Let’s skip the small talk,
This week I listened to a conversation on the current state of youth sports with Rachel Baker (General Manager, Duke Men’s Basketball), Rich Kleiman (Founder/CEO, Boardroom), Amber Sabathia (Baseball Agent, CAA), and Crystal McCrary McGuire (Co-Founder/CEO, GameUp).
This group did a fantastic job covering the new approach to youth sports from the perspective of kids, parents, and institutions.
While much was said, I have to share the quote of the afternoon from Rich…
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I got 15 and 16 year old athletes asking me about Venture Capital now, wanting pick my brain…
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a new era. While our investment platform for athletes and their representatives is ahead of its time, it won’t be for much longer.
This new generation of athletes will look to partner with the next generation of companies earlier and earlier. If you represent athletes, prepare accordingly. Ask me any questions, and use us as a resource. If you are unfamiliar with the term “equity”, I’d love to sit down and teach you more about it.
LINEUP
1. Welcome New Community Members 👥
2. Are Financial Advisors In The Way? ❌
3. Josh Allen’s Small Nut Farm 🥜
4. New Deals 🚨
PODCAST
ICYMI, NBA Champion Pat Connaughton joins the Athletes & Assets™ Community
IN THE WAY?
Investing vs. Preserving
"I always ask the athlete to be on the Zoom call with me"
Pat Connaughton has a list of NBA accolades, including a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021. Off the court, he has 40+ professional athletes invested in his real estate firm, Three Leaf Partners.
Despite Pat's on-court success and $550 million in total portfolio value, at times, much convincing must be done for athletes and their business teams to invest.
Why? As Pat mentions, aside from the substance of the pitch, the financial advisor of the athlete is usually in charge of making the decision. Many financial advisors face the natural dilemma of investing vs. preserving, as they often earn more by preserving assets in the short term.
That's why it's imperative for Pat to get athletes themselves in the meeting. He wants them to hear the discussion, learn from it, and have them form an independent opinion to bring post-meeting to their advisor.
I am grateful that Pat peels back the curtain on his professional life off the court. In our latest episode, we chat about his career highlights, the ins and outs of Three Leaf Partners, the Pat Connaughton Foundation, and more.
IN THE NEWS
Small nuts, Big revenue
Source: MLFootball.com
That’s a ridiculous graphic lol. Anyways…
Before he was the Buffalo Bills star quarterback and the 2025 NFL MVP, Josh Allen was one of the highest-rated farmers in the country coming out of high school. He was a member of the National FFA Organization, receiving multiple awards for his agricultural work, and was also a national finalist in diversified crop production.
Josh now owns Allen Family Farms with his dad, a farm in California that produces small nuts, including pistachios. The Allens have 1,000 acres of pistachios and reportedly earn $6.5 million in revenue per year from the farm.
But wait, I thought the only way an athlete could build a successful business was to post about it on Instagram so it gets a lot of attention?
There are plenty of star athletes out there building or helping businesses in many ways outside of views. The key, in my opinion, is passion. Distribution matters, but oftentimes the stuff behind the scenes is more important, and it will get done as long as the athlete has passion in that category.
Platform Members Only
We share new deals with athletes and their business teams beyond this point.
Access:
- Y Combinator +
- Pre-Seed through Series A
- Consumer, Healthcare, Fintech, Edtech, Human Performance, and more
- Occasional Rising CPG Brands
- Used by Sports VCs for extra deal flow