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Sup fellow degens,
We are all well aware of the sobbing stories of founders of now huge companies.
“I started in a garage”, “I started in my parents’ basement”, “I had nothing to eat” etc.
These stories now feel boring because nothing compares to starting a billion-dollar company while sitting on a toilet using a bin as a table.
Check out the door btw
Funny comment I found
Shayne Coplan, the lad who created Polymarket, as of today, is the youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 27. The only member of a new “27 club”, you could say (I know it’s a lame joke, sue me.)
The way these stories always start: he dropped out of university because it was limiting his abilities, was struggling financially through Covid lockdown, having to sell his possessions to pay rent, and at 22, decided to start a prediction company in order to eat something.
Fast forward to 2024, Shayne is falsely accused of “illegal trading” and all of his electronics are seized by the FBI, all because his betting platform accurately predicted the election results taking in $3.6 billion worth of bets.
Turns out, running a betting platform on literally everything from presidential elections to pop star lyrics doesn’t sit well with the feds. Who knew?
And now, with prediction markets growing in size and relevance, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) owner, Jeffrey Sprecher put down an investment of $2 billion making Shayne the youngest self-made billionaire.
Now comes the degen part of how these two met.
Jeffrey Sprecher was ALSO falsely accused and raided by the FBI in his career, and that was exactly what made him reach out to Shayne to offer some guidance!
If not for the FBI, these two might have never met and talked big money.
There’s no moral to extract from any of this. It’s all pretty degenerate and that’s why I love it. This is just the beginning for Shayne and hopefully he doesn’t do anything to enter the original “27 club” (if you know what I mean wink wink)
Some people build companies from dorm rooms, others from bathrooms, and somehow both end up on government watchlists. The market rewards such innovative behavior, regulators panic as always, and everyone else just watches the spectacle.
It’s not exactly the American dream, but it’s definitely the modern one.
TL;DR: Dropped out, broke, built a prediction market from a bathroom. Got raided by the FBI, became a billionaire anyway. Moral of the story: when life gives you feds, make connections.
Stay degen,
Dima
Who is Menace Dima?
Look, I could bore you with my "professional bio" – you know, the whole "20+ years in the gambling industry" spiel, the $100M+ portfolio, or how I've had my fingers in every gambling pie from affiliate marketing to running major operators.
But here's what you really need to know: I'm the guy who's probably lost (and won) more money than most, has the wildest degen stories you've never heard, and still can't resist a good bet. Whether it's dropping stacks on MMA fights, grinding poker until sunrise, or testing every new casino game that hits the market – I've done it all, and I'm still doing it.
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