Travis Makes Money Make Money with an Athlete Database | Ryan Rottman
Travis sits down with actor‑turned‑entrepreneur Ryan Rottman, cofounder of AthleteAgent.com, an IMDb‑style database for the sports world. From training as a business major and actor at Texas Tech to navigating constant rejection in Hollywood, Ryan shares how thick skin, relationships, and a love of sports led him to build the most extensive searchable sports database online, alongside partners like Aaron Rodgers and Nate Robb.
On this episode we talk about:
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How Ryan’s early trading and acting work out of college built the financial runway and mindset he needed to pursue creative projects
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What acting teaches about rejection, resilience, and treating yourself as a business—and how those lessons transfer directly into startups and fundraising
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The origin story of AthleteAgent.com, modeled after IMDb but built to centralize athlete data, representation info, and off‑field opportunities
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Why most athletes beyond the top 1% are massively under‑monetized, and how better visibility can unlock endorsements, podcast bookings, investments, and partnerships
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The realities of building a tech platform from scratch—finding dev teams, talking to 100+ investors, and expanding from 10 sports toward a global, 50+ sport footprint
Top 3 Takeaways
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Acting and entrepreneurship share the same core skill: moving from “no” to “no” without losing enthusiasm, while treating every experience as training for the next opportunity.
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Athletes are brands, and most are dramatically under‑leveraged off the field; centralized, accurate data and contact info unlocks deals for the other 99%, not just superstars.
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Long‑term success often comes from repurposing skills and networks—Ryan used his IMDb experience, sports relationships, and business training to spot an obvious gap and fill it with AthleteAgent.com.
Notable Quotes
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"As an actor, you are your own business—rejection is daily, and your job is to keep showing up until the right role hits."
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"IMDb changed my acting career because people could actually find my reps; I realized nothing like that existed for athletes."
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"We didn’t build AthleteAgent for the top 1%—we built it so the other 99% can finally be found, booked, and paid."
Connect with Ryan Rottman:
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Website (AthleteAgent): athleteagent.com
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Instagram: @ryanrottman
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