Adam Wexler, co-founder and CEO of daily fantasy sports website and app PrizePicks, has advice for young entrepreneurs: Do what you’re passionate about, but be prepared to fail.

“Everything I’ve done, I’ve been fortunate. I built [my] first business in the music space, but that was a failure. You have to be prepared to fail,” Wexler said.  

Wexler spoke to a crowd of about 150 professionals at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s J-Tech event on Monday, April 4, at Atlanta Tech Village. It was the third event for the tech-focused Jewish networking group.

Since 2015, the number of fantasy sports players in North America jumped from 32 million to 62 million. Riding the wave of growing fantasy sports, PrizePicks is now competing against some legacy companies. Wexler credits the success of his global, customer-centric business to innovation and flexibility. 

Government plays a role, too. Stuart Wilkinson, director of government affairs for PrizePicks, told members of a state House committee that adding fantasy sports to legal gambling in Georgia could generate $40 million to $50 million a year – and that’s on top of the estimated $100 million sports betting could be expected to raise in the state.

Sports betting legislation passed in the Senate during the 2024 Georgia legislative session but didn’t reach the House floor for a vote because Democrats and Republicans disagreed on how the taxes from sports betting should be spent. 

Legislation won’t slow PrizePicks. The company recently announced a move from Buckhead to West Midtown, and plans to expand its Georgia workforce by 1,000 during the next seven years. 

Growing up in Dunwoody, Wexler attended the Epstein School and graduated from Riverwood High School. After graduating from the University of Georgia, he was living in Athens when he started the first of several business ventures. 

Wexler went to work for Atlanta Hawks CEO Steve Koonin as a digital strategist during the 2014-2015 season, launching the “Swipe Right” campaign. It was a combination of two of his passions – sports and technology. 

“Find things that not a lot of people are paying attention to. There’s a lot of unsexy industries where there are good opportunities and a lot less competition,” Wexler said.