Today on Brand Story, Inc., we continue our Future of Sports Content series with an episode dedicated to sports technology. Isaiah Kacyvenski is the co-founder of Will Ventures, a research-backed early-stage venture fund focused on consumer, health, and media. Will Ventures has 19 companies in its portfolio, which you can view here. 

Isaiah came highly recommended for Brand Story, Inc. from mutual friends. Also, Will Ventures’ recent investment into the new media publishing company, Just Women’s Sports, particularly caught my attention.

Isaiah’s journey to raising a $55M investment fund was rather circuitous and an underdog story with Hollywood potential. Isaiah spent part of his early life homeless and, amazingly, on his journey he earned earn not one, but two degrees from Harvard. While an undergrad, he played football and then had a stellar 8-year NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks before returning for his MBA.

After retiring from the NFL, Isaiah acted as Global Head of Business Development at MC10 and co-founded the premier sports tech research and advisory firm, Sports Innovation Lab. Prior to founding Will Ventures, Isaiah was the Managing Partner at Blue Star Innovation Partners where he led the firm’s sports technology investment practice.

It’s hard not to feel the infectious positivity from Isaiah and his work at Will Ventures.

Highlights from this episode:

  • The Will Ventures backstory.
  • Isaiah’s current thesis of sports technology and media investing.
  • WV’s Just Women’s Sports investment and the future of women’s sports content value.
  • Advice for leagues, teams, and brands on creating value through sports technology.
  • Current and future sports tech investment trends in type and volume of deal flow.
  • A deep dive on Tempus Ex, as a case study in content-changing technology.
  • Will, like all guests, dishes on his recent favorite book.

Thank you Brand Story, Inc. community for your support as we continue our inaugural Future of Sports Content series.  We want to continue to hear from you. Share your guest recommendations, topic suggestions, questions and overall feedback. This community is for YOU.

Drop me a note at [email protected] or ping me at LinkedIn here. You can connect Isaiah Kacyvenski here on LinkedIn – or here on Twitter. Feel free to let him know what you liked from this episode. Guests love to hear from our listeners. Enjoy the episode!

Recent Future of Sports Content Podcasts (Click on any to access show):

Share this: