The Betting Startups Podcast

Ep. 187: Finding a forever home as a prediction market w/ Jake Benzaquen from ProphetX

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Ep. 187 features Jake Benzaquen, Co-Founder and CEO of ProphetX, for a deep dive into the company’s latest evolution from regulated exchange to sweepstakes model, to now filing with the CFTC to operate as a fully regulated marketplace for sports event contracts.


Hear him discuss:

  • The journey from launching in New Jersey as an OSB to building a national presence under the sweepstakes model
  • Why ProphetX is now pivoting to the CFTC model and what it means for the future
  • Lessons from scaling a sports betting exchange across multiple states
  • How product validation and customer feedback shaped ProphetX’s direction
  • Building an RFQ (Request for Quote) system for parlays, and why it’s a game-changer
  • Why ProphetX will focus on sports-first markets, and why it's not launching with political or pop culture markets
  • The two primary reasons why they decided to launch without an affiliated trading arm
  • Competing with industry giants like Kalshi, Polymarket, and DraftKings through product innovation
  • The growing cultural influence of prediction markets
  • How distribution partnerships and B2B integrations will drive user acquisition
  • Jake’s reflections on seven years of startup grit, team growth, and finding motivation for the next phase

    •  

    Catch the video version of this episode here.

     

    Learn more 👇

     

    ➡️ ProphetX website

    ➡️ Jake Benzaquen on Linkedin

     

    📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

     

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