Midwest Startups’ Post

Part of our strategy at Baseball United is to introduce several Gameplay Innovations designed to attract younger/newer fans into the game. In the United States, professional baseball has the oldest fan base in all of pro sports. The average age of a Major League Baseball (MLB) fan in the U.S. is 57 years old. In the Middle East and South Asia, the average age of a baseball fan is 27 years old. More than 2x younger. So not only is there a lot of potential to build upon that young (and diverse) fan base, but we believe we can also kickstart interest in baseball globally by innovating in some key areas to help make the game more exciting to casual and emmerging fans. This helps fuel the entire baseball ecosystem - from equipment makers to training academies to tech providers - let alone sponsors and rights holders. One of MLB’s strongest points of difference is its history and heritage. It’s the oldest professional sports league in the world (nearly 150 years old), and tradition is a huge part of the brand. Stats and records are also a big part of the MLB’s DNA. Those powerful differentiators can also become challenges when looking to innovate. But the league’s current leadership knows it has to, and they did a phenomenal job this past year introducing new rule changes designed to expand and deepen their fan base (attendance was up and game times were down). There are some boundaries, however, that MLB can’t cross due to that importance of their history, stats, and records. Boundaries like a 6-run home run. 🙃😅⚾️ At Baseball United, since we are starting from a blank canvas, we can push the envelope a bit more while still staying true to the integrity of the game. Some ideas will work. Some won’t. But we can test, learn, and improve based on fan engagement. And, in the process, we can help grow the game. This video shares 3 of our new Gameplay Innovations - including the now world-famous “Money Ball” which has more than 100M views on social media. Love to hear what you all think. This is the fun stuff. 🙏⚾️❤️ John Miedreich Eddie Diaz Warren Miedreich Barry Larkin Mariano Rivera Mahmood (Max) Shaukat Victor J Campos カルロス・ミラバル Carlos Mirabal Joshua Varughese Herbie Pallotta #baseball #baseballunited #sportsbiz #linkedinsports #sportsmarketing #innovation #entrepreneurship

Breaking away from tech talk to celebrate an historic moment: The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup Champions! 🏆🐾 As a Panthers fan since 2012 (yes, I switched allegiance from the Maple Leafs - sorry, Toronto!), this journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. While I rarely post about non-tech topics, there are valuable lessons from this victory that resonate far beyond the ice: 1. Persistence creates legends: From their last final appearance in 1996 to now, this win proves that unwavering dedication can lead to ultimate success, even after decades of challenges. 2. Embrace the underdog spirit: Entering the playoffs as the lowest seed, the Panthers used their underdog status as fuel. In tech and business, sometimes being the "dark horse" can be your greatest asset. 3. Adaptability wins championships: The team's ability to evolve strategies throughout the playoffs was crucial. It's a powerful reminder that in dynamic industries like tech, the ability to pivot quickly often determines success. 4. Leadership transforms cultures: The impact of coach Paul Maurice and captain Aleksander Barkov shows how strong leadership can revolutionize a team's performance and culture. 5. Community is everything: The way South Florida united behind the team (even though Miami you can do better) It underscores the power of building a supportive ecosystem, whether in sports or the startup world. As we celebrate this incredible Stanley Cup victory, I'm reminded that the principles of teamwork, resilience, and strategic thinking are universal. Whether you're building a championship hockey team or a groundbreaking tech startup, these fundamentals can guide you to the top. Here's to the Panthers, the new Stanley Cup Champions, and to all the underdogs out there making history! 🏆🏒 #FloridaPanthers #StanleyCupChampions #LeadershipLessons #Resilience #StartupMindset

In baseball and business, no one bats 1.000. Sometimes, when we look at successful business owners, it can feel like everything they do works out. They launch a new product, and it takes social media by storm. They invest in a new startup, and less than five years later, it's promoting its IPO. Whatever they touch seems to turn to gold. This is merely our perception. Each one will tell you that their wins are celebrated and their losses are forgotten. They admit that they get things wrong a lot of the time. In baseball, you are considered a good hitter if you get a hit in 30% of your at-bats. You are a Hall of Fame hitter if you can get a hit 40% of the time. This means that the best hitters in baseball fail way more than they succeed. But we celebrate one hit and forget the other two at-bats. Even though we forget those failures, great hitters don’t forget them. They analyze them. They relive them. They talk about them. Trying to see what they did wrong and how they can improve. They then take that information into their next at-bat. Great business minds work similarly. While the world celebrates their big wins, they analyze and review the things that didn’t work out. They want to understand what things they can do differently the next time around – because, more often than not, they dive right back in with their new perspectives. When conducting this postmortem analysis, they are not looking for the one thing that caused the project to fail. There are often many variables in any project that need to be evaluated, and there isn’t just one thing that can be improved or changed. We can apply this to running our SMBs. First, we can be ok with projects not working exactly as planned - remember, no one hits 1.000. The results are just indicators, telling us if we are getting closer to what we want. Second, we can use the times things don’t work out as opportunities to identify where to improve. When things work out, finding these areas for improvement can be trickier. The most important thing to remember is never to stop trying. We may pivot away from what we initially thought would work based on our analysis, but we need to continuously leverage the experience and knowledge we gained from the setbacks.

I am a proud New York Rangers fan, and one of the big stories of this year is a kid named Matt Rempe, who is just a big ol’ lug of a guy who skates (reasonably) well and hits hard. He’s kind of a throwback player to a previous time—he’s incredibly helpful in the playoffs where the ice seems to shrink a little bit and the big guys have a job to open up some lanes. And I’ve been reflecting on the movement of Rempe’s year (started the year in the minors) and I’ve been reflecting that we all go through stages of life—and that our businesses go through stages of life—and if we understand those stages we have a better opportunity to take advantage of them. When you play in the minors you’re making under six figures; when you play in the NHL you’re making $700,000 minimum. It’s a big jump, and it happens the minute you’re on the NHL roster. Suddenly, you can buy a house. In business similar things happen. You try your tail off to start a new idea—fund it, market it, research it, sell it, deliver it, and maybe you’re pulling in 500K or 1M per year, built from nothing—built from effort. Then someone says: I’ll buy it from you. Or parts of it. $3M or $5M in a day. In a moment. Then someone says let’s take it public: depending how much you have left, another $3M, $5M that day. And I mention this because if we understand the stages of movement of a business, we know when to get in—right before the movement. Right before the river hits the ocean. At WealthColony, that’s our goal. We partner with companies before the big movement. That’s where our ecosystem flourishes—if you see the future, you can make money as it unfolds. The trick, of course, is seeing the future. With business deals, we look for the pre-sale businesses to introduce you to. In Web3 and cryptocurrencies—we help you see, and profit from, upcoming mainstream adoption. The human brain is a prediction machine—and the market relies on predictions. When businesses match the movements of—not just the market—but the movements of the avenues of the market—you reduce risk while seeking higher rewards. If a conversation about some of these companies or mainstream adoption of Web3 interest you, please DM me. #NewYorkRangers #Hockey #NHL #BusinessStages #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth #WealthColony #BusinessPartnerships #Web3 #Cryptocurrencies

A Simple Guide to Making Money with MLB

From a promising MLB career to empowering the next generation, Jacob Turner's journey is a testament to resilience and wisdom. With a successful transition from top 10 draft pick to Co-Founder of Moment Private Wealth, he's now a trusted guide for athletes and entrepreneurs navigating newfound wealth. Turner's powerful story highlights the importance of smart financial planning, emphasizing the significance of long-term investments and the invaluable lessons learned from both triumphs and challenges in the world of professional sports. Read more about Jacob Turner in the article below: #Strides #JacobTurner #MLB #MomentPrivateWealth #AthleteEntrpreneurship

Do you think your brand online needs a big, viral hit? It's not about one big win. It's about showing up every day. 🟢 Be the face they see often. 🟢 Be the name they know well. 🟢 Share things they want to hear. 🟢 Say what they feel is right. Just like in baseball, getting on base often matters more than hitting home runs. Keep it steady. Keep it true. That's how you win the game in the long run. Advancing careers, elevating lives. #SimpleWins #DailyEffort #ReliableBrand

Jesse Cole's book "Fans First", released last year, should be required reading for anyone with an ounce of entrepreneurial spirit in them. There was less than a thousand dollars to this baseball franchise's name when he arrived. If he had tried to do things the way they've always been done, the place would've gone under quickly. Instead, they chose to try something radically different, and you have one of the most talked-about sensations in North American pro sports. The Savannah Bananas are what they are because of two important principles: 1. Make your loyalists feel like they have a stake in your growth 2. Give your followers permission to be themselves There's so many lessons from the Savannah Bananas story that any marketing operation across any industry can take away, but the one that sticks out most to me is Jesse's "Five E's". Hang these somewhere in your office: Eliminate friction Entertain always Experiment constantly Engage deeply Empower action #sportsbusiness #sportsmarketing #innovation #creativity

I am a proud New York Rangers fan, and one of the big stories of this year is a kid named Matt Rempe, who is just a big ol’ lug of a guy who skates (reasonably) well and hits hard. He’s kind of a throwback player to a previous time—he’s incredibly helpful in the playoffs where the ice seems to shrink a little bit and the big guys have a job to open up some lanes. And I’ve been reflecting on the movement of Rempe’s year (started the year in the minors) and I’ve been reflecting that we all go through stages of life—and that our businesses go through stages of life—and if we understand those stages we have a better opportunity to take advantage of them. When you play in the minors you’re making under six figures; when you play in the NHL you’re making $700,000 minimum. It’s a big jump, and it happens the minute you’re on the NHL roster. Suddenly, you can buy a house. In business similar things happen. You try your tail off to start a new idea—fund it, market it, research it, sell it, deliver it, and maybe you’re pulling in 500K or 1M per year, built from nothing—built from effort. Then someone says: I’ll buy it from you. Or parts of it. $3M or $5M in a day. In a moment. Then someone says let’s take it public: depending how much you have left, another $3M, $5M that day. And I mention this because if we understand the stages of movement of a business, we know when to get in—right before the movement. Right before the river hits the ocean. At WealthColony, that’s our goal. We partner with companies before the big movement. That’s where our ecosystem flourishes—if you see the future, you can make money as it unfolds. The trick, of course, is seeing the future. With business deals, we look for the pre-sale businesses to introduce you to. In Web3 and cryptocurrencies—we help you see, and profit from, upcoming mainstream adoption. The human brain is a prediction machine—and the market relies on predictions. When businesses match the movements of—not just the market—but the movements of the avenues of the market—you reduce risk while seeking higher rewards. If a conversation about some of these companies or mainstream adoption of Web3 interest you, please DM me. #NewYorkRangers #Hockey #NHL #BusinessStages #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth #WealthColony #BusinessPartnerships #Web3 #Cryptocurrencies

What’s Blackbird sunrise event like? We hadn’t been before so wasn’t exactly sure. Garry Williams 🚜 warned me there’s a constant buzz A buzz!! ??? Well he was right. It was the buzz of 1100+ people across the VC & tech community coming together talking non stop for 2 days amongst insightful sessions. What do we want out of at Hockey Stick Advisory ? To find ways to help others first. 1. What are you focusing on? 2. What’s your challenges? 3. What does success look like? Leading with our Hockey Stick Advisory partner principles of this approach, which we also instill in companies we work with, created deeply engaging conversations *** see we didn’t ask for anything … What did this approach unlock? Huge amounts of collaboration opportunities with industry heavyweights. Partnerships for the win. The key lesson.. it’s not about you. It’s about better serving your customers, together. And that’s where the magic happens. Come say 👋 if here today. Well done to everyone who put the event on. 🏆 #partnerships #community #growth #sunrise24 Hockey Stick Advisory