Tristan Thompson on AI Ventures, Prediction Markets

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00:00Tristan Thompson, NBA champion and entrepreneur, joined us earlier today to discuss his recent

00:05business ventures in AI, crypto, and how he's building a legacy on and off the court. Let's

00:11take a listen. It's important for athletes and I think in sports in general, right? I think

00:16people do such a, it's very disappointing and sad that they try to pigeonhole us as athletes. You

00:20know, obviously, you know, God has blessed us with amazing talents and abilities, but we're more than

00:24that, right? We're more than just athletes. We're actually business ventures, we're VCs, we're our

00:28entrepreneur, and I think that's the best way to put it. And for myself, you know, 14 plus years

00:33in NBA and still playing and playing at a high level, you look for what's next, right? What's

00:38next in life, but how can I make an impact, right? And, you know, obviously, a lot of athletes,

00:42whether they go into commentating, they go into coaching, scouting, but for me, it's like,

00:46how can I partner with companies that are about making a change in the world? How can I be an

00:51asset to help them do that? And I think with these titles and these companies, they all have a

00:57special place in my heart where it ties back to my everyday life.

01:00When you talk about how it ties back into your everyday life, one company that you're involved

01:04with is a company called Axendow. Basically, it is, you can kind of explain it for us, AI,

01:09but through the lens of sort of health equity or having a better understanding of your health

01:13and your health data.

01:14Being Canadian, being from Toronto, everyone knows that healthcare is universal. But what

01:18about universal? It doesn't mean it's the greatest. It doesn't mean it's the best. And it wasn't

01:21really until I was able to make the NBA and have the resources and opportunities to actually

01:25have my brother meet these other doctors. And especially UCLA, I give them a lot of credit

01:30and they were able to take my family in and really run tests on Amari. And what they were

01:34able to find out is that, you know, his form, the level of epilepsy he had, right? Before

01:38then, all of Amari's life, we never knew. We just said, you know, you can grow out of

01:42it. They just gave us very general data. But it wasn't until we got to UCLA and he said,

01:47you know, unfortunately, all the tests and the trials that they ran on your brother gave him

01:51brain damage. And it was unfortunate. He said, you know, if I met your guy's family,

01:54maybe five years prior, I could have gave treatments that might have given them a better

01:58form of life. And for me, that was like a trigger to me that how can I help the next

02:02family behind me not go through the same experience that I'm going through. And with AI and having

02:07your health in the palm of your hands, you can find treatments and have doctors from all

02:11over the world have access to your health data, right? And that's something for me is that

02:15I'm trying to help the ones behind me, but even people that are going through this

02:17each and every day. Looking at, you know, your background and your portfolio in particular,

02:22that there's this broader trend of AI founders and crypto founders. The lines are increasingly

02:28blurring. And it seems like the skill sets are similar. And you're a great example of that.

02:34Yeah, no, I think that's that's what we're able to do this, right? With it being on chain. And

02:37the great thing about being on chain is that you can see everything. There's no hidden agendas.

02:41There's no secrets. There's no backdoor, which obviously for most human beings before,

02:45obviously, with the administration and them pushing the narrative about, you know, Web3 and

02:50crypto. A lot of people were just unsure about it, right? And it had a bad stigma and a bad

02:53narrative of whether it was the FTX crash or just just bad stories, right? And I think now with

02:59everyone seeing these big companies and people are really pushing this on chain Web3 crypto to

03:04integrate to our everyday life, people are educating themselves and realizing that this is actually

03:08not a villain. This is actually a partner.

03:10One thing that really caught my eye was this idea that Tracy AI will deliver predictive insights as

03:16well. Does that mean that it's going to be predicting which team is going to win the game,

03:20basically? I mean, let's look at our prediction. That was basically the whole presidential run,

03:26right? But Polymarket became a big billion dollar company just from prediction market. And I think

03:32that's the trend that's going on in the world. But it's also the trend that's going to happen in

03:35sports. And for Tracy AI, she gives her predictions on who's going to win the game. And even though I

03:40created this, when we're in the playoffs playing against Indiana, she was tweeting that Indiana's

03:45going to beat the Cavs. And I'm like, I created you and you're going to go against me. You're

03:48going to go against your own founder. But the facts are the facts. And obviously, Indiana took us

03:53out and eliminated us. But I think that's the next step where prediction market in sports

03:56is the next form. It's not all the way gambling, but it's more just letting people take their chances

04:02and the odds. What are your investments looking like outside of the direct AI crypto world? I know

04:08you've been involved in, was it Cloud Popcorn and Viola and John Elliott? And I'm sure a few other

04:13things I'm forgetting. I think a tequila brand as well. 818. 818. And I know some of those are

04:17investments that kind of come through some of your family and personal connections. But how deep

04:23are you pushing, much deeper are you pushing into that space? Yeah, I look at myself as an entrepreneur

04:27and a VC. You know, I had a great exit with Poppy, the healthy drink. So I got in there

04:31in 2020, early seed rounds. Actually, it was my agent, Rich Paul brought it to me. So his

04:37connection. So it was great. So and then Rich Paul, he's everywhere. He's everywhere, man. He's

04:41working. He's a working man, which is which is motivating. He's another person that motivates

04:45me each and every day because, you know, where he's come from till now, it's been great. But

04:49for me, it's expanding your reach, right? I think that's, you know, when you when you're put on the

04:54stage and you're blessed with a certain career, whatever it may be, basketball, finance, you

04:58got to see what else is out there, right? You can't just like always keep saying, never

05:01pigeonhole yourself into one thing because you just never know your true potential, right?

05:06My physically, I'm NBA player, athletic, jump high, strong. But my mind has potential to be

05:12something else, right? Like being an entrepreneur, be someone that can create something, be someone

05:16that can help change the lives of everyday folk.

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