The Upside Newsletter

Over the past few months there has been so much hype about ChatGPT or what people refer to as generative AI. In fact, ChatGPT reached 1 million users in 5 days and 100 million daily active users in just two months beating popular messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Twitter. So as part of that we thought that it would make sense to interview again Adam Cheyer , the co-founder of Siri (sold...

Dear colleagues, This week we are kicking off a new series where each month we plan to interview athletes and coaches across major pro teams and leagues (MLS, NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, NCAA, European soccer, South American soccer, pro rugby, pro tennis, pro cricket, Olympic teams..). The goal with each athletes and coaches is to highlight their background, their investment philosophy, their favorite tec...

Dear colleagues, Women athletes and technologies for women in sports are going to be a new major focus for us at Upside in 2023. So as part of that, this week we have the honor to interview Laura Matthes, the head of sports and research at VivoSensMedical , a German small innovation and female health company producing and distributing OvulaRing. Founded in 2011, VivoSensMedical is a med-tech compa...

Dear colleagues, This month we are kicking off a new series where each month we plan to profile major pro teams and leagues (MLS, NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, NCAA, European soccer, South American soccer, pro rugby, pro tennis, pro cricket, Olympic teams..). The goal for each sports organization is to highlight their favorite technologies, the impact of those technologies in terms of injury reduction, ment...

This week we had the honor to interview Athanase Kollias, CEO of KINVENT , a company that helps sports and rehab professionals assess progress and build engagement and motivation. Founded in 2017, KINVENT is a leading player in the fields of physical rehabilitation and sports biomechanics producing innovative measuring and training devices for the facilitation of every day and athletic movements....

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. 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on Tom Brady's second retirement as well as his predictions for the...

This week we had the honor to interview again a group of sports performance experts. * Alexi Pianosi, Strength and conditioning coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL). * Dr Marco Nunez, ex Head Athletic Trainer, LA Lakers (NBA) 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on the various methods they have used to figure out if an athlete is overtraining or undertraining, and what works and do...

Upside Accelerator profile of the month: VC name: Techstars Sports Accelerator Headquartered : Indianapolis (Indiana) Founded: 2019 Managing Partners : Jordan Fliegel (Managing Director), Andrew Hippert (Investment Principal), Elliott Mack (Investment Associate). Website: https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/indy-sports Sectors: Sports, Entertainment & Fitness  VC type: Accelerator, Venture Capi...

Back in 2019, Dr Arthur Ting gave us a tour of his Arthur Ting orthopedic surgery and sports medicine clinic in Fremont California. Back then we spoke about technologies trends and he showed us some of the technologies (Cryotherapy, laser therapy, cooling/heating therapy, etc.) that he uses to treat his patients. This week we had the honor to interview again Dr Arthur Ting along with Dr Ryan Ting...

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. 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on Aaron Judge's mega contract with the Yankees, the NBA interest i...

This week we have the honor to interview Isaiah Kacyvenski, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of  Will Ventures , a venture capital investment fund focused on sports technology opening up adjacent markets primarily in Consumer, Health and Media.  Isaiah is also a former NFL player who played for the Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders. Before we get into the podcast interview wi...

This week we had the honor to interview Dr. Jeff Konin who currently serves as Clinical Professor and the Director of the Doctor of Athletic Training program at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. He is also a founding partner and owner of The Rehberg Konin Group , and also is founder/owner of Konin Consulting, LLC. 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on his backgroun...

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. 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on the Houston Astros winning the World Series. Then we discussed v...

This week we have the honor to interview Scott Gutterman, SVP of Digital Operations at the PGA Tour. Here is a picture of the PGA TOUR’s augmented reality (AR) experience on mobile devices for fans attending events. This AR experience is powered by Quintar. 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on his background, his role at the PGA Tour, the importance of technology to the PGA Tour to...

This week we had the honor to interview Dennis Crowley the CEO of Street FC , building the biggest football club on the planet by making it easier to play in cities. Street FC operates a football club to make soccer accessible to as many people as possible. It develops a technology that specializes in connecting a community of players online and offline by organizing fast-paced street soccer games...

This week we had the honor to interview interview Harrison Brown, CEO of HEADCHECK Health , a digital health company providing a concussion management platform to sports organizations. HEADCHECK Health’s digital app platform simplifies the process of executing and monitoring adherence to your concussion protocol. HEADCHECK has been built by feedback from medical professionals over the past nine ye...

This week we had the honor to interview a group of sports performance experts. * Pierre Barrieu, Head Fitness coach & Performance analyst at Leeds United FC (Premier League) * Karam Al-Hamdani, Head Athletic Therapist at CF Montreal (MLS). * Alexi Pianosi, Strength and conditioning coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL). 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on the growing popularity...

This week we had the honor to interview James Murray, Chief of Staff at AC Milan, a top Italian soccer team. James is also the Non-Executive Director at the Scottish Women’s Premier League. 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on his background, his role at AC Milan and what it was like to win the Serie A last year. Then I touched on the club’s recent partnerships in the web 3.0/NFT s...

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. 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on Serena's retirement, Kevin Durant's situation with the Nets. We...

This week we had the honor to interview Sukemasa “Masa” Kabayama, CEO of Uplift Labs , an AI powered technology company that provides real time tracking and 3D analysis of movement performance and movement health. Of note, Uplift was founded by 3 technology veterans. Masa served as President of Tesla Japan and held leadership roles at innovative global companies such as Apple and LEGO. CTO Jonatha...

This week we had the honor to interview George Sun, CEO of Nextiles , a material science company working on next generation flexible wearables. Nextiles built a smart apparel platform that helps people exercise better, more safely, and more efficiently. The company pairs athletic apparel with an analytics system that identifies new insights about a persons movement. The company weaves and threads...

VC name: Emerging Media Ventures Headquartered :  London Founded: 2005 Founders: Manoj Badale & Charles Mindenhall Website:   https://emergingmediaventures.com Sector: Sports & Media VC type: Venture Builder Typical seed investment range : Up to $5M Emerging Media Ventures is the UK’s leading sports venture builder. As majority owner of the Rajasthan Royals , they are uniquely positioned to provid...

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 four years in the NCAA. 📝Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on Kevin Durant trade situation, the 76ers’ plan to build a new are...

This week we had the honor to interview Mélanie Pauli, BOP (Best Player on the Pitch) & Athletic trainer at the Swiss Football Association. Show Notes:  Through this interview, we touched on her background, her role at the Swiss Football Federation. We also touched on the importance of technologies in the world of women soccer, and the growing amount of interest for women's soccer around the world...

This week we had the honor to interview Matt Robinson, Professor of sports management at the University of Delaware. He is also in charge of an international coaching program, funded by the international Olympic committees, Olympic solidarity fund as well as the United States Olympic committee. Matt has worked with major sports leagues (NBA..), and has done research studies for US soccer and diffe...