The Formation of the PlayerProfiler Super Team
By the end of 2020, the business of PlayerProfiler was booming, and I was miserable.
Instead of enjoying the website’s popularity, I fixated on what the PlayerProfiler could not do. Instead of relishing my online influence, I focused on my limitations as a brand ambassador. My abilities as a sole proprietor could not match my ambitions for the business. In January, 2021, I pushed my chips in.
I approached our best web development contractors, content contributors, and volunteer data managers, and asked them to become full-time employees. I wanted to see how far we can take PlayerProfiler as a sports media and fantasy gaming enterprise. It turned out scaling a business is really hard. I learned that employees who work on laptops in their house require worker’s compensation insurance. Additionally, I learned people like Josh Larky, who write code and go viral on Twitter, are really rare. I also learned that real growth requires relinquishing control.
The Key to Success
Our struggles in the wake of Josh’s departure were humbling and showed our ability to hire and retain great people will determine the fate of the business. With that in mind, we started an equity share initiative, offering significant shares to key employees.
CTO Frank Lakatos was our first hire. He built the original PlayerProfiler.com and is spearheading several R&D initiatives that will shift the paradigm of our business in the months ahead. Working hand-in-hand with Taylor Delver, our technical team recently rolled out a completely reimagined Data Analysis tool. They turned our most underwhelming module into our most valuable premium service.
Then, Cody Carpentier, Head of Football, who charted games for us as a college student was brought on. Six years later, he just published a best-in-class Rookie Guide that combines real football and fantasy analysis better than any other resource in the industry.
Dario Offstein, Head of Analytics, is the brains behind Breakout Finder, Injury Finder, and a number of exciting R&D initiatives to help fantasy gamers improve their dynasty and seasonal league performance.
Aaron Stewart, Head of Social Media, spearheaded the reinvention of the @RotoUnderworld twitter account, helped us have early success on TikTok, and is working with our Jason Allwine to unlock the potential of Instagram.
As this point, the team was well-equipped, but not complete. We then kicked off a seed investment round last summer and raised $1 million dollars to bolster our technical, operations, and content staff.
The Rest of the Team
Our new Head of Operations, Billy Muzio, has been the centerpiece of this initiative. Billy’s personifies the PlayerProfiler talent profile: A great content creator + attention to detail managing the website and related media behind scenes.
Like Billy, Theo Gremminger does it all. He manages our podcasts platform and “World Famous” Draft Kit, while also hosting shows and writing multiple pieces per week.
Jack Cavanagh hosts PlayerProfiler Today, our nightly YouTube show, and doubles as our Head of News. Jack has big plans for the PlayerProfiler News Desk in the weeks and months ahead.
Seth Diewold, our site editor, follows this edict. He reads and edits every article we publish while also hosting multiple podcasts and streams such as the Writer’s Roundtable and Mock Draft Live.
This team goes deep. Matty Kiwoom, Nate Polvogt, Jon Adams, Anand Nanduri, Ahaan Rungta, John Early, Jill Bijolle, and Michael Goldberger are among the key staff featured here: www.playerprofiler.com/staff that make everything about PlayerProfiler possible.
2.5 years ago, I set out to build a successful sports media business. I ended up with a super team. You can’t have one without the other.
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