

The Profluence Pod 🌐
Andrew Petcash
Insightful convos with the founders, operators, and investors transforming the future of sports.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 23, 2023 • 36min
#28: Jason Bergman - CEO, Co-Founder Marketpryce | First-of-the-first NIL brand deals | Transitioning business model | Team vs individual partnerships | How great companies are built | NILs Impact
Prior to raising over $3M to build out Marketpryce, CEO Jason Bergman was a sports agent and also worked in the athlete marketing sector.
Marketpryce is a branding solution that mixes products with services to assist athletes, brands, and universities in the NIL era.
NIL is taking off and Jason Bergman + Marketpryce is trying to be a front-runner in the race. With over 8,000 partnerships they’re on their way.
Chapters:
(01:30) What are you seeing in year two of NIL?
(07:40) Transition in the business model
(11:25) Why Jason jumped into the founder seat
(14:50) NIL’s impact on youth sports
(17:15) Differences in team vs individual brand deals
(19:45) First-of-the-first female NIL deal
(24:00) What makes a successful NIL campaign?
(28:40) How Jason Bergman as a founder keeps learning?
(30:50) Innovation coming to NIL we should watch for
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Jason Bergman links:
Website: https://www.marketpryce.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bergmantweets
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bergman/
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Andrew Petcash links:
🏠 Website: https://profluence.com
✉️ Newsletter: https://www.petcashpost.com
🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrewpetcash
🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash
🕺 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewpetcash
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewpetcash
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q5jhAuCVT2FZCkLW5xBiQ/
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Thanks for listening!

Mar 21, 2023 • 33min
#27: Ben Reynolds - CEO, Co-Founder Spalk | Creating a global sports commentary company | Benefit of athlete investors | Expanding a brand worldwide | Trends to watch in sports media | AI and sports
In 2021, Ben Reynolds and Spalk raised a $3M Series A round which included several notable athlete investors and was headed by Greg Norman’s venture arm.
Spalk has developed a unique commentary software that allows you to listen to alternative sportscasters with options in over 50 different languages.
A native of New Zealand, it was fun to talk with Ben about turning a side project into a full-time business, scaling globally, and a bunch of other insightful topics around entrepreneurship, the future of sports, and Spalk.
Chapters:
(01:00) Global expansion of sports (and Netflix’s impact)
(03:15) Where the idea for Spalk stemmed from
(06:25) Scaling a company globally
(13:40) Differences in sports leagues around the world
(15:45) Artificial Intelligence’s influence
(22:00) Challenges + learnings of building a company
(24:00) Importance of athlete investors
(28:45) Spalk’s ultimate vision + sports trends to watch
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Ben Reynolds links:
Website: https://www.spalk.tv/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/benreynoldsnz
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benreynoldsnz/
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Andrew Petcash links:
🏠 Website: https://profluence.com
✉️ Newsletter: https://www.petcashpost.com
🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrewpetcash
🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash
🕺 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewpetcash
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewpetcash
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q5jhAuCVT2FZCkLW5xBiQ/
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Thanks for listening!

Mar 19, 2023 • 15min
Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (March 13-19)
(02:00) Name, Image, and Likeness
- Cavinder Twins talk about NIL, walk-ons sign a huge deal, and more around the first college venture firm
(06:55) Business of Athletes
- Aaron Rodger's nets a 100% return, women's soccer players, and more on athletes off the field
(10:30) Sports Business
- $50M Atlanta Hawks venture firm, AI video camera firm signs huge deal with China, and an innovative partnership the Orlando Magic just netted

Mar 16, 2023 • 41min
#26: Blake Lawrence - CEO, Co-Founder Opendorse | All things NIL | Collectives & NCAA policies | Increase in brands endorsing athletes | How data transforms industries | Future of college sports
Opendorse is one of the largest companies in the NIL space and it all began with former Nebraska linebacker Blake Lawrence attempting to help just 1 athlete.
Today, Opendorse has over 100,000 athletes, 3,000 marketers, and 2,000 sports organizations. They have a lot of solutions under management, but at their core, they are a NIL deals platform for athletes, agents, and brands.
Blake Lawrence founded and sold Hurrdat Social Media agency before launching Opendorse alongside his co-founder, Adi Kunalic.
Opendorse has nearly 100 employees today and raised $40M in venture capital to help lead the charge across name, image, and likeness.
Chapters:
(01:25) NCAA’s first NIL infractions
(04:10) Increase in brand deals around March Madness
(08:30) Opendorse one decade later
(10:40) Data and the changing agency model
(14:10) NIL’s market size + potential
(20:50) Blake’s journey from athlete to entrepreneur
(25:40) Sports market breakdown + trends to watch
(29:55) General managers in NIL (& future of collectives)
(34:20) Opendorse’s current initiatives
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Blake Lawrence links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Blake_Lawrence
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakealawrence/
Website: https://opendorse.com/
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Andrew Petcash links:
🏠 Website: https://profluence.com
✉️ Newsletter: https://www.petcashpost.com
🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrewpetcash
🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash
🕺 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewpetcash
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewpetcash
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q5jhAuCVT2FZCkLW5xBiQ/
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Thanks for listening!

Mar 14, 2023 • 31min
#25: Paris Wallace - CEO, Co-Founder NCL (National Cycling League) | Sports leagues of the future | Athletes as owners | Aligning values in companies | Why now is the time to build in sports
With sports leagues changing and athletes embracing ownership, Paris Wallace saw the perfect opportunity to create the National Cycling League (NCL).
Prior to creating the NCL, Paris Wallace founded and sold two companies:
Ovia Health (Labcorp)
Good Start Genetics (Invitae)
The National Cycling League (NCL) is the first majority-minority and female professional sports league.
The NCL is aiming to build the professional sports league of the future – one that embraces technology, diverse ownership, gender equity, sustainability, and community investment.
Chapters:
(01:20) Founding and exiting two companies
(05:40) Why is now the time to build in sports
(08:05) Starting a league compared to a company
(10:20) Individual sports vs team sports
(12:15) Athlete investors in the NCL
(16:25) Generating eyeballs in a new league
(22:00) Building fandom and recruiting athletes
(24:10) Future of the NCL and sports
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Paris Wallace links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/paris_wallace
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pariswallace/
Website: https://nclracing.com/
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Andrew Petcash links:
🏠 Website: https://profluence.com
✉️ Newsletter: https://www.petcashpost.com
🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrewpetcash
🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash
🕺 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewpetcash
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewpetcash
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q5jhAuCVT2FZCkLW5xBiQ/
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Thanks for listening!

Mar 12, 2023 • 17min
Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (March 6-12)
Audio Timeline:
(0:45) - Business of Athletes
* Lionel Messi's new investment, Lebron James inks a lifetime equity deal, Lamar Jackson's contract saga, and more.
(7:00) - Name, Image, and Likeness
* Notre Dame football player, former Brown basketball players suing Ivy League, and Livvy Dunne + Dabo Sweeney controversy
(13:50) - Sports Business
* $150M towards women's tennis, new accelerators investing in sports tech, $3.7M for a sock analytics startup, and other interesting investments.
Thanks for listening!

Mar 9, 2023 • 24min
#24: Dugald Macdonald - CEO, Co-Founder Sportable | Creating moneyball for rugby | Mixing data, technology, and sports | Scaling a sports startup globally | Athlete performance analytics
A former rugby player himself, Dugald Macdonald wanted to connect the worlds of sport and data. He co-founded Sportable in 2015 alongside NASA engineer Dr. Peter Husemeyer.
Sportable specializes in designing and implementing cutting-edge data collection technology – enabling fans to see inside the play. They started by adding chips inside rugby balls and have expanded to additional verticals over the years.
8 years since its inception, Sportable is a global startup with over 70 employees.
Chapters:
(02:40) Creation story of Sportable
(07:15) Athletes and performance analytics
(12:30) Process from chip in the ball to the end user
(16:25) Challenges of scaling a global sports company
(18:05) Size of Sportable currently and the niche approach
(21:00) Sports trends to watch
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Dugald Macdonald links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dugald-macdonald-29a4ab75/
Website: https://www.sportable.com/
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Andrew Petcash links:
🏠 Website: https://profluence.com
✉️ Newsletter: https://www.petcashpost.com
🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrewpetcash
🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash
🕺 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewpetcash
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewpetcash
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q5jhAuCVT2FZCkLW5xBiQ/
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Thanks for listening!

Mar 7, 2023 • 32min
#23: Peter Frintzilas - CEO TeamSnap | Commercialization of youth sports | Private equity vs. venture capital | NILs downstream impacts | B2B vs B2C in sports | Where sports tech is headed
TeamSnap is one of the largest sports technology companies in North America and Peter Frintzilas is leading the charge after Waud Capital purchased TeamSnap in 2020.
Founded in 2009, TeamSnap has over 24 million coaches, administrators, players, and parents that rely on their solutions for communication, scheduling, payment collection, registration, real-time game sharing, and more.
With NIL commercializing sports from top to bottom, TeamSnap is looking to capture the lag effect as it moves downstream.
Chapters:
(01:00) Private equity vs venture capital
(03:50) Role of an operating CEO
(07:15) Overcoming the challenges of building a company remotely
(09:40) Waud Capital’s interest in sports technology investments
(15:55) NIL and its impact on youth sports + LeagueSide acquisition
(17:30) B2B vs B2C in sports
(21:50) Youth sports market size & participation numbers
(25:45) Trends to watch in sports
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Peter Frintzilas links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterfrintzilas/
Website: https://www.teamsnap.com/
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Andrew Petcash links:
🏠 Website: https://profluence.com
✉️ Newsletter: https://www.petcashpost.com
🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrewpetcash
🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash
🕺 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewpetcash
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewpetcash
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q5jhAuCVT2FZCkLW5xBiQ/
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Thanks for listening!

Mar 5, 2023 • 22min
Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (Feb 20-Mar 5)
(02:00) Business of Athletes:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo now owns two pros teams, Naomi Osaka invests in Ramen noodles and more athlete investment stories including NBA players putting money in canned-milk
(11:00) NIL/College Sports:
- the first-ever lifetime deal in NIL history (but is it legit?)
(14:10) Sports Business
- sports tech investing is picking back up including the first-ever VC-backed pickleball company and Alex Rodriguez taking on TicketMaster with his new company
Thanks for listening! Make sure to share with anyone who might garner value from this podcast.

Mar 3, 2023 • 27min
#22: Patrik Olsson - CEO, Co-Founder Spiideo | Sports Camera Race | Scaling a Niche B2B Product | Sports Tech Trends to Watch | Hardware vs Software | Where AI is headed
AI video cameras/software is exploding across the globe and Patrik Olsson is at the forefront of it at Spiideo.
Patrik was previously a Vice President at Sony (where he helped pioneer Bluetooth technology).
You’ll enjoy this episode as we discuss AI, the evolution of sports cameras, and the growing sports tech industry.
Chapters:
(00:55) Pioneering Bluetooth technology (& difficulties with hardware products)
(04:50) Where the idea for Spiideo stemmed from
(07:50) Starting in niche markets
(10:40) Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs & Patrik’s non-scalable trick
(11:50) Scaling Spiideo globally
(13:30) Competitive landscape Veo vs Spiideo vs Pixellot vs Hudl
(18:05) Rapid rise of artificial intelligence
(20:15) How sports tech is transforming the industry
(25:05) AI impacting sports (and the world)
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Patrik Olsson links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/podata
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/polsson/?originalSubdomain=se
Website: https://www.spiideo.com/
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Andrew Petcash links:
🏠 Website: https://profluence.com
✉️ Newsletter: https://www.petcashpost.com
🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrewpetcash
🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash
🕺 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewpetcash
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewpetcash
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q5jhAuCVT2FZCkLW5xBiQ/
.
Thanks for listening!


