The Profluence Pod 🌐

1st party data is reimagining the athletics landscape, and Adam Azor from Sportradar is at the forefront of it. 

Sportradar is one of the world’s largest sports technology companies reimagining immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors. 

Adam Azor is an integrated marketer with experience from global to local recently being promoted to EVP at Sportradar. 

Chapters:

(00:20) Adam Azor and Sportradar intro

(02:15) Sportradar’s massive growth 

(06:05) EVP Global Marketing role

(08:15) 1st-party data landscape

(14:00) Educating the market about “owning sports data”

(23:30) Hyper-personalized data and cookies

(27:00) Legal implications of 1st party data

(29:15) From top to bottom of the pyramid

(32:30) Sportradar’s partnership perspective 

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Adam Azor:

Website: https://sportradar.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamazor/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

One of the largest early-stage investors in the world, Trey Bowles is currently the Managing Director of Techstars where he runs two accelerator programs: Techstars Anywhere and Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth. 

Techstars is a pre-seed investor providing early-stage entrepreneurs access to capital, mentorship, and other support. 

Some of Trey Bowles’ other projects include InnoCity Partners, Dallas Entrepreneur Center, Dallas Innovation Alliance, Mayor’s Star Council, and other nonprofit organizations. 

Chapters:

(01:05) Trey Bowles Techstars

(04:00) Evaluating early-stage startups

(08:15) Accelerator vs venture money 

(13:55) Human capital and teams

(17:10) Emerging areas for new companies

(21:30) Advice on raising capital with little revenue

(25:45) Techstars application key points

(30:35) Questions Techstars asks in interviews

(33:05) Youth sports as a gem

(36:10) Creating financial projections 

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Trey Bowles:

Website: https://www.techstars.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/treybowles/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Recently receiving investment from the NBA, NHL, and Profluence Capital, John Stewart is transforming sports at Fastbreak AI. 

Fastbreak AI brings the power of world-class, sports scheduling optimization featuring a robust and intuitive user experience for league setup, defining scheduling goals, metric reporting, schedule modification, and distribution.

John Stewart sold his last company, MapAnything, to Salesforce in 2019. 

Chapters:

(00:40) Building & exiting MapAnything

(04:00) Opportunity John saw in sports

(07:00) Fastbreak AI scheduling 

(10:20) Downstream into youth sports

(12:00) Next products 

(15:30) Advice on fundraising

(17:40) Bootstrapping vs venture capital 

(20:40) Managing raised capital 

(22:50) Having mainly engineers

(25:15) Macro trends in sports to watch

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Fastbreak AI:

Website: https://fastbreak.ai/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-stewart-3528a38/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

*Disclaimer: Profluence’s work is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should always do your own research and consult advisors on these subjects. Our work may feature entities in which Profluence Capital LP or the author has invested.

With ownership in sports from grassroots to the pros and in nearly every niche, Jordan Gazdik breaks down the landscape for us. 

BENCHPLAYERS is a portfolio of sport-related assets, driven by partnerships with industry leaders at all levels of the ecosystem. 

Jordan Gazdik founded BENCHPLAYERS to help push forward sports by creating a better future through ownership. 

Chapters:

(00:45) Jordan’s background

(02:00) Current sports projects

(04:20) Youth sports & NIL interest

(09:00) Evaluating opportunities

(12:30) International trends

(15:00) What wealthy families are looking at?

(19:30) Betting vs other fan engagement

(22:30) Sports media rights insights

(25:50) Emerging teams & leagues

(32:20) The mom economy

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Jordan Gazdik:

Website: https://www.benchplayers.co/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-gazdik-51abb2188/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and Ben Nichols saw this as a unique opportunity to build a PR firm for it. 

Padel 22 is a global padel-dedicated communications consultancy that helps organizations, rights holders, brands, events, players and other stakeholders tell their stories and be part of the sport’s expanding global footprint. 

Ben Nichols has nearly 20  years of experience running communications for the world’s leading sports series, leagues, events, teams, leaders, athletes, brands, and media. Including the infamous Russian Doping Scandal. 

Chapters:

(01:00) Ben’s communications background

(03:15) Padel 22

(05:35) Market insights on Padel 

(07:10) Stories that are sticking out 

(10:35) Getting media attention

(14:15) Country club sport

(17:30) Next run in Padel

(20:10) Padel leagues

(23:55) US market

(26:30) Advice on PR

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Ben Nichols:

Website: https://www.padel-22.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-nichols-7401929/?originalSubdomain=uk

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Once the 35th-ranked female tennis player in the world, CiCi Bellis is now the founding partner of Cartan Capital.

Cartan Capital is a venture capital firm focused on the sports and health technology markets – particularly Seed and Series A stage companies. 

At only 25 years old, CiCi Bellis is one of the youngest investors in sports. 

Chapters:

(00:30) CiCi’s background

(03:15) Tennis re-structuring 

(06:00) What classifies a pro tennis player 

(07:20) Opportunities in racquet sports

(09:00) Evaluating market sizes

(11:00) Balancing investing & building

(12:15) What excited her about VC

(13:50) Investment themes

(18:50) Areas to keep an eye on

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CiCi Bellis:

Website: https://www.cartancapital.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cici-bellis-750926182/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

Quidich is revolutionizing the broadcasting experience having recently raised a Series A fundraising round with the company led by film entrepreneur Rahat Kulshreshtha. 

Quidich Innovation Labs was originally an aerial filmmaking company that has since evolved into a global technology leader in sports broadcasting. 

In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Rahat Kulshreshtha is a founding member of the Drone Federation of India, where he currently serves as Chairperson, advocating for responsible drone usage in the country.

Chapters:

(01:10) Inspiration of Quidich

(04:00) Evolving from drones

(09:20) India sports market

(13:15) Next big sports in India

(15:50) Cricket’s global expansion

(19:00) Quidich future roadmap

(24:50) Advice for founders

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Rahat Kulshreshtha:

Website: https://www.quidich.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahatkul/?originalSubdomain=in

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Justin Bass is a Managing Director in the Sports and Entertainment Group at MAI Capital, where he joined in 2022 and has worked with professional athletes and high-net-worth individuals/families for over 25 years.  

MAI Capital Management, LLC is a full-service wealth manager for high-net-worth individuals and high-net-worth families; plus, a provider of targeted investment solutions for financial advisors and institutional investors.

Justin provides wealth management, investment advisory, family office, and legal services to high-net-worth individuals and families, with an emphasis on athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and sudden wealth.  

Chapters:

(00:45) Justin’s sports finance background

(03:50) What is an RIA?

(05:50) Financial advising for athletes

(08:30) Common mistakes & challenges

(15:30) The team around athletes

(18:30) Landing new clients vs retaining existing

(22:30) Evolution of endorsement deals

(25:30) Advice for getting into sports

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Justin Bass:

Website: https://mai.capital/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-bass-4a3a823/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

In 9 markets and with millions in revenue per year, Gio Marcantoni is the founder of Volo Sports. 

Started as a 16-person Bocce league in Baltimore in 2010, Volo Sports now has over 300,000 members nationally. 

Similar to how youth sports clubs have been rolled up, Gio Marcantoni has taken a similar approach to adult social sports. 

Chapters:

(00:30) Volo inception

(06:45) GTM strategy

(08:00) Business model

(10:00) Scaling internally 

(12:50) Bootstrapping to start

(15:10) Adult social sports market

(18:25) Demographics

(20:30) Branding & marketing

(24:00) Diving all into an idea

(26:40) Acquisition strategy

(30:00+) Group Q/A for community members

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Gio Marcantoni:

Website: https://www.volosports.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovanni-marcantoni-69a12828/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

Raising over $76M, Stephen Smith has taken Kitman Labs from an Irish sports data company to a global solution. 

Kitman Labs was founded, pioneered, and powered by practitioners and data scientists consumed by the question of how to optimize human achievement.

Stephen Smith and Kitman Lab’s platform provides a holistic, unified view of the individual and the organization – making progress faster and more efficient.

Chapters:

(01:00) Kitman Labs

(02:45) Evolution of sports analytics 

(04:50) Wearables

(06:20) Artificial Intelligence

(08:10) Next great data solutions

(09:45) Differentiating from competitors

(11:45) Framework to ask better questions

(16:00) Fundraising strategies

(18:50) Scaling B2B model

(22:20) Military & sports similarities

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Stephen Smith:

Website: https://www.kitmanlabs.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephensmithsports/

.

Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.