

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

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/
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Thanks for listening!

Feb 28, 2023 • 32min
#21: Vinit Bharara - CEO, Co-Founder Mojo | Building the first ever sports stock market | Raising $100M as a startup | How to find co-founders | Why now is the time to build in sports
Vinit Bharara is a successful entrepreneur having founded and sold multiple companies:
The Pit (acquired by Topps)
Diapers.com (acquired by Amazon)
Some Spider Studios (acquired by Vox Media)
Vin is business partners with the owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves (Marc Lore and MLB legend Alex Rodriguez).
You’ll enjoy this episode as we discuss Mojo and other sports + entrepreneurship topics.
Chapters:
(01:05) Vinit’s entrepreneurial background
(02:00) How do you find co-founders?
(04:15) Why now is the time to build in sports?
(06:30) Differences in raising $100M vs. typical seed round
(09:40) Backstory of Mojo (a stock market for athletes)
(11:50) Marketing tactics and CAC/LTV
(16:10) Expansion and future initiatives (micro betting/media)
(23:40) Insider trading and the rise of alternative asset platforms
(29:20) Sports trends to watch
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Vinit Bharara links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vinitbharara
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinit-bharara-2302306/
Website: https://www.mojo.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!

Feb 24, 2023 • 29min
#20: Adam Faris - Sports Creator, Co-Founder Dapper Life | Turning TikTok videos into a business | Life of a sports creator | Building to over 2.5 million followers
Sitting on an audience of over 2.5M followers after graduating from Oregon, Adam Faris is thinking bigger than just content.
He is a co-founder of Dapper Life, which is the holding company of his various business endeavors all stemming from short-form content.
Sports creators are much more than video personalities behind the scenes.
Chapters:
(03:25) Some of Adam’s cool projects
(05:05) How he got started creating sports content
(08:00) Business behind influencers/creators
(14:40) Content creation for athletes (and Jon Seaton example)
(17:20) Tricks of successful content creators
(21:00) Creators Adam Faris looks up to
(23:20) Top platforms for content creation (YT vs TT vs IG vs etc)
(26:10) Future initiatives for Dapper Life & Adam
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Adam Faris links:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adampfaris?lang=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adampfaris/
Website: https://www.teamdapper.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!

Feb 23, 2023 • 37min
#19: Sean Clifford - Founder Limitless NIL, Penn State QB | Creating, scaling, and exiting his agency while playing college football | Life of an athlete entrepreneur | Where NIL is headed
When NIL went live in July 2021, Sean Clifford didn’t just sign endorsement deals – he created an agency, Limitless NIL, to help other players maximize their name, image, and likeness.
Sean Clifford finished his career at Penn State as one of the most decorated quarterbacks in school history.
In early 2023, Limitless NIL was acquired in a multi-million dollar deal by TEAM Group Holdings.
Chapters:
(01:55) Artificial intelligence and ChatGPT
(04:30) Penn State, Rose Bowl, & his brother Liam Clifford
(07:55) Where college sports is headed + an inside look at NIL
(17:15) Creating, scaling, and exiting Limitless NIL
(26:00) What working with a college athlete looks like
(29:15) Learning curves from athlete to entrepreneur
(30:40) Athletes taking equity over endorsements
(33:20) Future initiatives for Sean Clifford and Limitless NIL
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Sean Clifford links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/seancliff14
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-clifford-79a064161/
Website: https://www.limitlessnil.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!