Building a Startup in Golf

“We are striving to create an experience so engaging that golfers will never want to leave the game.”? (Fairgame)

In the second of a three-part series looking at golf’s startup ecosystem, we welcome back?Gather Collective Member?Old Tom Ventures?and?their guest?Fairgame to talk about their journey so far.

GATHER GLOBAL PODCAST?#22: THE STARTUP SERIES WITH OLD TOM VENTURES AND FAIRGAME

If you read Golf.com, you may enjoy learning that one of Fairgame’s co-founders, Eric Mayville, built Golf.com’s publishing site that provides?content to 10 million subscribers. At that time, Eric was a co-founder of Wondersauce, a global agency that now has 130 staff in five international offices.

One of Eric’s other Fairgame co-founders will be familiar to any watch collectors out there. Ben Clymer is the Executive Chairman and Founder of Hodinkee. He’s regarded as one of the leading voices in the watch industry, and brings that experience to golf.

“Golf today reminds me of where watches were 15 years ago.”?(Ben Clymer, Co-Founder, Fairgame)

The third co-founder of Fairgame is reasonably well known in the golf industry. Despite his day job–being one the most famous international golfers on the planet–Adam Scott plays an active role in both the development of the Fairgame product and the promotion of the brand. In fact, the app Fairgame launched for golfers is helping Adam solve his own problem of staying in touch with golfing friends around the globe.

Old Tom Ventures is one of Fairgame’s first investors. They join Eric and Ben in this discussion to explain what they saw in Fairgame that prompted their investment decision.

WATCH THE VIDEO

LISTEN VIA PODCAST

Key discussion areas to listen out for:

• 3:18 mins. ?The Fairgame product journey so far – why did Eric see an opportunity to leverage human centric design, a simple user experience, and pair it with a beautiful brand?
• 4:45 mins. ?The similarities that Ben saw in the golf world compared with the watch world. Why this presented an opportunity. “Golf today reminds me of where watches were 15 years ago.”
• 9:25 mins. ?The value of not going the ‘traditional’ route for developing a digital-first product (e.g. build an MVP, test, seek external funding)
• 12:26 mins. ?How common is it for founders to take investors money vs putting their own money into their company?
• 13:58 mins. ?What are some of the strongest signals Old Tom Ventures look for in evaluating companies to invest in?
• 16:31 mins. ?The most powerful lessons from Hodinkee that Fairgame has applied in their product strategy.
• 18:55 mins. ?The importance of the four Fairgame company values. Why these are more than just words on a page.
• 24:37 mins. ?Why does Old Tom Ventures believe that the Fairgame approach to storytelling is gaining so much traction?
• 27:04 mins. ?How Fairgame is trying to help golf grow by connecting people with similar interests outside of golf.
• 30:28 mins. ?Starpower. What does Adam Scott bring to Fairgame as a brand and as a team member? What could other startup founders learn from this?
• 34:32 mins. ?The power of having the right character attributes within the founding team of your startup.
• 36:36 mins. ?The importance of scratching your own itch when you design a product.
• 38:12 mins. ?What’s been the biggest challenge for Fairgame on their journey so far?
• 41:00 mins. ?Thinking about competitors vs focusing on solving your own identified challenges.
• 44:00 mins. ?How important is it to pick the right investors?
• 46:00 mins. ?The one biggest learning Eric has brought into Fairgame from building a successful business in another industry.

SAVE THE DATE! LINKEDIN LIVE WITH OLD TOM VENTURES AND DRYVEBOX (WED, JUNE 5)

Join us as we welcome Dryvebox Co-Founder and CEO Adeel Yang and the Old Tom Ventures team to answer your questions about the golf startup journey.

• Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2024
• Time: 9 a.m. Pacific / 5 p.m. BST
• Register: Here
• Send us your?questions: Let us know what you want us to ask?Adeel or Old Tom Ventures here

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

THANK YOU

Our community is growing and with it is our ability to provide greater insights. Please pass this newsletter onto friends and colleagues who you feel it will, or should, resonate with.

As always, thank you for being here, for being part of this journey and for your attention.

All the best,

Team Gather