LeBron or Steph? Ovechkin or Crosby? Sale or Scherzer? Daily fantasy sports players rifle through these questions as they ponder how best to set their lineups. Myriad tools exist to inform those decisions—web sites, podcasts, magazines, network shows—but most of them are reliant primarily on the opinion and cursory statistical observation or analysis of their writers and presenters.
Enter Jarvis Nederlof, 28, and Michael Zaneri, 27. They are students at 42 Silicon Valley, a coding academy in Fremont, Calif. that aims to change how young people learn computer science. They are also sitting squarely at a very intriguing junction between science, technology, engineering, arts, and math education (STEAM) and sports. A little more than a year ago Nederlof and Zaneri developed an AI-based solution to predict and optimize DFS lineups. Dubbed “Project Alea,” their subscription-based service offers players in daily fantasy competitions a true edge.
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