest win. Our greatest win was in opposition to Georgia at dwelling. Really, I’ll again up much more. My first sport was in twenty 13. We have been taking part in Ole Miss. It was the primary Thursday when faculty soccer began. All of the freshmen ran onto the sphere earlier than the sport—it was unbelievable. We have been so excited.
We took the lead late within the fourth quarter with a couple of minute left. Jordan Matthews, when you bear in mind, caught a fourth-and-sixteen move. I can’t even bear in mind who our quarterback was. Anyway, we took the lead by 4, however Ole Miss ran a stretch play on their first drive and took it seventy-five yards for a landing. I’ve loathed them ever since.
Anyway, the purpose of my story is in regards to the Georgia sport. I used to be there for a couple of quarter and a half. It was an early sport, we have been tailgating, and I used to be exhausted. It began raining, and I believed, “I’m not staying right here within the rain to observe us get killed.” I went dwelling, handed out, and woke as much as discover out we had received. That was the largest win of my Vanderbilt profession, and I missed all the sport.
I might have cherished to hold that victory publish down Broadway or, higher but, into our yard off-campus home. What a scene that will’ve been!
Ryan Knuppel
What a narrative! Faculty sports activities are superb. It reveals the eagerness and pleasure surrounding these moments. It makes me just a little jealous since I went to a smaller college that wasn’t actually football-focused. However hey, I assume we are able to all stay it by fandom.
Let’s shift gears and discuss extra about ProphetX. I’ll pull up the positioning right here. Why don’t you develop on what you’re doing intimately? What sports activities are you working in, and what’s your total strategy with ProphetX?
Dean Sisun
Yeah, so intimately, ProphetX competes in opposition to the standard sportsbook mannequin, proper? The normal sportsbook mannequin provides minus one ten on spreads and fairly excessive VIG throughout markets. The VIG solely will increase as outcomes are parlayed collectively. The rationale for that is that you just, as a person, are betting in opposition to the sportsbook. It’s you in opposition to them. So it’s of their finest curiosity to win cash and to fastidiously assess every person’s profile, which might impression who will get to play on their platform.
With us, all the things is peer-to-peer. You possibly can see costs are so much tighter than the standard minus one ten spreads. Moreover, there’s no limiting or banning of customers as a result of we act as intermediaries, accumulating a fee on the quantity that is available in. On our web site, you can even request your personal worth. You possibly can alter the chances and the stakes to your desire, which provides customers a stage of management not out there on conventional sportsbooks.
Our sports activities menu is a operate of our neighborhood dimension. On a peer-to-peer web site, you may solely place motion on occasions the place others are keen to take a worth. As our neighborhood has grown, so has our sporting menu, and you may see that mirrored within the broader vary of obtainable choices.
Ryan Knuppel
Let’s develop on that as a result of I’ve heard frustrations from others utilizing peer-to-peer platforms. For instance, somebody would possibly need to make a wager with higher odds, but when the wager doesn’t get stuffed, they’re left disenchanted. How do you deal with that frustration?
Dean Sisun
That’s a basic chicken-and-egg drawback with any market. I’ve spoken about this on different podcasts and sometimes reference Uber and Lyft as nice examples of fixing this situation. With out drivers, you wouldn’t have riders, and with out riders, you wouldn’t have drivers. To repair this, they initially paid drivers to sit down and look forward to riders, guaranteeing a great expertise for customers. As soon as {the marketplace} was established, they not wanted to try this.
For us, loads of the liquidity you see on the positioning—just like the greenback quantities underneath every set of odds—comes from service suppliers. Consider these suppliers like institutional funds however for sports activities buying and selling. They’ve an curiosity in buying and selling on exchanges. They supply us with odds suggestions and point out how a lot cash to placed on every final result. In change, we provide them discounted providers. This strategy helps get {the marketplace} began, permitting customers to request their very own costs and have a greater probability of getting them stuffed. As soon as the occasion is began, so to talk, the flywheel begins turning, and liquidity builds naturally.
It’s value noting that if a person asks for a worth that’s unfair for the opposite facet, or if the quantity strikes in opposition to them, it may not get stuffed. However for honest costs, the expertise is mostly very constructive.
Ryan Knuppel
Nice reply. That makes loads of sense. I used to obsess over bets not getting stuffed, however now I feel, “If it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be.” Let’s shift gears a bit. You talked about sweepstakes earlier. Some individuals would possibly marvel how that’s authorized or the way it differs from different betting operators. Are you able to clarify sweepstakes and the legality behind them, in addition to the place individuals can play?
Dean Sisun
Positive. First, I’ll say that I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t dive too deeply into the authorized features. However at a floor stage, we’re stay in forty states. Sweepstakes are essentially totally different from conventional regulated betting websites. What we provide is a free-to-play service with a social foreign money. Hooked up to that may be a sweepstakes service the place customers can win actual prizes by coming into with sweepstakes foreign money.
This idea has existed for a very long time. I imagine VGW launched the primary sweepstakes on line casino again in twenty ten. The on line casino facet of sweepstakes is way extra common than the sports activities facet, although the sports activities house is rising with a number of key gamers coming into. The rationale we selected this path is that the regulated mannequin isn’t constructed for startups. It’s centered on short-term tax income and shopper safety, which comes with important prices—prices which are prohibitive for startups.
The primary cause startups fail is working out of cash. We felt that ache when working in New Jersey. Launching in extra states would have been much more costly, so we pivoted to the sweepstakes mannequin. Customers can nonetheless use our platform as an change, however there are alternative ways to put it to use, such because the free-to-play and sweepstakes elements. It’s a bit nuanced, however hopefully, that gives some readability on why we made the change.
Ryan Knuppel
That’s actually useful. I feel lots of people are listening to the time period “sweepstakes” extra lately, so your insights on the way it matches into ProphetX are invaluable. Thanks for sharing!
Ryan Knuppel
Let’s discuss just a little bit about your neighborhood since you talked about neighborhood earlier, and I’m assuming being a peer-to-peer and really social kind expertise, the expansion of a neighborhood is essential. Let’s discuss your neighborhood and the way you’re engaged on constructing that and rising that.
Dean Sisun
Yeah, so it’s a great query as a result of it’s a distinct reply relying on what part you’re in, proper? I feel once we have been in New Jersey, part one was simply educating individuals on the change—a hundred percent. Somebody’s going to return onto the positioning, they usually’ll have thirty seconds to determine it out. In any other case, you lose their consideration, and also you’ll by no means see them once more. So it was very product-oriented. It nonetheless could be very product and training oriented.
However now that we now have extra of a base that enjoys utilizing our web site, loads of it’s understanding why they’re utilizing it after which constructing the positioning to serve these earlier adopters. At that time, you can begin constructing extra flywheels from there. In order that’s primary.
Quantity two is, truthfully, it’s not a brilliant horny reply, however spending cash to get the phrase out there may be big, proper? We’ve seen our early numbers, they’re robust, and we like what we now have. However how can we make this for the plenty? Is it constructed for the plenty? Our imaginative and prescient is to make the change mainstream—to compete with sportsbooks, but in addition complement them.
How can we get there? Once more, the non-sexy reply is spending cash for consciousness. We now have a giant plan for a way we’re going to try this, who we’re going to work with, and the correct individuals to associate with. It begins with getting the product proper for that preliminary neighborhood after which getting the messaging proper afterward.
Ryan Knuppel
I’m positive you do have a giant plan. Let’s discuss just a little bit about this plan with out diving too deep—not essentially the advertising facet, however simply generally with ProphetX. What are you guys trying to do within the close to future? What’s the sport plan seem like? Is it so simple as simply constructing the neighborhood, or do you could have some issues within the pipeline?
Dean Sisun
I might like to. So, , I don’t know what number of listeners have used our web site, however there’s sure friction on the positioning proper now that you just ceaselessly run into. Primary is simply cleansing up some errors.
Quantity two is when you’re buying and selling on either side of an final result—let’s say Rams vs. 49ers on Thursday night time—and you’re taking the Rams at +125 at first of the sport and need to commerce out of your place, you are able to do that, however you would want to deposit or buy extra funds on a standard sportsbook. With us, what we need to do is can help you commerce out of that place while not having so as to add more cash. Basically, our web site would learn your internet place, and your pockets would operate accordingly. So, in case you have positions on either side, there’s a worst-case situation the place you wouldn’t want $100 on both sides. Your pockets would mirror that worst-case situation. That’s a giant characteristic we’re specializing in.
By way of the plan, with out divulging an excessive amount of, it’s actually about working with the correct individuals—people who find themselves purchased into the change and perceive it. That’s key. In the event you don’t associate with the correct individuals, customers might need misconceptions in regards to the change, they usually could not prefer it or come again. Educating these early companions is crucial, and it’s why we’ve employed individuals on our crew to try this. However total, it’s about enhancing the product and executing the plans we now have in place.
Ryan Knuppel
Very cool. Superb. It appears like an incredible platform. I’m excited to dive in and take a look at it. I’ll admit I haven’t used it but, however I’ve checked out it and checked it out. I’ll dive in quickly. A few follow-up questions right here. A lot of the listeners of this present are most likely extra B2B kind listeners—different companies, leaders, or CEOs doing superb issues on this trade all of us love.
So right here’s my first query: What recommendation do you give different co-founders, leaders, or startups who admire the place you’re at and need to get there? And second, what ask do you could have? What do you want from individuals who would possibly need to work with you or assist out?
Dean Sisun
The ask I might have for the neighborhood is, primary, what would you do otherwise when you regarded again 5 years in the past at how your product formed up? I do know what my reply could be, however I’d love to listen to how others view it. Quantity two, the place do you see the house going as an entire? That’s what I’d prefer to know from leaders on the market.
By way of working with others, as an operator, it’s binary—are you able to assist us get extra clients and extra income or not? It’s virtually solely centered on the advertising facet for us proper now. So, if anybody out there may be an affiliate and needs to work with us, I encourage you to succeed in out.
For recommendation to startups or leaders, I’d say take into consideration the place you see your self in 5 years and the place your organization might be in 5 years. Additionally, take extra probabilities than you’re comfy with. That’s one thing I take into consideration so much when reflecting on my journey. Quitting my job in finance and beginning a sports activities playing firm at twenty-three years previous was a giant probability, however truthfully, I want I took much more probabilities alongside the best way. In the event you’re a youthful firm, take into account how one can push your self to take dangers you’re not even fascinated with proper now.
Ryan Knuppel
Superb recommendation, Dean. Actually respect you sharing that. Any final phrases? Something we missed or that you just need to cowl earlier than we wrap up?
Dean Sisun
Good query. I’m very curious to listen to your product suggestions when you attempt it, so preserve me posted. However no, I feel you coated all the things fairly properly, particularly on your viewers. I additionally respect that you just pulled up the positioning in the course of the podcast, which is exclusive to among the podcasts I’ve been on earlier than. I loved my time right here.
Ryan Knuppel
Completely. I want you all of the success on this planet, Dean, and I can’t wait to have you ever again sooner or later to debate your successes. Congrats on all the things, and better of luck transferring ahead.
Dean Sisun
Sounds good. Thanks for having me on, Ryan.
Ryan Knuppel
Take care. All proper, that was Dean Sisun of ProphetX. What an incredible story he has, and it appears like an unimaginable web site. Like I stated, I can’t wait to dive in and play. Hopefully, you all received some worth from this. In the event you’ve performed on ProphetX, I’d love to listen to your suggestions. If not, we’ll put hyperlinks within the present notes, together with contact particulars for Dean.
Bear in mind, Dean’s final piece of recommendation for up-and-coming founders and leaders: take extra probabilities than you’re comfy with. I completely relate to that recommendation now in my entrepreneurial journey. You’ll by no means remorse taking probabilities, so take them and see the place they lead you.
That’s a wrap on episode 2 hundred and thirty-eight. I actually respect all of the help. If I don’t discuss to you all within the subsequent few weeks, have an awesome vacation. See you at first of the brand new 12 months. Till subsequent time, I’m Ryan Knuppel. Take care and keep protected.
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