This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Oh my gosh, did you see the latest episode of The Bachelor? Listen, I just couldn't believe it when April showed up in the wrong dress for the date with Baker. It was such a drama. And then later he seemed to be spending a lot of time with Kirsten in the fantasy suite. Bachelor Nation, I was so surprised. Well, I think I'm getting a little bit carried away here. Let's stay on
topic and go back to side hustle school. Welcome, by the way. My name is Chris Guillebeau. We are actually talking about The Bachelor today, but we're talking about it in relation to a listener question. Our listener is one of millions of online fans who watch The Bachelor every week, along with me. Well, maybe I don't watch every week, but I am familiar with it. This show has
countless spin-offs and she has an idea, our listener, to start an online marketplace where people bet on the outcome. There's actually a term for this. It's called a predictions market. So that's what we'll discuss in this episode. I watched The Bachelor and I want to bet on it.
Is this possible? Well, stay tuned for the question and presumably some type of answer. Hey, Chris, this is Chelsea from Reno, and I've been listening to the show for a while now. I have an idea for you that you probably haven't heard before. I want to start some kind of online marketplace where people can bet on episodes of The Bachelor. Millions of people watch the show
every week and there are countless spin-offs. My girlfriends and I are always chatting about who's going to be eliminated next and who we think is going to win. So how can I turn this into an online project? I'm thinking I won't try to bet one way or another, but instead I'll be the middle woman who facilitates the bets and takes a commission. The only problem is I have no idea how to do this.
Is there a ready-made platform that will make this very simple? Please say yes. Thanks. All right, Chelsea, thank you for the message. Definitely an idea I have not heard of before.
You're correct. This is one of the reasons why I love making the show because I get to hear about all kinds of fun, new, crazy, sometimes profitable ideas. All right, so let's break it down here. What is a predictions market? So Chelsea didn't use that term, but that's exactly what she's referring to. A predictions market is kind of like a stock exchange, but instead of betting on
whether a particular stock or security is going to go up or down, you're betting on the outcome of an event. And these predictions markets are often enabled with blockchain technology. They are still in their infancy. And so even though people have been betting on things forever, it's really interesting because there are lots of hurdles to overcome to set up an internet-based market like this. They've been around for a while, but there's still like a ways to go.
Some of those hurdles are regulatory, and others are logistical. If you just think about it like trying to set up what is essentially a stock exchange is not simple. In the US in particular, there are a lot of laws about it. And even in countries where there is less regulation, like Ireland, most people who've tried haven't been successful. So there isn't really a ready-made platform that I know of. Like I went to do some research. First of all, check out predictit.org.
That's predictit.org. It's mostly political bets based on who's going to be the next nominee for president, which party will control the Senate, and so on. It gets more granular, but that's basically what it's about. As for a ready-made platform, the one I found launched to great fanfare two years ago in a flurry of medium posts, lots of press coverage, Mashable, tech crunch, et cetera. But now it goes to a 404 page. In other words, the whole site doesn't exist.
So lots of things that come and go. But I did find a new one called calchi.com. That's with a K, K-A-L-S-H-I.com, which promises to do what the other company failed at. So you can bet on the weather in New York City. You can bet on the consumer price index, the next trade war with China, and so on. However, there was no word on The Bachelor. It was not even included in the list
of detailed topics for some reason. So maybe Chelsea should send them an email and perhaps arose with her proposal. So Chelsea, sorry, I don't have a ready-made platform for you yet. Maybe one of those resources will help. Or if you start one, I would love to hear about that.
And of course, go and place my bets. Until then listeners, thank you for tuning in. If you have a question of your own, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners. I'm so glad you're out there.
Be sure to do something for yourself today and be sure as well to come back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project
