Before his stint at Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE, Mendelson worked as an investor for the venture capital firm Accel, which invests in technology companies, in San Francisco. In June, he took a role as the chief regulatory and legal affairs officer at Novig, a newer, well-funded sports-focused prediction market. In Mishory’s eyes, this resembles the way that prediction markets “democratize” knowledge by rewarding people according to how well they perform. He also sees overlap in the appetite for risk in both DOGE and in prediction markets. Although many detractors say prediction markets’ offerings are sports betting products in disguise, the leaders of these companies aim to compete with the world’s largest commodities and futures markets.