New technology from startup ventures is transforming the sports industry. The mission of our Startup Profile Series is to introduce startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience and allow founders of new ventures to tell their story. This particular article is profiling one of the four startups in the inaugural Stadia Ventures Accelerator, which is culminating in a Demo Day on December 10th in St. Louis.
Company: Rookies
CEO: Matt Sebek
Headquarters: St. Louis, MO
1. What is your elevator pitch?
Rookies is a free app that was named one of Apple’s “Best of 2014” and allows fans to celebrate moments with beautifully-designed custom baseball cards. With options to share digitally or print physically, they create an immediate nostalgic bond with anyone that touches them.
2. Problem & Solution
We live in a world that is increasingly digital. We have thousands of photos on our phones and important connections that exist online. Rookies breathes life back into daily moments through baseball cards that are tangible, personable, and most of all, memorable.
3. Market
We anticipated a market of 25-40 year old diehard baseball fans. Since releasing the app 18 months ago, that’s been the minority demographic. Because baseball is a fabric of our society, anyone can receive enjoyment from its nostalgia. As such, we’ve printed over 1,000,000 cards and buyers have been of all ages; both male and female – buying baseball cards to use as business cards, birth announcements, groomsmen gifts and even tiny pizza menus.
4. Business Model
We currently only make money through our iOS app when someone buys a pack of cards. The app is free. Over the next year, our business model will include in-app (digital) purchases across an iOS and Android app as well as custom/unique support for bigger events such as weddings or corporate parties.
5. Management Team
Matt Sebek (CEO)
Joseph Hainline (Chief Operating Officer)
Ben Grove (Lead Product Designer)
Micah Hainline (Chief Technology Officer)
6. What else do you want the audience to know about your venture?
The app was initially designed to be a digital trading card game, simply because the “old” iPhone 4 was the same aspect ratio as an old baseball card. When Apple released the taller iPhone 5, we almost scrapped our project entirely. That’s when we began researching how to do custom, on-demand prints that feel just like the baseball cards we collected as kids. That aspect ended up being the thing people enjoyed the most about Rookies.
Bonus Questions
If you were to invite any CEO to dinner who would it be and why?
It’s cliché, but Tim Cook. Like many, Steve Jobs was my personal idol and I’m constantly fascinated with Tim Cook’s ability to run Apple with success while also building on the vision created by Steve (and appeasing those that held him in such high regard).
If you could go to any sporting event, what would it be and why?
NHL Winter Classic in St. Louis. This hasn’t been schedule yet, but should be. St. Louis is an underrated hockey town and to combine hockey/baseball for a winter game outside at Busch Stadium would be a dream scenario.