Sportaneous

Sportaneous makes it easy for busy people to play sports by harnessing location-based technology to facilitate pick-up sports games at any time.  Through the Sportaneous mobile app and website, a person can quickly view all sports games that have been proposed in his surrounding neighborhoods.  The user can choose to join whichever game best fits his schedule, location, and skill level.  Alternatively, a Sportaneous user may spontaneously propose a game himself (for example, a beginner soccer game in Central Park three hours from now), which allows all Sportaneous users in the Manhattan area to join the game until the maximum number of players has been reached.

Omar Haroun, Co-Founder & CEO

• JD/MBA candidate at Columbia University, B.A. from Berkeley and Oxford
• Prior start-up and VC law firm experience at Wilson Sonsini and at Orrick
• Played for Oxford Men’s Basketball team; active pickup sports player in San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Oxford, London, and New York

Aaron Royston, Co-Founder and President

• MD/MBA candidate at University of Pennsylvania, B.S. from Duke University
• Prior work experience in venture capital at Lilly Asian Ventures in Shanghai, and investment banking at Cowen and Company in New York
• Avid sports player, has played basketball and lacrosse both competitively and recreationally in five major US cities

Nick Shiftan, Co-Founder and Lead Technical Advisor

• B.S. in Computer Science from Harvard University, graduated magna cum laude
• Founder of Goose Networks, a company that helps employees carpool to work by using their location to optimize convenience and efficiency. Currently focuses on the architecture and development of Goose's core technology platform, while also managing client-specific customization and integration
• Former developer on the Windows Mobile team at Microsoft Corp.

Bill Walton, Board of Advisors

• Former NBA player and member of the NBA Hall-of-Fame, remains active in basketball through clinics, camps, coaching, and television commentary
• Executive Chairman of San Diego Sport Innovators, a business accelerator that connects and drives the growth of San Diego's sports economy

Growth Strategy & Revenue Model:

We will take advantage of the network effect by gaining a critical mass in New York City and San Diego. After demonstrating utility in these two cities, we will deploy a regional expansion strategy.  Since our initial focus is on growth, we do not seek to capture any short-term revenue that comes at the expense of user traction.  We will offer the mobile phone application as a free download, and our website will be free to join. Once we reach a critical mass (currently defined as 500,000 users), we will have three sources of revenue:  (1) Subscription fees from private facilities; (2) Premium Sportaneous membership option; (3) Location-based targeted advertisements.

The heart of Sportaneous’ competitive advantage is the ability for its users to very spontaneously decide to play a sports game as easily and quickly as they might decide to go to the gym.  No competitor thus far has succeeded in implementing this spontaneous element to pick-up sports games, which we feel is integral for any customer that has a busy or unpredictable schedule. Although companies like MeetUp allow people to come together over a common interest, these meetings typically happen days in advance. In contrast, the driving force behind Sportaneous is the ability for its users to quickly and spontaneously play sports.