The Game Plan

Rob Dyrdek may be best known as a TV personality for his hit shows Rob & Big, Fantasy Factory and Ridiculousness, but prior to his rise on the small screen, Dyrdek was making money as a professional skateboarder. Dyrdek grew up in a small town in Ohio and began skateboarding at the age of 11. His passion for skating eventually brought him to Los Angeles where his ability to draw sponsorship provided a steady income and set the stage for a career in entertainment.

Dyrdek parlayed his ability to draw sponsors into multiple business opportunities, including the ownership of a skateboard company of his own. He then went on to launch the Street League Skateboarding competition and enterprise which has grown into an international sports media and entertainment property.

Labeled as one of the "most influential skateboarders of all-time", Dyrdek has fused together his passion for art, science and creativity, to launch the Dyrdek Machine; a venture creation studio that partners with idea-stage entrepreneurs. The company acts as a co-founder by providing hands-on expertise, process, and amplification to help build and launch consumer products alongside entrepreneurs.

The Game Plan is a weekly SportTechie podcast hosted by venture capitalists Jay Kapoor and Tim Katt. The show features professional athletes and their business interests beyond sports.

You can follow us on Twitter (@thegameplanshow) and Instagram (@gameplanshow) for show news and updates, to recommend guests, and for bonus content! Follow co-hosts Jay Kapoor (@JayKapoorNYC) and Tim Katt (@Tim_Katt) for all things sports, media, tech, and venture capital.

Question? Comment? Story idea? Let us know at [email protected]

Roger Mason Jr. has always been ahead of his time. As a professional basketball player, he spent time with seven different NBA franchises, most notably the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Hornets. Similar to the way NBA players switch teams frequently today, Mason Jr. bet on himself through short-term deals that maximized his earnings, including stints in Greece and Israel after his rookie deal expired. He also sought out markets that would raise his profile off the court,  leading to his signing with the New York Knicks in 2010.

While playing, Mason Jr. began to show an insatiable curiosity for business opportunities off the court. This led to his ascension within the NBPA, where he eventually became deputy executive director alongside Michelle Roberts, the NBPA’s current executive director.

Toward the end of his playing career and during his time with the NBPA, Mason Jr. had an idea for a player-led media platform that would enable athletes to tell their stories to fans directly. This was before social media had become ubiquitous, and it led to the eventual company he founded in 2014, Vaunt.

Today, Roger Mason Jr. is do-founder and CEO of Vaunt, which creates in-person, once-in-a-lifetime experiential events and streams high-quality content. The company provides fans with access to professional athletes, while also creating opportunities for players to build and monetize their own brands.

The Game Plan is a weekly SportTechie podcast hosted by venture capitalists Jay Kapoor and Tim Katt. The show features professional athletes and their business interests beyond sports.

You can follow us on Twitter (@thegameplanshow) and Instagram (@gameplanshow) for show news and updates, to recommend guests, and for bonus content! Follow co-hosts Jay Kapoor (@JayKapoorNYC) and Tim Katt (@Tim_Katt) for all things sports, media, tech, and venture capital.

Question? Comment? Story idea? Let us know at [email protected]

Ryan Mundy was a hard-hitting safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and Chicago Bears who played in two Super Bowls and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy with the Steelers in 2009. He didn’t always have the best on-field reputation, having been fined multiple times in his career for illegal hits, but he’s ultimately shown himself to be a mature, innovative and humble person who is working to have a positive impact on the world.

Mundy, who retired from the NFL in 2014, was one of the first pro athletes to dip his toes in venture capital, including investing in bitcoin as early as 2016. Today, he has moved across the table as an entrepreneur. Mundy is the founder and CEO of Alkeme, a platform for mental health and wellness that focuses especially on the Black community.

About The Game Plan

The Game Plan is a weekly SportTechie podcast hosted by venture capitalists Jay Kapoor and Tim Katt. The show features professional athletes and their business interests beyond sports.

You can follow us on Twitter (@thegameplanshow) and Instagram (@gameplanshow) for show news and updates, to recommend guests, and for bonus content! Follow co-hosts Jay Kapoor (@JayKapoorNYC) and Tim Katt (@Tim_Katt) for all things sports, media, tech, and venture capital.

Question? Comment? Story idea? Let us know at [email protected]

Few professional hockey players have experienced sustained success on the ice like Hilary Knight. A native of Palo Alto, California, Knight followed in the footsteps of her future Team USA teammate and past TGP guest, Angela Ruggiero, when she attended Choate Rosemary Hall. Following boarding school, Knight went on to lead the Wisconsin Badgers to two National Championship games, including an NCAA Championship trophy in her Sophomore season, a year when she became the Badgers record-holder for points, goals and power-play goals in one season. She extended that success into her Olympic career where she won silver medals in 2010 and 2014, and most recently a gold medal in the 2018 winter Olympics.

Knight has been a professional hockey player for nine years, and the game has become her personal mission off the ice as an outspoken leader rallying against subpar playing conditions and compensation.

Rather than settle for less, Knight, along with more than 200 other professional hockey players walked away from the game to form the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). 

Today, Knight has teamed up with other players on the 2021 Dream Gap Tour, a group of PWHPA players traveling around the US and Canada to call attention to the game of Women’s Hockey. The tour kicks off later this month on February 28 with the first-ever professional women’s hockey game hosted at Madison Square Garden.

About The Game Plan

The Game Plan is a weekly SportTechie podcast hosted by venture capitalists Jay Kapoor and Tim Katt. The show features professional athletes and their business interests beyond sports.

You can follow us on Twitter (@thegameplanshow) and Instagram (@gameplanshow) for show news and updates, to recommend guests, and for bonus content! Follow co-hosts Jay Kapoor (@JayKapoorNYC) and Tim Katt (@Tim_Katt) for all things sports, media, tech, and venture capital.

Question? Comment? Story idea? Let us know at [email protected]

With the confetti from Super Bowl LV having fallen in Tampa, a new professional football league awaits. This Saturday, the Fan Controlled Football League will launch its inaugural season on Twitch at 8 p.m. ET.

At the helm of this new fan-first experience is commissioner Ray Austin, an alum of the Chicago Bears, New York Jets and the XFL. Beyond his career as a defensive back, Austin is known for his modeling and acting career, including roles on Empire and Chicago P.D.

Austin, 46, brings a dynamic energy and passionate voice to the FCF, which allows fans to participate and vote for plays through a custom app. Through Twitch, the league will also offer unique camera perspectives, as well as various game hosts, including a feed of commissioner Austin.

In our conversation . . .

Isaiah Kacyvenski is one of the most decorated Ivy League football players of all time. While at Harvard, he won Ivy League Rookie of the Year and then followed that up with All-Ivy League first-team honors over his final three seasons. He received the Nils V. “Swede” Nelson Award, which is given to "best, most academically talented" football player in New England, and also the Harvard University Male Athlete of the Year following his senior season.

After Harvard, Kacyvenski was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in 2000, becoming the highest draft pick in Harvard history (fourth round, No. 199 overall. Beyond his contributions as a linebacker, he was a pivotal player on the Seahawks’ special teams and helped in their run to Super Bowl XL. More impressive than any on-field accomplishment, however, is what Kacyvenski overcame just to have the opportunity to play football in the first place. He dealt with bouts of homelessness as a kid and the tragic loss of his mother during his senior year of high school.

That power of will is what keeps driving him as he enters the next phase of his professional career. Last year, Kacyvenski announced a $55 million dollar early-stage venture fund focused on health, wellness, media and content; the fund is called Will Ventures. Along with fellow former Harvard football player Brian Reilly, as well as other Harvard student-athlete graduates Kirby Porter and Alexis Nocolia, Kacyvenski is seeking out “relentless entrepreneurs with the will to change the world.”

The Game Plan is a weekly SportTechie podcast hosted by venture capitalists Jay Kapoor and Tim Katt. The show features professional athletes and their business interests beyond sports.

You can follow us on Twitter (@thegameplanshow) and Instagram (@gameplanshow) for show news and updates, to recommend guests, and for bonus content! Follow co-hosts Jay Kapoor (@JayKapoorNYC) and Tim Katt (@Tim_Katt) for all things sports, media, tech, and venture capital.

Question? Comment? Story idea? Let us know at [email protected]

Apolo Anton Ohno is the most decorated winter Olympian in U.S. history. Appearing in three Olympics from 2002-2010, he medaled eight times across four events, including golds in the 1500m and 500m speed skating events. In 2007, Ohno experienced competitive success off the ice too, winning the reality TV show Dancing with the Stars. He was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019.

Today, Ohno finds himself as locked in as ever. Driven by curiosity and hard work, he has explored various endeavors since retiring from speed skating. He’s developed a supplements company, been a TV game show host and Olympics analyst, and continued his work as a philanthropist and motivational speaker. Ohno is currently focused on writing his latest book, Hard Pivot, which he plans to release later this year.

The Game Plan is a weekly SportTechie podcast hosted by venture capitalists Jay Kapoor and Tim Katt. The show features professional athletes and their business interests beyond sports.

You can follow us on Twitter (@thegameplanshow) and Instagram (@gameplanshow) for show news and updates, to recommend guests, and for bonus content! Follow co-hosts Jay Kapoor (@JayKapoorNYC) and Tim Katt (@Tim_Katt) for all things sports, media, tech, and venture capital.

Question? Comment? Story idea? Let us know at [email protected]