By: Jacob Fortinsky

This week we did something a little different. Instead of hosting a guest, I flew solo to answer some of the most common questions that have landed in my DMs and inbox over the past few weeks.

Since launching Novig and starting Linecraft, I've had the opportunity to connect with operators, players, entrepreneurs, and investors from all corners of the sports prediction world. What never ceases to amaze me is the diversity of perspectives and challenges that exist in this space. Every conversation sparks new ideas and surfaces unique puzzles to solve.

In this episode, I'm peeling back the curtain and sharing my thoughts on everything from the shifts transforming the industry to the nitty-gritty details of how Novig is carving out our unique position in the market. I'm hopeful this format will provide valuable insights and a glimpse into the vision driving us forward.

But before we dive in, be sure to check out the full episode if you prefer an audio experience over a written one. You can find the link here:

Now, let's jump into your questions!

Q: What is Novig? How does it work?

A: Novig is the first prediction market for sports. We were tired of betting against sportsbooks that take 10% cuts of winnings and limit/ban winning users, so we built a peer-to-peer exchange where you compete directly against other users in the Novig community rather than against the house.

When you place orders on Novig, you are weighing in with your own knowledge, research, and opinions on sports events, so the odds on our platform reflect what the Novig market believes is the fair value of a given event. We are distinct from traditional sportsbooks in that we allow users to offer their own odds (ie, name your own price) if you don’t like the market odds, which you can do by placing a “Make Order” on the Order Slip.  

We have two different modes: Novig Coins and Novig Cash. Novig Coins are unredeemable and are used to play for fun, and Novig Cash is a virtual currency that can be used to enter sweepstakes for the chance to win cash prizes. No purchase is necessary for Novig Cash.

Q: What’s the difference between Novig Coins and Novig Cash?

A: Novig Coins are used to play for fun. They provide the opportunity to express one’s predictions on sports events, win more Novig Coins, and compete against the Novig community. Novig Coins can be purchased in the Novig App, and they can be claimed daily or when one’s balance is below 100 Novig Coins. They are unredeemable and non-transferable.

Novig Cash is a virtual currency that is used to participate in Novig's sweepstakes. Novig Cash is free to claim and Novig Cash won from gameplay can be used to enter additional sweepstakes or redeemed for cash prizes, subject to eligibility verification, minimum and maximum redemption limits, and all requirements in the Sweepstakes Rules and Terms of Use.

It can be collected for free as a bonus with purchases of Novig Coins or via one of our alternative methods of entry. No purchase is necessary to obtain Novig Cash. Please see our Sweepstakes Rules for complete details.

Q: What makes Novig different from traditional sportsbooks?

A: We are the platform where winners play. Our research indicates that players are over 10x more likely to win on Novig compared to our competitors. On other platforms, if you are consistently winning, you are likely going to get limited or frozen out entirely. At Novig, winners are welcome.

We also offer faster in-game trading, more transparency, and a number of innovative features like Make Orders, liquidity screens where you can view multiple levels of the Order Book, position tracking, and a generous rewards program.

Q: If you're just facilitating trades between users, how does Novig actually make money?

A: It's a great question and one that gets to the heart of how we're different from traditional sportsbooks. Our revenue model is actually quite simple. We make money in two ways.

First, we act as a market maker on our own platform. That means in addition to letting users trade directly against each other, we're also providing liquidity and acting as a participant in the market. This helps keep markets active even when user liquidity is low and solves the “cold start problem” from day one.

In other words, if you want to participate in a niche market where there isn’t any counterparty, we will serve as the counterparty. In the most liquid markets — like NFL moneyline markets — we expect the vast majority of trades to be directly peer-to-peer where we don’t take a cut, but in less liquid markets, we expect most trades will be against Novig, where we will have 1-4% spreads.

Second, for our highest volume users - think professionals and hedge funds - we have a fee structure. But for the vast majority of users, we're not taking a cut at all. When two users play against each other, we're not touching the winnings. That means if you put up 100 Novig Cash and your buddy puts up 150 Novig Cash, the winner gets 250 Novig Cash, whereas on virtually any other platform the house would take 8-10% of the winnings, so you’d only get 230.

This is a complete paradigm shift in the industry. We're the only platform in the world that doesn't take a cut from most of our users' winnings. It's a game changer, and it's at the core of our mission to build the fairest, most transparent platform possible.

Q: Isn't there a conflict of interest in being both the market maker and the marketplace?

A: It's a very astute question and one we thought long and hard about when designing Novig's model. In an ideal world, we would just be a neutral marketplace and never be on the other side of a users’ trades. But the reality is, the biggest challenge for any exchange — or really any two-sided marketplace — is ensuring there's a critical mass of users, or enough liquidity, in any available market. If you come to Novig wanting to place an order, the worst possible experience is not finding anyone to trade against.

So we made the strategic decision to provide our own liquidity, especially early on and in less liquid markets, to ensure you’ll never run into that issue. And we've put strict guardrails in place to do this responsibly. As we grow, this will become less necessary and we’ll begin phasing out our internal market making.

Q: Tell us more about your rollout plans. Where will Novig be available and what’s next?

A: Our journey so far has been defined by a relentless focus on product innovation and a commitment to getting the user experience right. We began as a regulated sportsbook in Colorado at the beginning of this year, and the early traction was incredibly promising: 90% month-over-month growth, great retention, users spending hours a day on the platform.

But we also ran into some challenges. Because of the regulatory environment in Colorado, we were essentially forced to operate like a traditional sportsbook. A lot of the peer-to-peer functionality and social features that make Novig unique were off-limits.

So we made a bold decision. Instead of pressing forward as a regulated sportsbook, we pivoted to launch as a sweepstakes platform. What this means is that technically, we're not facilitating real money wagers - instead, users buy into sweepstakes contests where they can win cash prizes using a virtual currency called Novig coins.

This model allows us to launch nationwide - we’re going live in 43 states - and it gives us the freedom to build out our product exactly as we envision it, without the same regulatory constraints.

It also opens up some really exciting possibilities. We can now offer a unified liquidity pool across the entire country, rather than having to silo off each state into its own market. And we can bring Novig to users in states like California, Texas and Florida that have massive populations but limited legal betting options today.

We believe this pivot sets us up to scale rapidly, innovate faster, and deliver an unparalleled user experience. It's still early innings, but we're more excited than ever about the direction we're headed.

Q: What drove you personally to start a company in this space?

A: Founding Novig was really the culmination of a lot of different experiences and passions in my life. Growing up, I was always fascinated by markets - I started trading stocks when I was 13, got into Forex and options in high school and college, and was an active sports bettor and prediction market user.

At the same time, I was honing my understanding of the legislative and regulatory landscape through internships in politics. And of course, sports were a huge part of my life - both as a fan and as a competitor.

Novig was born out of a realization that there is over $2 TRILLION in global sports market volume each year but the industry is still dominated by legacy operators, with outdated technology and business models that just weren't serving users’ interests.

On a personal level, it also resonated deeply with my values. I'm a builder at heart, and I love sinking my teeth into complex challenges. With Novig, we have this incredible opportunity to fundamentally reshape how people interact with sports markets and usher in a new era of innovation for the industry.

And from day one, we've approached it with that underdog mindset. We know we're going up against some Goliath competitors. But that just fuels our fire and our conviction that what we're doing truly matters. It's not about a quick exit or making a quick buck - we're here to build something enduring, something that will stand the test of time.