The Upside Newsletter

This week we had the honor to interview a group of NCAA sports performance experts. * Dr. John DeWitt, Director of applied sports science in the athletic department and a faculty member, Rice University (NCAA team). * Paul Silvestri, Sr director of sports health and performance, University of Florida football (NCAA team). * Drew Lukes, Senior PT at Duke University and the head of sports science, D...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Dr Wayne Chappelle, Team Psychologist of the OKC Thunder & Founder of PsyOPTIMAL . He is joined by Bryan Fetzer, President & Co-Founder, PsyOPTIMAL. Dr. Wayne Chappelle is a performance psychologist whose career spans Olympic sport, U.S. military special operations, and the NBA. Originally trained in clinical psychology, he shifted his focus toward understan...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Tyler Harris, the director of sports medicine at St Louis CITY SC, an MLS team. Tyler Harris is the Director of Sports Medicine for St. Louis CITY SC of Major League Soccer, where he oversees athlete care, rehabilitation, return-to-play processes, and the medical departments across the first team, second team, and academy. A lifelong soccer enthusiast, Harri...

Here is below the logos of some of the Scrum Ventures’ portfolio startups: Source: Scrum Ventures Scrum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm with offices in San Francisco and Tokyo. Founded by Tak Miyata, it operates at the intersection of Silicon Valley innovation and Japanese corporate networks, helping founders connect with global customers, strategic partners, and capital. Through i...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Brandon Epstein, a mental performance coach that works with athletes and ceos, entrepreneurs, and high achievers. Brandon Epstein is a leading mental performance coach known for his work with top athletes in the UFC and other professional sports leagues. He has worked closely with high-level fighters such as UFC welterweight contender Sean Brady and former U...

This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then five years in the NCAA. You can watch the video interview below or you can listen to the audio interview above: 📝Show Notes: Through this in...

This week we have the honor to interview again a group of sports performance executives to talk about the latest trends in the world of sports performance and rehabilitation. * Jason Han, Former Head of Rehabilitation, LAFC (MLS). Jason is also the head of business development in North America at OneBase health. * Michael Messer, Head of Rehabilitation, Nashville SC (MLS). * Darcy Norman, Director...

Today as part of our continued effort to bring more awareness on female athletes, teams and associated trends related to female athletes, we have the honor to interview a group of female sports performance experts: * Allison Schmitt, a 10 time Olympic medalist and multiple world champion in swimming (Team USA), and consultant with Orreco a leading sports data company. * Ciara Burgi, Director of he...

This week we have the honor to interview a group of NFL sports performance executives to talk about the latest trends in the world of BFR in the NFL. * John Griffin, Director of player Performance, Atlanta Falcons (NFL). * Dr Josh Nelson (Nelly), Director of Performance Science, Atlanta Falcons (NFL). * Dr Warren Bradley, Founder, Hytro . 📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on the bes...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Mark Strickland, a former NBA player who played for the Miami Heat, Brooklyn nets and now is a coach and founder of Pogoman’s Pop-Up Clinics. Mark Strickland, known as “Pogoman,” is a former American professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the NBA , most notably with the Miami Heat, and also played for the Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, Sac...

This week we have the honor to interview a group of F1/Nascar sports innovation and performance experts. * Clayton Green, an experienced human performance coach that worked in F1. He was at McLaren for 12 years with multiple times F1 champion Lewis Hamilton * Kevin Kidd, a top motor sports executive in NASCAR (Ex RFK Racing ). He now works as the North American motorsports competition director for...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Jeff Ruiz, the Sr Director of rehab and athletic performance for the Miami Heat (NBA). Jeff Ruiz is the Senior Director of Rehab and Athletic Performance for the Miami Heat (NBA), where he leads player rehabilitation, sports science integration, and performance optimization across departments including strength and conditioning, athletic training, and nutrit...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Raphaël Ravet, the Chief Cmmercial Officer of Myocene , a leading Belgian based sports tech company. Myocene is a Belgium based sports technology company revolutionizing how muscle fatigue is measured and managed. Recognizing the need for objective and precise monitoring in athletic performance, Myocene has developed an innovative device that combines a sens...

This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then five years in the NCAA. You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Ron located at the top of this blog post. You can watc...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Shaun Jayachandran, AI product advisor at GameRun.ai a leading AI powered athlete analysis tool. GameRun.ai is a New York-based company that provides AI-driven solutions for youth sports management, including a platform for event information and performance analytics. The app works by having users upload a video for AI-based analysis to level up their skills...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Rick Cost the director of high performance at Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1), a leading European soccer team. Here is a picture of the Olympique Lyonnais squad: You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page: 📝Show Notes: During the interview wi...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Dave Lewanda, the Director of Baseball Applications at the Miami Marlins, an MLB team. You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page: Here is a picture of Dave on the field: 📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on Dave’s profession...

This week we had the honor to interview a group of ATP sports performance experts in pro tennis. * Al Murphy, senior S&C coach at Tennis Australia. Al works with tennis players such as Rinky Hijikata, Emerson Jones and Aleks Vukic. He is also the head of sports science at Tennis Australia. * Zack Evenden, an experienced performance coach. Zack has worked with top tennis players like Frances Tiafoe...

This week we had the honor to interview a group of NCAA sports performance experts. * Dr. John DeWitt, Director of applied sports science in the athletic department and a faculty member, Rice University (NCAA team). * Paul Silvestri, Sr director of sports health and performance, University of Florida football (NCAA team). * Drew Lukes, Senior PT at Duke University and the head of sports science, D...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Ted Munson, the sports nutritionist of Brentford fc, a Premier League club. You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page: Here is a picture of Ted on the field: 📝Show Notes: During the interview we discussed Ted’s journey into performance nu...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Clayton Green an experience human performance coach that worked in F1. He was at McLaren for 12 years with multiple times F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. Clayton is a health, wellness, and performance specialist who spent over a decade with McLaren’s Formula One team, serving as their Human Performance Manager from about 2008 to 2020. During that time he was res...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Matt Eller, CEO of Aris Training , a leading platform in sports technology. Aris Training is a next-generation resistance training system designed to help athletes build strength, speed, and power through controlled, variable resistance. Unlike traditional weight-based methods, Arise leverages advanced technology to adjust resistance in real time, allowing p...

This week we have the honor to interview again a group of sports performance executives to talk about the latest trends in the world of sports performance and rehabilitation. * Jason Han, the former head of rehabilitation at LAFC (MLS). Jason is also the head of business development in North America at OneBase health. * Michael Messer, the head of rehabilitation, Nashville SC (MLS). * Tyler Harris...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Mike Potenza, M.Ed., C.S.C.S., TSAC-F, the Director of High Performance for the San Jose Sharks (NHL). Mike is also the Co-Founder of Metabolic Elite , a cutting edge supplement and nutrition company. At the the San Jose Sharks, Mike oversees the performance department, sports medicine, player reconditioning, nutrition, budgeting, and facilities for both the...

Today we have the honor of interviewing Steve Walsh, and hand on angel investor in Sports and Tech. Steve Walsh isn’t just another name in the startup ecosystem—he’s a powerhouse mentor and investor who’s redefining what it means to support early-stage companies. As a Techstars' Mentor-in-Residence and the founder of Hands On Angel LLC, Steve has poured his energy, expertise, and capital into over...