New technology from startup ventures is transforming the sports industry. The mission of this series will be to introduce startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience and allow CEO’s of new ventures to tell their story.
Company: Arccos Golf
CEO: Sal Syed
Headquarters: Stamford, Connecticut
1. What is your “elevator pitch” for Arccos to someone who is not familiar?
Arccos is performance tracking technology that automatically records every aspect of a golfer’s round and then generates actionable information to help the golfer understand their strengths and weaknesses.
2. What problem does Arccos solve? How?
Prior to Arccos, there was no product that took full advantage of modern technology in such a way to track a golfer’s individual statistics, in real time, throughout a round. Without truly understanding clubs distances, patterns of error or strengths and weaknesses, golfers are left to guess as to which part of their game and strategy needs attention in order to improve.
Arccos combines hyper-accurate Bluetooth sensors that attach to the end of each club with the powerful GPS technology found in smartphones to deliver a shot tracking system that monitors every aspect of a player’s game. This data produces Tour quality analytics that can be viewed during or after each round to help refine on-course strategy and to improve specific aspects of the user’s game.
Further separating Arccos from competitors is the fact that the system does not require the user to interact with it throughout the round. Everything is totally automatic, so there is no need to touch a screen, or tap a third device before each shot, as is the case with other performance tracking systems.
Players can interface with Arccos as much as they’d like, either by checking distances and stats as they play or by just letting the system gather data in the background and reviewing everything at a later time.
3. Who is your target market?
The target market for Arccos is any golfer with a smartphone who wants the same performance analytics that are provided to professionals on the PGA Tour each week.
Since the dawn of the game, golfers have strived to improve, yet many players don’t even truly understand what part of their game they need to be working on. The real path to better golf is to understand your performance on a micro and macro level; knowing where you tend to miss, realizing your true club distances and beginning to see patterns of fault that can lead to a clear analysis to where work needs to be done and strategy altered.
Not only does Arccos provide instant feedback, the system also compiles data overtime to display trends. Arccos empowers golfers to know when to take an extra club, where to layup and what aspects to work on at the practice facility. Our system provides a “deep dive” into performance tracking, yielding opportunity for smarter, more efficient play that ultimately leads to an improvement in scores – which is the ultimate goal of any golfer.
4. Business Model – How is Arccos structured to continue to grow and be profitable?
At our core, Arccos is a technology company that happens to be in the golf industry. As such, we took a familiar route to many other successful young tech enterprises. This included a lean startup model with an initial focus on localized capital and product development. When the time was right, we sought VC funding with an emphasis on sustained growth. Targeted SKU placement, in such select locations as Apple stores and major golf retailers, allowed us to focus on long-term, quality partners.
Our team has grown at a responsible rate, making sure that we deliver customers a superior product and service, while always continuing to push the boundaries as to what is technologically possible.
Additionally, one of the great things about Arccos is that our software platforms evolve with changing technology. As an example, when Apple announced its Watch last spring, we knew it was coming and were among the first golf-specific apps that were fully compatible with the new platform when it launched. Our outstanding engineering team was able to intertwine the technological capabilities of the Apple Watch with our system to create a perfect synergetic relationship between the two products.
We have the ability to be very flexible and adapt our app, GPS functionality, social media tools, etc. to best meet the needs of our users. We’re constantly tweaking and improving the system to make sure it operates seamlessly for players of all skill levels.
5. Management Team – Aside from yourself, who are the principals at Arccos?
At Arccos, I’m the CEO, overseeing all aspects of the business. Our fantastic technology team is led by two very experienced engineers.
Fabrice Blanc, in his past life was one of the top engineers in the French military and today leads hardware and manufacturing for us.
Colin Phillips, who previously was director of software at UBS where he oversaw the handling of terabytes of data in mission critical systems, leads software for us.
Today our small team has grown to include rocket scientists, nuclear submarine engineers, great designers and avid golfers. We are an Open Innovation Partner with Callaway Golf and a financial partner with the Pritzker/Vlock family.
Also, we are excited to have PGA Tour superstar Billy Horschel and Long Drive Champion Jamie Sadlowski, heading up our player testing and product feedback team.
6. What do you want the audience to know about your venture?
Arccos is, and always has been, about the future – specifically how technology and golf can coexist. We are constantly looking for ways our products can help elevate the experience and boost performance, without interfering with the moment at hand. Arccos adds to the experience, culture and history of the game. The one piece of technology that has been missing from golf until now is the “data revolution.” People want to be able to record their golf life. If you play a round at St. Andrews or Pebble Beach or another world-class establishment you will want to remember exactly how you played each hole.
With Arccos, we ensure that those memories are with you forever. Our system is only enhancing the experience. And as our technology evolves, you will see smaller, more interconnected products – perhaps sensors already imbedded in the set of clubs you buy. Five years from now, data collection will be a normal part of the way we play golf.
Bonus Question: If you were to invite any CEO to dinner who would it be and why?
I would have to say Elon Musk, the man behind the wheel of Tesla and SpaceX. He has the rare combination of being a big thinker, having an innate willingness to put everything on the line and getting his hands dirty. He once came to one of my classes at Yale and started his talk with “I believe humans need to colonize Mars because it is no longer safe for us just be to on Earth.” I was blown away! Elon epitomizes the ultimate entrepreneur, taking calculated risks in order to change the world for the better.