Episode 1205: Building the IMDb for Athletes: AthleteAgent.com’s Disruption of Sports Representation with Ryan Rottman and Sean O'Brien

Behind every highlight reel is a messy maze of contacts, gatekeepers, and missed opportunities—until someone maps it.

In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Ryan Rottman, actor-turned-founder who conceived an “IMDb for athletes,” and Sean O’Brien, CEO and former CMO who scaled Modloft from ~$25M to nearly $100M and helped Kevin Costner’s Autio build engineering in-house. Backed by marquee investors (including super-agent Scott Boras) and a recent CNBC debut, AthleteAgent.com centralizes accurate, validated contacts for athletes and agents across growing pro leagues. Ryan and Sean share how they’re boosting deal flow for the 99% of athletes, tightening product focus, and building trust in an industry famous for being fragmented and insular.

 

Key Takeaways:

→ How a dinner with Aaron Rodgers sparked the idea for an “IMDb for athletes”

→ Why athlete representation and endorsement deals are so fragmented—and how they’re solving it

→ The surprising industries subscribing to AthleteAgent (from Coca-Cola to financial advisors)

→ How AthleteAgent is bringing transparency, trust, and deal flow to athletes and agents

→ Why sports representation and endorsements are so fragmented—and how a centralized “pro LinkedIn” changes the game

 

Ryan Rottman is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of AthleteAgent.com, a groundbreaking sports tech platform. In his role, Ryan oversees business operations, strategic partnerships, and platform development, helping expand the site’s reach across professional leagues and enhance its database of verified athlete and team contacts.

Before stepping into the tech and sports business world, Ryan built a successful career in entertainment, starring in films such as Billionaire Boys Club, The Open Road, and a variety of Hallmark originals, as well as television series like 90210(CW), The Middle (ABC), and The Lying Game (ABC Family). His background in production and storytelling has been instrumental in shaping AthleteAgent.com’s user experience and brand identity. Ryan combines business acumen with creative vision, bringing a unique edge to the intersection of sports, media, and tech.

Sean O'Brien is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive with a track record of scaling successful ventures across multiple industries. In his early 20s, Sean co-founded a patented eCommerce company that achieved $10M in sales and was acquired after being featured as a “Product of the Year” on The View. He went on to launch The DivotCard, a Groupon-like platform for golf, which earned recognition in Inc.. By the age of 30, both startups had exits. Sean later served as CMO/CTO at Modloft, a luxury D2C furniture brand, helping scale it to nearly $100M in revenue and earning accolades from Forbes, CNN, and Architectural Digest. He also played a key role at Autio, a startup backed by Kevin Costner and other investors, which turned down a $1M offer on Shark Tank. Currently, Sean is the CEO of AthleteAgent.com and Swingzy, while also being a part-time venture capitalist at NGVP and Hustle Fund. He has studied at prestigious institutions such as Wharton, Stanford, and UC Berkeley.

 

Connect With Ryan Rottman and Sean O'Brien:

Website: https://www.athleteagent.com/

Instagram: https://www.athleteagent.com/

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