With the first edition of the Post Game Newsletter, I’m pumped to share the latest episode of the podcast (#76) with Andrew Petcash, Founder of Profluence - a community focused on connecting and supporting sports industry professionals, including founders, investors, and executives.
I’ve been following Andrew on Twitter / LinkedIn from for a few years now. He played hoops at Boston University, has built several businesses already, grown a loyal following on Twitter and LinkedIn and founded Profluence, one of the largest sports communities for founders, executives, and investors.
I pestered him for a few months to come on the pod before he finally obliged and it was great to get the chance to talk to him.
A few main takeaways from the episode…this is not a motivational newsletter, BUT, I will sprinkle some in because he shared some great stuff:
The Power of Getting Started
Andrew started out writing on Twitter to build a personal following. That led to him starting a podcast, newsletter with 34,000 subscribers, building a community, then events, and ultimately a venture capital firm investing in sports tech companies.
His main point: You don’t need to have it all figured out and have a master plan, just need to get started. Plan all you want, but it probably won’t go exactly how you think it will anyway.
Early Pattern Recognition
In 2017 he predicted pickleball was going to blow up.
"We're never first, but we're always super early" - talking about investments and business opportunities
Honestly, I’m not sure what the lesson is in this aside from him paying attention to trends, seeing how people react and how he feels about them, but in his world these days, he’s cutting a check to companies with Profluence’s money behind it, so his ability to spot trends is paying off.
The Ever-Changing Landscape for College Athletes
He talked about how some college athletes graduating will leave school with $500k-$1M liquid at the age of 22-23. His prediction is that this will create an entire generation of athlete entrepreneurs earlier in life. If I got paid for playing MLB The Show in college I’d also have $500k liquid leaving school.
Future Sports Investment Opportunities
He said to keep an eye out for “Layer One Solutions” to lead the way for sports investment opportunities in the near future - building the physical infrastructure (facilities, entertainment districts around stadiums - something Justin Papadakis from the USL talks about in episode 73)
He plans to focus on foundational assets rather than all the tech solutions we’ve seen the past few years
Check Out The Full Episode Here:
Appreciate you tuning into the PGP and for the support, we will keep em comin!