Eddy Lui, Founder and CEO of 18Birdies

With the excitement of Tiger Woods’ return in the Bahamas, it was time to do a podcast around golf.

Welcome to Podcast #12, where I spoke with Eddy Lui. Eddy is a fellow golf fanatic who has founded a new golf platform called 18Birdies. We were able to get a round in this summer at Winged Foot and then record this interview about the company shortly afterward. 18Birdies can be downloaded on most mobile platforms and their website is www.18Birdies.com.  

The “Live Engine for Golf”, 18Birdies is a mobile golf platform that enhances the experience between golfers & the courses they love to play. The platform incorporates cutting edge technology, social elements, and gaming to take golf into the next generation. A deeper discussion of the company can be found is his article in Golf Inc.

Eddy began his career at the global consulting firm Bain & Company and then at Fairlook Capital. He spent 20 years successfully building and growing technology startups, Now Eddy is combining his business experience with his passion for golf with 18Birdies.

I had a terrific time learning about his combination of golf, technology and entrepreneurism- three things that I enjoy.  We go into detail about the the challenges of driving the business and have some fun discussing the state of the game and the frontiers of the sport for ‘millennials” in an internet age.

The format is below . . .

Questions

Golf- tell us how you fell in love with the game

How did you become involved with technology and startups?

Let’s talk about 18Birdies- How does the platform help the golfer increase enjoyment?

Where does the technology come into play?

How does the social component work?

How does the gaming component work?

Discussion of bringing high end tournament experience to the everyday player

Multi-course tournaments/leagues, having the leaderboard in your pocket, expanding network of other golfers

Based in San Francisco, one of the great golfing cities in this country- how does that help?

How do you bring on brand ambassadors and get the word out?

Lots written on the decline of golf-How does 18 Birdies address these issues?

Steep learning curve in the sport: Too much time, Too expensive, Too hard to access (public/private; men/women, minorities )- how can 18Birdies address these issues?

Talk about your association with Matty18UndaPar and growing the game.

Bring social (and video) to a closed community- what are the challenges in breaking the “private course” code?

What are some of the other trends that you are seeing?

How do you intersect with the governing bodies? USGA, PGA, LPGA, MGA, AJGA

Talk about some of the golf professionals like Darrell Kestner and Kris Tschetter that surround the brand

Is 18Birdies something that can be incorporated into scholastic golf?

What do the next few years look like for growth?

How do you begin to bring in revenue?

Favorite Golfer? Tiger Woods

Who is your favorite of the Young Guns? Patrick Reed

Best Round of golf ever?

Best shot?

Strengths and weaknesses of your game?

Favorite Courses?

Is Tiger coming back?

Who is going to have a big year next year?

How do we keep track of 18Birdies? 18Birdies.com and downloadable app on most platforms.

For more on TIGER WOODS’ re-emergence . . . see his blistering 65 in the Bahamas below!