Draft Day · An investing game for a semester
Think like an investor, not a bettor.
Most stock market games reward the gamble: trade every day, chase the hot tip, top the leaderboard. Draft Day rewards the reasoning. Teams build a $50,000 portfolio over five rounds, write a thesis for every pick, and hold what they buy. At the end, the class sees how much risk each pick took and what it returned, next to the S&P 500.
Thesis
“People keep paying for the membership even when money is tight. That loyalty should keep sales growing for years.”
Wrong if
Membership renewals start falling.
COST
Costco Wholesale
Why it's different
The habits a typical stock game teaches, and what Draft Day teaches instead.
The rules
Five rounds, one business each.
01
You start with $50,000
Anything not invested stays in cash. Each pick is at least $1,000.
02
The teacher opens each round
Stocks and funds on US exchanges count, including index funds and ETFs. Nothing under $5 a share.
03
Every pick needs reasoning
A two-sentence thesis, the risk you think you're taking, and where you think the price ends up.
04
Draft day reveals
When a round closes, the class sees every pick and every thesis. Then the next round opens.
The receipt
At the end, every student gets the honest version.
- Their thesis for each pick, word for word
- The risk they assumed, and the swings the stock really had
- What they predicted, and what happened
- What $50,000 in the S&P 500 did over the same days
Draft Day runs inside The Launchpad.
Teachers turn it on for a class, choose teams or individuals, and open each round when they're ready. It pairs with the Investing unit or runs across a semester.