expressed opinion entrepreneur Contributors are their own.
in his first season as head coach St. Louis Cardinals, Oliver Marmol has not forgotten his greatest passion: doing business.He and his wife Amber are VSa sports education app for professional athletes such as Albert Pujols, Fernando Tatisand Jessica Mendoza Help train and advise anyone who subscribes.
VS
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With a high level of workout training and hyper-specific answers to any questions a user may have, the accessibility it offers in the life of a professional athlete is unique. “If there’s one word I want you to take away from here, it’s ‘access,'” the Cardinals captain shared. For him, through his game and early coaching career, exposure to the best minds in baseball led to one of the major management jobs in baseball, which he and Amber strive to provide for anyone with similar ambitions. provided.co-founder and entrepreneur Grow their startup while managing their super busy lives on Zoom, why being kind to talent and customers goes a long way, and how a trip to Guatemala sparked their desire to give back.
How is VS different from other training platforms?
Oliver Mulmore: Now everything else is just what you’re consuming. You sit there, listen to the lesson for an hour, take notes, and you’re done. Our platform allows you to do at any time throughout the course, you can stop training and ask the talent questions using the technology we use called Conversational AI. Our people are able to answer up to 500 questions. Anyone can stop the program and ask, “Can you tell me more about being in doubt in the minor leagues?” or “What are the best coaches you’ve ever encountered doing well?” They will also gain insight into the nature of mindset and the emotional component of success.
Amber Malmore: One of the things we often see in the players Olly has played with is that there are a lot of people who succeed not only because of their physical ability but also because of their mentality and perseverance. For those of you chasing your dreams, the mindset that really got you there, and what sustains you in good times and bad, is your mindset.
What inspired you two to launch this platform?
about: We travelled to Guatemala a few years ago and spent 7 days in an orphanage. We saw the worst poverty we’ve ever seen in our lives, and on the way back to Miami, Amber looked at me and said, “How do we build something that will allow us to give back to this community and people in need?” Our money back then It’s zero — I mean zero — but Amber said, “Why don’t we do a business that takes you to class?” Then we decided to donate 50 percent of everything we received at the end of the year.
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I started classes and we sent a check at the end of the year. Those kids had one meal every three days, and when we delivered, they had three meals a day for about six or seven months. After that, Amber looked at me and she said, “Okay, how do we do this a million times?”
For people we know, let’s allow them to teach, make high-level production around it, monetize it, and still give back components and provide access to underserved communities. If I look back on what gave me the opportunity to be the manager of the Cardinals, that’s all the opportunities I had. When we sit down and think, well, a bunch of kids like me don’t have that kind of access, how can we provide it? That’s the heartbeat of this platform.
How do you ensure that superstar athletes share their talents with the program?
Yes: When we started this company, we knew that culture was very important to us. This not only affects how we interact as a team, but also how we treat our athletes. They have been hugely successful and we value that, but we also just value them as people. We really try to do a good job of just meeting them as people and serving them that way. We built a really good reputation among the first people we brought in and from there it spread by word of mouth.
about: no doubt. Think about all the different ads Albert Pujols has done throughout his career. He came to the set and told us that he had never been treated like this, that he didn’t feel like a genius who just moved from room to room. It’s easy for a female athlete to do low-end productions, but come into the building with us and say she’s being treated like a high-end male athlete. That’s what we’re making sure we communicate: the way we treat talent will continue to allow us to acquire more talent.
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Do you have any advice for entrepreneurs looking to start a tech company?
about: In the early days, you often feel that whatever opportunity is in front of you is your last chance. I recommend being very slow in making these decisions. Don’t delay unnecessarily, but at the same time, really take the time to figure out if it’s the right talent? Is it the right team member? Is this the right partnership? Think about the long game, not just how this helps me with this second short game.
Yes: I just want to add that you have to know your values. We have done so, but within the values of our core principles and beliefs. For us, working with honest, high quality and character people is far more important than quick problem solving and immediate success. Take the time to make sure everything aligns with the culture you’ve always wanted to build.
