A global brand born out of a motorcycle crash.
An ultra-premium hospitality business built on the word no.
A once-paralyzed NFL player who reviews a hundred deals a week.
A nine-figure investor betting on the evolution of the trick shot.
Four best friends building their own golf universe.
Identical twins with four Super Bowl rings between them.
A founder who hired a private investigator to track down beloved 90s IP.
An emerging manager who won a US Open match at age fifteen.
A father whose son sits under the brightest spotlight in college football.
An investor who walked into a Seattle coffee shop in 1992 and bet on the people.
All real people, all real conversations. Here’s the full run >
There’s no better way to learn an industry than going direct to the people running it and asking the questions you actually want answered. I’ve treated these past forty episodes as an ongoing education, and I'm learning in public on purpose. One-on-one, unscripted conversations with the decision makers building, investing in, and operating the Sports Economy. Every one of them was generous with time they didn’t owe me, and every single conversation handed me something different to carry forward.
What I didn’t expect was how much would compound. These conversations, paired with my own research, have helped me build real conviction about what I believe in across sports, media, and entertainment. Every few episodes, someone changes my mind on something I thought I’d settled, and that’s exactly the point. Best of all, this has been an incredible way to build real relationships in the space.
Here’s a recap of who joined me over the past 40 episodes, grouped by category:
Investors
Brian Kopp, Partner at Ryan Sports Ventures
Jason Illian, Founder & GP of Highmount Capital
Ben Gardner, Partner at Will Ventures
CiCi Bellis, Founder & GP of Cartan Capital
Terrence Murphy, Founder & Managing Partner of Synergy Sports Capital
Marques Colston, Co-Founder of Champion Capital
Michael Moe, Founder & CEO of GSV
Wayne Kimmel, Managing Partner at SeventySix Capital
Ty Montgomery, Investor at Next Legacy
Kyle Israel, Managing Partner at Momentous Sports
Sean Clifford, Founder & GP of Clifford Capital
Founders & CEOs
Dr. Jason Wersland, Founder of Therabody
Gary Spitalnik, Co-Founder of REAL SLX
Dr. Marcus Elliott, Founder of P3 Sport Science
Chip Paucek, Co-Founder & CEO of Pro Athlete Community
Kyle Rudolph, CEO of Alltroo
Christian Ponder, Founder & CEO of The Post
Carter Westfall, Co-Founder and CEO of Natural Selection Tour
Dylan Robbins, Founder & CEO of Lucra
Lindsay Barnett, Founder & CEO of Playground Productions/Backyard Sports
Pete Wilson, Co-Founder of the Grass League
Lewis Burik, Co-Founder & CEO of DubClub
Matthew Lloyd-Thomas, Founder & CEO of Milky Way Park
Austin Ekeler, Founder & CEO of Fantasy Royale
John Stewart, Founder & CEO of Fastbreak AI
Will Johnson, Founder & CEO of CourseCast
Ryan Girardot, Co-Founder & CEO of Cerebro Sports
Barrick Prince, Co-Founder of Creator Sports Network
Jack Jones, Co-Founder of SūmerSports
Jack Liechtung, Co-Founder & CEO of Canopy
Parker Graham, Founder & CEO of Vestible
Ryan Petkoff, Founder of Petkoff Strategies
Skyler Logsdon, Co-Founder & CEO of Boomerang
Media
Seth Wickersham, ESPN & author of American Kings
A few quotes that have particularly stuck with me:
“Our potential is this big dining room table, but we spend almost all our time living on a little platter in the middle of it. Push out to the edge once in a while, and you find out what you can actually do.” – Dr. Marcus Elliott
“Luck is being prepared when the time is right.” – Dr. Jason Wersland
“Put yourself under extreme pressure in practice, or you’ll never be ready for the big moments in a match.” – CiCi Bellis
“You bet on people. The investment business isn’t complicated. You find these exceptional people, and then you ride that horse.” – Michael Moe
“I don’t need to be admired. I just need to be respected for the work.” – Marques Colston
“Put me in the desert, I’ll find my way to the water.” – Terrence Murphy
“The good guy rule goes so far. The wind blows a bunch of different ways. But if you’re around good people who work hard and do the right thing, at the end of the day you’re going to sleep well.” – Cooper Manning
Here’s to the next 40. I hope you’ll follow along.
ICYMI: This week’s podcast episode with Lewis Burik, Co-Founder & CEO of DubClub ⬇️
How Experts Bet on Sports · DubClub Co-Founder & CEO Lewis Burik | S2 E40
Sports are serious business.
I publish an essay every other Thursday.
Stay tuned and share this with someone who should be paying attention to where the Sports Economy is headed.
If you’re building, investing, or advising within the Sports Economy — please reach out!
Email: underthenumberpod@gmail.com
– Brent