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The Wall Street Journal analyzed more than 1,100 Polymarket influencer videos and found that 70% showed fake bets — none were real — and winners would have actually lost over $166,000.
Where this was said
At 1:03:46 · chapter starts 1:03:10
Kevin describes a Wall Street Journal investigation into Polymarket's social media creator strategy: more than 1,100 videos from 10 creators were analyzed, and 70% of the bets shown were never actually placed. [1] — Kevin Roose "The Wall Street Journal analyzed over 1,100 Polymarket influencer videos across 10 creators and found that 70% of the bets shown never actu…" 1:03:10 The 118 videos showing creators winning implied nearly $900,000 in total winnings — but if those bets had been real, the same people would have lost over $166,000. Casey is delighted: the investigation inadvertently identified the only surefire way to profit from Polymarket — be the creator lying about everything in sponsored videos. Kevin adds that the other guaranteed method is insider trading, 'but that one doesn't play as well on camera.'
The Wall Street Journal analyzed over 1,100 Polymarket influencer videos across 10 creators and found that 70% of the bets shown never actually occurred. Videos showed creators 'winning' nearly $900,000 — but if those bets had been real, those same people would have lost more than $166,000. The actual guaranteed way to make money on Polymarket: be the influencer making the fake videos.
Polymarket influencer videos suggested creators won nearly $900,000 in total, but if those bets had been real, the same creators would have lost more than $166,000.
Mark Zuckerberg directed a small team at Meta to build a prediction-market app called Arena, initially using fake money but with real-money wagering not ruled out.
Mark Zuckerberg has directed a small team to build a prediction-market app called Arena, starting with fake money but with real-money wagering firmly on the table. Kevin Roose and Casey Newton predict it will inevitably integrate into Instagram and Facebook — and that a company already mired in addiction lawsuits is now deliberately chasing gambling, the most reliably addictive behavior of all.
Bhanu grew SiteGPT to $13,000 monthly recurring revenue entirely through organic channels, spending nothing on paid marketing.
More than 1 million people have visited SiteGPT's website since launch in March 2023, all through organic channels.
Approximately 90% of SiteGPT's Google search traffic comes from the free tools Bhanu built, not the main product pages.
Bhanu sold his first SaaS product, Feather, for $250,000 so he could focus fully on the faster-growing SiteGPT.
SiteGPT has generated approximately $500,000 in total revenue since its launch in March 2023.
The average customer lifetime value for SiteGPT is approximately $1,700 to $1,800, which Bhanu considers unusually high.
SiteGPT receives around 50,000 visitors per month, of which about 200 convert to leads and 60 start free trials.
SiteGPT hit $10,000 MRR within its very first month of launch, driven largely by early traction in the AI chatbot space.
Despite strong download numbers, PropGPT could not push past $1,000–$2,000 MRR due to poor product retention.
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