Substance over sizzle. I make no promises about the cadence of this email. I do promise it will be worth your time and mine. -Dave
The Next Thing?
The D10 has long served as an invaluable catalyst for emerging category leaders like Hyperice, APL, RxBar, lululemon, 2XU, Athletic Greens, and NormaTec. What’s next? First introduced to us in 2019, there’s a medical device whose licensors have chosen to repackage it (quite successfully) for use by professional & collegiate athletes and weekend warriors. Fast forward to 2023, Firefly Recovery is a staple in athletic training rooms across collegiate and pro sports teams, bolsters an awesome roster of professional athlete investors, and has an impressive advisory board. Might it seamlessly integrate into The D10’s 2023 campaign too? Stay tuned…
How did you not think of this?
It’s officially freezing, well, everywhere. That means as you briskly sashay from your car to your office, it’s just enough time to regretfully reflect on how you’re not a Gravity Haus member, or investor. For the ever-guilty Catholics among us, it’s also just enough time to wonder why you didn’t think of the idea for Gravity Haus when money was basically free.
It’s Not How Your Start. It’s How You Finish.
Brand name VC’s are historically awful at due diligence. Thus, we will never get a believable SNL skit where a GP asks the founders of Aescape ($30M Series A) how their robotic massages conclude. We imagine it sounds something like this, “Walk us through the user experience. Especially the end. The ending is so important. Does the client leave, um, happy?” (insert awkward silence).
NIL Valuations
The debate raged for decades as the business of collegiate athletics ballooned. A chorus of bipartisan support for compensating student-athletes culminated in a landmark, unanimous SCOTUS decision that gives, for example, high school senior Bronny James a projected name-image-likeness (NIL) value of $7.2M. Have we gotten this right?
It’s Not You, It’s Me
By some estimates, there are 71,000+ fitness apps and 85M+ users who have downloaded at least one since 2019. Standing at, or near, the top of that giant heap is FUTURE, whose fundraising prowess ($75M Series C) is perhaps only topped by its stickiness. Future touts, “members have unlimited access to their coach, trading an average of four text messages per day – 1,500 per year.” Given the quantity and cadence of messages, North Carolina recently introduced legislation requiring Future to get half the estate of a member who chooses to discontinue membership.
Much Prettier, But Still Killer
VersaClimbers are the lonely, skinny, strikingly unsafe machines found in YMCA’s and the gym at your grandfather’s condo in Boca. Until recently. That’s because CLMBR successfully updated the design and brought a Peloton-like experience to a machine universally vilified. The full body, low-impact, high intensity workouts offer great bang for the buck. Imagine arranging a few of these machines side-by-side and racing? Hmmm…
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