Ep. 221: At the intersection of sports betting and financial trading w/ Frank Li

Ep. 221 features Frank Li, Co-founder of ESX, to discuss building a next-generation sports prediction market for technical bettors. Frank shares how his background in quantitative trading led him to prediction markets, why ESX is focused on live sports trading, and how content, community, and customer feedback have fueled the company's early growth.   Hear them discuss: Frank's journey from quantitative sports betting and prediction markets to co-founding ESX, and the inspiration behind creating a trading-first sports betting platform. How ESX differentiates itself by targeting technical and semi-professional bettors with live sports trading tools, social features, and an exchange-style experience. Why Reddit, customer interviews, and more than 10,000 user conversations have been central to shaping the product and identifying real customer pain points. ESX's content-first growth strategy, generating millions of social media views and building an engaged community that converts into active users. The company's early traction, including rapid month-over-month volume growth, bootstrapping with $100,000, and plans to raise $2 million to accelerate expansion. Why Frank believes sports betting and financial trading are converging, and how prediction markets could reshape the future of sports wagering. Lessons learned as first-time founders, the value of mentorship, and how programs like Zero Labs have helped the ESX team navigate the startup journey. ESX's long-term vision to become one of the most recognized brands in prediction markets alongside industry leaders like Kalshi and Polymarket   Applications for the 2026 Affiliate Draft are now open until August 16th. Eligible startups are encouraged to apply here: https://www.alphahub.tech/programmes/affiliate-draft-2026/   Learn more 👇 ➡️ ESX website ➡️ Frank Li 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/