Spencer, Fanalysts’ CEO and Co-founder, is a seasoned leader in product development and innovation, having worked as a senior engineer for Stanley Black and Decker. He is an incoming MBA candidate at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Spencer graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland with a degree in materials science and engineering.
Spencer is passionate about driving critical solutions for sports fans, especially enabling transparency and user control in the sports betting market. Spencer combined his engineering background with his passion for sports and analytics when founding Fanalysts with his brother, Bradley Kronthal, Seth Sholk, and Michael Stern.
What is Fanalysts all about?
Fanalysts is a sports betting research company whose mission is to democratize sports analytics. Right now if you want to research before placing a bet you need to rely on expert picks or blindly trust algorithms. Fanalysts is giving the power back to the fans.
Fanalysts is developing the Command platform to allow fans to build custom sports betting metrics, filter so you only see the results you want to see, and then review upcoming games that would be most profitable to bet on. Fans will no longer have to blindly trust “experts” and can rely on what they think leads to winning.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
My background is in materials engineering. I graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in materials science and engineering and worked for Stanley Black and Decker. Outside of work, sports and sports analytics were a passion of not only mine but also of my brother, Bradley.
At Maryland, we utilized engineering software to find materials for critical applications. Working with Bradley, who was in TV production for a Major League Baseball team, we realized we could use that same software to predict player performance. We built out a system in Excel and we knew we had something. We expanded our team, pivoted to sports betting, and the rest is history.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
- Perseverance is number one. Without it, there is zero chance that your startup survives. Every week, if not every day, especially at the beginning, there will be a reason to give up. When an assumption is proven wrong or a deal falls through, perseverance is needed to keep pushing forward or even pivot the idea.
- Communication is definitely key. Whether you are communicating goals and action items to your team or pitching yourself or your company to a potential investor, being able to get your point across concisely, effectively, and persuasively is key.
- Finally, you need to be agile. As an entrepreneur, there are many things you will not be prepared for. It is simply impossible to fully prepare for every situation or task that will be presented to you. The way to counteract that is not just by learning quickly, but by being able to apply what you learned right away. You may be responsible for product development, marketing, finance, fundraising, legal, and other functions. At least for me, the way to be able to stay ahead has been digesting as many resources and information as quickly as possible from experts and those who have been there before.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
Fanalysts is launching our Command platform this upcoming NBA season. We plan to allow beta access in December and fully launch in January. We look to grow the company through partnerships with key ambassadors and companies to create a more personal connection for our users to the brand and platform. We also are building a strong social media presence to connect with fans where they are. We really are building a community of sports bettors.
How have the pandemic and Lockdown affected you or your new business?
For Fanalysts, the lockdown and pandemic made us double down on many of our working and productivity efforts. As a remote team, we already relied heavily on Google Drive, Zoom, and Slack. Seeing major corporations begin to do the same only lent more credibility to how we were working remotely. That being said, we do work on making an effort to have discussions outside of just work to continue growing as a team, whether it be planning a team dinner or discussing recent sporting events. One thing we’ve learned from this situation is to keep moving forward. There is always going to be uncertainty. We made sure to keep turning larger goals into actionable tasks, so we can make small progress each day.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
First and foremost, we are building trust with sports fans. Sports bettors aren’t dumb. They can see that the current sports-betting research offerings require them to blindly trust experts and algorithms. By staying true to our mission of transparency, we will build on that trust and clearly differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
We also will be the only platform to allow bettors to create their custom sports betting metrics. We have the most customizable platform at the most affordable price on the market. Our level of transparency paired with our level of user control hasn’t been seen before in the betting industry. By continuing to stick to these two principles, we will always stand out.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
- When we started Fanalysts, at the time we were calling our company KS Analytics, Bradley, Seth and I began working with a couple of potential partners who had grand plans for bringing on key influencers in the space. We spent weeks just talking about all the possibilities, without any concrete evidence that any of these individuals would actually be interested. All the while, we only had a mockup on Excel of the concept. Once we got to discussions on combining companies, our interests and those of these potential partners were not aligned, and all this strategizing and prognosticating about potential was all for naught. We should have just kept moving forward tangibly.
- Although we needed funding for development, we were very afraid of having our concept stolen before we ever got started. Working with the Launchpeer Accelerator alleviated those fears and led to multiple discussions with VCs, potential partners, and key brand ambassadors. Instead of fearing talking to people in the space, we are now getting great feedback and landing valuable partnerships with key sports betting players, while also growing our network within the media and VC communities.
- Our first attempt at developing our platform was using an external development team. We rushed the process to hire them and get started. While things looked good the first two weeks, communication quickly fell off. While we were refunded, we spent two months trying to simply get a status update on the project. We ended up having to start from scratch. To improve communication in our second attempt, we brought on a part-time developer onto the team as CTO. However, while communication was great this time, he did not have the bandwidth or time to complete the project and months went by again with little progress. Finally, with the Launchpeer development, we fully understood our development needs, maintain great communication, and have a well-resourced team in place to deliver our product for launch this NBA season.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process, what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
Pre-launch we are focused on building hype for our product. We are running successful Facebook and Instagram ads driving beta sign-ups so that we have a good base of loyal fans when we launch. We are also continuing to grow our influencer network so that the day we launch we have millions of followers on social media seeing the Fanalysts platform and what we offer.
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
What sets our team apart is that we all have been having ideas all our lives, but it took Fanalysts to bring us all together and focus them. I wanted to create an app to invest in people. Instead of taking out a loan, a student could give away a percentage of future earnings. Brad and Michael worked together innovating at their college radio station, churning out new ideas every week. We all just needed a focus, and that’s why Fanalysts is going to be successful.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
I am trying to learn how to better run and be part of a team. I am currently reading Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson, the Hall of Fame NBA coach for the Bulls and Lakers. He led two of the greatest teams with some of the greatest players and largest personalities and managed to still make the team much greater than the sum of its parts. At the end of the day, Fanalysts is only going to go as far as our team takes it. So learning how to continually improve our teamwork and truly become a great team is of the utmost importance.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
I would speed up the process and not be delayed by fear or indecision. While taking time to hone a strategy and analyze the market is important, I would have started talking to people and getting actual feedback faster. Once we joined the accelerator, things have picked up dramatically and we had much better guidance and direction. Once you know which direction you want to go in, I would just start moving forward and not look back. Additionally, I would start building relationships as early as possible. Whether with potential advisors, partners, customers, employees or investors, the more feedback and guidance you can get early on, the better.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
- Beautiful. ai is an incredible platform. Pitching your company will be essential, whether to partners or investors. Beautiful.ai makes it extremely easy to build a great-looking pitch deck.
- To find key investors and partners, as well as potential advisors, Apollo. io is a great tool to prospect for these people and then create an automated sequence to reach out to them.
- SEM Rush has been the market standard for SEO for a long time, but as they add on more features they are essential for creating successful marketing campaigns.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
I’m a big fan of virtual sticky notes on my laptop. My fiancée introduced me to using virtual sticky notes to keep track of upcoming events or things to do and to help prioritize them. I also like that it’s always on my laptop home screen so I can’t miss anything.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
- Shoe Dog by Phil Knight truly inspired me to start reading more. It tells the story of how Phil Knight founded Nike and is a great book for entrepreneurs to see the ups and downs that come with starting a company. With great storytelling and anecdotes, Knight shows how his team built one of the most beloved brands in the world.
- Along the same vein, Startup, the podcast by Gimlet Media, is incredible. It really takes you inside the workings of a startup. We learned a great number of lessons listening to the podcast that we have applied to our own startup.
- For the online course, I recommend Digital Product Management from the University of Virginia on Coursera. This course encompassed the many functions that go into leading a successful digital product. It helped me understand all the key functions that were needed when developing and launching a product and company.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I’d spend it on advertising, an email marketing outreach software subscription, and an online legal service to ensure you have proper company filing. In hindsight, one of the most important things is getting feedback and growing your network. You can build a pitch deck for free, but testing ads in your target market for validation is a great way to get feedback from potential customers, not in your inner circle.
What helps you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
The chance to do something great with a great team. We’ve built a great team at Fanalysts, we all believe in the mission, and we know that if we can execute and keep staying attentive to our customer’s needs, then we have a chance to truly do something great. I think starting a business and creating a new product or service is a way of achieving greatness, and believing that we can accomplish that keeps me going.
What is your favorite quote?
“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity”
This quote is attributed to Roman philosopher Seneca and resonates with me in that it all comes down to your preparation. While it may appear to be luck on the outside, preparation made you ready to seize the moment.
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
Everybody seems to believe that their idea has already been done or they aren’t the person to do it. Simply by starting and moving forward, you’ve already put yourself ahead of most people. Once you get started, keep progressing every day and it will add up quickly.
What is your definition of success?
Success is definitely multifaceted and my definition is probably not going to do it justice. With that preface, I like to think of success as achieving contentment knowing that I did my best to reach my potential and to help others reach their potentials.
How do you personally overcome fear?
I try to figure out what I am afraid of and try to strengthen or chip away at whatever I am in doubt about. If it’s an upcoming presentation, I practice the material. If it’s meeting with a potential partner, I try to figure out their potential angle and make sure I am clear on our approach. If it’s worrying about our launch, I break it down into digestible items and try to just chip away.
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best way to reach me is through my email Spencer@fanalysts.co. I’m generally very responsive and am always happy to discuss Fanalysts, sports, and entrepreneurship.
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