Practical Founders Podcast #24: Bootstrapped event registration platform for triathlons and running races – Jeff Matlow
Jeff Matlow is a serial entrepreneur and a crazy triathlete and a long-distance runner who found a way to put those passions together in a software startup that grew up fast. He saw an opportunity to create a better registration experience for endurance events like 5Ks, marathons, and triathlons.
In 2008, he sold the big deal to USA Triathlon and set out to build the website and registration platform he envisioned. The company I Am Athlete (now called imATHLETE) went live with their platform and started selling to hundreds, then thousands, of other endurance event managers all over the US. The company grew without big funding and the solution expanded to manage payments, social media promotion, and more.
In 2019 Jeff sold the company to a major endurance event company. Jeff shares the challenges in growing this company and the learnings from trying to grow with a strategic partnership. Like running a marathon or climbing Everest, the journey is hard and how you approach every day is critical.
In this episode, Jeff explains:
- How his experience as a marathoner and triathlete let him to the opportunity to create a better event registration platform
- How he sold his first big customer before he had a product and a website
- Why he didn’t raise any outside money until I Am Athlete was an established market leader
- Why growing a company is like climbing Everest or running a marathon
- His experience selling the company and what worked and didn’t work
- How the modern software startup and investor game is like his first career finding new bands in the music business
Read the full transcript and find other episodes of the Practical Founders Podcast at practicalfounders.com.