Today, I’m joined by Jordan Fliegel. An experienced entrepreneur and investor, we talk about Jordan’s role at Techstars Sports, his investment fund, Founders First, and his time as founder of CoachUp and co-CEO of Draft.com.
The conversation also covers emerging opportunities in the Sports Tech category, as well as Jordan’s framework for evaluating companies and founders.
More from Jordan
Jordan Fliegel (born 1986) is an American tech entrepreneur and investor, focused on the sports industry.
Techstars Sports – Fliegel is currently Managing Director of the Techstars Sports Accelerator, which he launched in 2019. Techstars Sports invests $120k/company in 10 startups annually and provides mentorship, office space and hands-on support. The consortium of strategic partners backing the accelerator includes the Next Level Fund, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, NCAA, Indiana Sports Corp, Indianapolis Colts, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway/IndyCar. The accelerator has 30 portfolio companies, including Ergatta, which raised $30M at a $200M valuation in 2021.
Founders First – Fliegel is an investor in over 150 startups as Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Founders First, a vertical-agnostic early-stage angel fund and syndicate. Portfolio companies include Carta, Dapper Labs, Ramp, Fight Camp, MMHMM, Mparticle, Digits, Botkeeper, Merit, HqO, etc)
Draft.com – Fliegel was previously co-CEO of Draft.com (“DRAFT”), a venture-backed fantasy sports company headquartered in NYC. In 2017, he sold DRAFT for $48M to Paddy Power Betfair.
CoachUp.com – Fliegel was Founder and CEO (now Chairman) of CoachUp.com, the leading sports coaching platform with over 20,000 coaches, backed by $14M in venture capital and headquartered in Boston. NBA MVP Stephen Curry is Fliegel’s partner and the lead spokesman at CoachUp.
Pro Basketball – Fliegel played professional basketball in the Israeli Premier League, Israeli National League and EuroCup league, and in 2018 led a group that bought a double-digit minority stake in the ANBL 4X Champion New Zealand Breakers.
Author – Fliegel writes and lectures on entrepreneurship, investing, and leadership and is the author of “Coaching Up!” (Wiley & Sons, 2016, with a foreword by NBA Champion Shane Battier).
Awards – Fliegel and his companies were named Inc “30 under 30”, Forbes “30 under 30”, BBJ “40 under 40”, and Finalist for Ernst & Young “New England Entrepreneur of the Year”.
Personal: Fliegel grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy & Government from Bowdoin College, and an M.B.A. from Tel Aviv University.
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