PrizePicks & The Hidden Jams: Adam Wexler

Adam Wexler played fantasy football since seventh grade — and turned that habit into a $4.15 billion exit. He built his first company out of a dorm room at the University of Georgia, launched a music discovery platform called Go Rankem in Athens, then pivoted into B2B SaaS with clients like Holiday Inn, IHG, Home Depot, UPS, and Coca-Cola before he ever touched sports. In 2015, he incorporated Side Prize. When the fantasy sports market collapsed under regulatory pressure that same year, he rebuilt from a shoestring budget and relaunched in 2017 as PrizePicks — built on a "stupid simple" premise: get sports fans in and out of the app in under 60 seconds. He ran it as CEO for a decade, scaled it into the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America, and in 2025 sold a majority stake to Allwyn International in a deal valued at up to $4.15 billion — without ever raising venture capital. Rather than ride off into retirement, Wexler went back to where he started: music. He's now CEO of The Hidden Jams, a nonprofit platform funded by $5 million of his own money that crowdsources deep cuts and hidden gems from artist catalogs Make sure to check out Prize Picks at: https://www.prizepicks.com/ And The Hidden Jams at: https://thehiddenjams.org/   Check out my new book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4kRKGTX Watch our mini-doc - Starting Small: The Raw Truth Behind Entrepreneurship and the American Dream: https://youtu.be/eHuq93wIxs0?si=eDB-ycngvWNapRLO Visit Starting Small Media: https://startingsmallmedia.org/ Subscribe to exclusive Starting Small emails: https://startingsmallmedia.org/newsletter-signup   Follow Starting Small: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startingsmallpod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Startingsmallpod/?modal=admin_todo_tour LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/cameronnagle   Sound is one of those things that makes or breaks a hosting experience — and we finally got it right.  We went with KICKER KB6 speakers mounted above the deck. Full-range, weather-resistant, built to throw sound across an open space without losing quality. Kicker's been in the game since 1973 — car audio, marine, powersports — and they've expanded into Home & Personal audio, with headphones, earbuds and a complete line-up of outdoor audio speakers & subs. Engineered for performance, wherever you need sound. If you're setting up an outdoor space for your home or business, and the audio isn't dialed in yet, start at Kicker.com.