After leaving school, Adnan Yonathan started looking for industries he already knew and believed had room to build. Sports was an obvious place to look. He had competed in track and spent several years playing Madden NFL competitively.
His first idea became Delta Sports, an LLM-powered product he described as “ChatGPT for sports.” Within weeks, he realized the interface was not right for the market. Rather than abandon sports, he rebuilt the product around prediction market data and started finding users.
Delta still had room to grow, but Adnan gradually became more interested in building something new. That shift led him to list the business on Acquire.com. Getting there meant rebuilding the product, learning distribution from scratch, and eventually deciding how much of Delta Sports’ next stage he still wanted to lead.
From Sports Chatbot to Prediction Market Tool
Delta Sports began as an LLM-powered interface for sports questions. Users could type a prompt and receive an answer. Within a few weeks, Adnan saw two problems with that approach. He did not feel technically equipped to build that version as well as he wanted. More importantly, he concluded that chat was not the right interface for this particular market.
Rather than keep developing the same concept, he looked at how existing products approached the space and changed Delta Sports completely. The rebuilt platform used prediction market APIs to read activity across exchanges. Delta Sports could show where successful bettors were putting their money, along with their previous activity and track record. If someone placed $10,000 on the Seahawks, for example, users could see that position and decide whether to copy the bet.
Adnan used the product himself, particularly for college basketball. He says following those signals remained profitable for him over a long stretch. With so many games happening at once, he believed the sport offered more opportunities to find an edge. The pivot had given Delta Sports a much clearer use case. The next challenge was finding people who wanted it.
Turning Market Activity Into Reddit Content
With the product clearer, Adnan still had to figure out how to reach potential users. Marketing was new to him, so Reddit became an early testing ground. His first approach was exploratory: he asked people what products they already used for similar needs and watched how those communities discussed the market.
The stronger idea came from Delta Sports itself. Adnan began turning interesting activity inside the product into custom Reddit posts, often using screenshots around specific bets or market movements. A large position on a game could become a piece of content on its own, giving people something concrete to discuss rather than another generic product promotion. Because the underlying data kept changing, the product also gave him a steady source of new material.
The first posts performed well enough to keep experimenting. About a week later, one reached roughly 50,000 views and brought customers to Delta Sports. Adnan then tested posting times and paid close attention to early engagement. Sometimes he asked friends for initial upvotes, but some of his strongest posts gained traction without that help.
Why Growth Wasn’t the Only Question
Reddit had become the channel Adnan understood best, but he also experimented beyond it. He tried TikTok and live content without finding the same traction. Some live sessions were repeatedly banned, and he says he understood very little about short-form content at the time.
Looking back, Adnan believes there were easier ways to grow Delta Sports than relying so heavily on Reddit. He understands short-form distribution much better now and can see opportunities he did not know how to use then. His decision to move on was not based on believing the product had stopped growing.
What was changing was Adnan’s own interest in taking Delta Sports any further. He was becoming more drawn to building something new, and that shift in attention started to matter more than the remaining upside.
That shift eventually led Adnan to list Delta Sports on Acquire.com. He entered the process with few expectations, mainly wanting to see how buyers would respond to the business he had built.
Finding a Buyer Ready to Move Fast
Once the listing went live, buyer interest started to build. Adnan spoke with several potential buyers, and one of them wanted to move forward almost immediately. What had begun as a way to test the market was quickly turning into a serious sale conversation.
Among those conversations, one buyer stood out by moving quickly from interest to an offer. Adnan ultimately chose the strongest offer, and he also valued how straightforward the process felt. The buyer’s willingness to move quickly reinforced the decision to proceed.
One question remained unanswered even after the deal progressed: what exactly had attracted the buyer. Adnan says he does not know whether it was an interest in sports betting or something else in the product. What he did know was that the offer made sense and the buyer was ready to act.
From Offer to Close in a Few Weeks
Once Adnan accepted the offer, he focused on preparing the business for the handover. He documented how Delta Sports worked and explained the different assets included in the sale, giving the buyer a clear picture of what was changing hands.
Due diligence moved quickly, taking about four days. The escrow process added a brief delay when the transaction crossed a weekend, but the overall timeline remained short. From offer to close, Adnan estimates the acquisition took roughly two to three weeks.
The handover continued after closing. Adnan agreed to around 45 days of required support, staying available while the buyer settled into the business.
Lessons From Building and Selling Delta Sports
Looking back, Delta Sports offers a few practical takeaways from the way Adnan changed the product, found users, and eventually approached a sale.
- A pivot does not always require a new market. Adnan stayed in sports while replacing the original chatbot with a prediction market tool built around a different use case.
- Product activity can become distribution. Instead of relying on generic promotion, Adnan turned real market movements inside Delta Sports into Reddit content that brought customers to the product.
- Growth potential and founder interest are different questions. Adnan still believed Delta Sports could grow. His decision to sell came from no longer wanting to lead that next stage himself.
- Price is not the only part of an offer. Adnan chose the strongest offer, but he also valued a process that felt straightforward and could move quickly.
- Documentation does not need to be complicated to be useful. Adnan prepared straightforward notes explaining how the product worked and what assets were included, then stayed available during the transition.
For Adnan, the exit did not require believing Delta Sports had reached its limit. It required recognizing that the next phase of the business no longer matched where he wanted to put his attention.
What’s Next
Shortly before Delta Sports was acquired, Adnan started building a new mobile app that connects screen-time limits with running challenges. Users unlock selected apps by completing a run, with activity tracked directly or through Strava.
This time, he is bringing distribution into the plan earlier. Adnan has already hired UGC creators and is exploring influencer partnerships, applying what he learned about short-form content while building Delta Sports.
Thinking about what comes next for your business? Meet our team of M&A advisors and see how we can help you prepare for a successful exit.
Delta Sports now continues under new ownership, while Adnan turns his attention to a very different product. Watch the full episode on YouTube to hear the full story, and follow Adnan to see what he builds next: