The Profluence Pod 🌐

Andrew Petcash
  • 4.6 (23)
  • Sports
  • Updated Weekly

Insightful convos with the founders, operators, and investors transforming the future of sports.

  1. 1d ago

    #333: Paul Coggiola, LIFT Management - Scaling Sports Creators & Building Digital IP

    Paul Coggiola is the President of Creator at LIFT Management. Born and raised in Plano, Texas, Paul grew up a passionate sports fan before starting his career in the trenches of sports ticket sales and team partnerships with the Houston Dynamo and the University of Texas at Austin. Moving to Los Angeles, Paul transitioned into entertainment, starting in the mailroom at CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and working with top-tier athletes, including UFC fighters, MLB players, and Shohei Ohtani upon his arrival in the U.S.Seeing the shifting digital landscape, Paul ventured into gaming and live streaming in 2018, joining esports organization Echo Fox and later representing premier Twitch streamers and YouTubers at United Talent Agency (UTA). At UTA, he spearheaded the launch of the agency's dedicated sports creator roster, bridging the gap between digital content creators and traditional sports media. Today, at LIFT Management, Paul leads the creator division to help talent scale their IP, build sustainable long-term brands, and navigate multi-platform opportunities beyond simple transactional brand deals.Paul Coggiola explores how creators and athletes are converging at global tentpole events like the World Cup. Paul breaks down why LIFT focuses on depth of engagement and 30-day value retention over vanity follower counts, how the firm identifies rising talent across platforms like YouTube and Twitch, and why human connection remains the irreplaceable element in an era of AI content tools. He also shares insights on creator-led IP, executive thought leadership, and what it takes to build a modern talent brand. Podcast Chapters: 01:01 - Origin Story: From Texas Sports Fan to Ticket Sales in Houston & Austin 03:32 - Landing at CAA: Working with Shohei Ohtani & Traditional Athletes 04:47 - Crossing into Esports, Gaming & Twitch Live Streaming 05:54 - Building the Sports Creator Roster at UTA & Joining LIFT Management 09:15 - LIFT Creators Mission: Building Creator Brands & IP Beyond Dealmaking 13:34 - World Cup Reflection: Why Creators Stole the Spotlight from Athletes 16:06 - Sourcing Blue Ocean Talent: Moving Beyond Upstream Leaders 17:36 - The Role of AI in Creator Workflows & Preserving Human Connection 21:11 - Evaluating Creator Metrics: Why Video Views & Engagement Beat Followers 23:44 - The Emergence of B2B & LinkedIn Executive Creators

    #333: Paul Coggiola, LIFT Management - Scaling Sports Creators & Building Digital IP

  2. 3d ago

    332: Asna Khan, Fit match.ai - 3D Body Intelligence in Sports & Performance

    Asna Khan is the Head of Product at fitmatch.ai. Asna is an energetic, business-savvy product leader with over a decade of experience across product development, cross-functional strategy, analytics, and leadership in both large enterprise organizations and high-growth technology startups. Having built her expertise navigating complex ecosystems across operations, marketing, sales, and client relations, Asna now leads product strategy at fitmatch.ai, driving the expansion of 3D computer vision and body intelligence into retail, digital health, and elite athletic performance.Today, fitmatch.ai is unlocking scalable body data through its flagship 3D technology platform, QuadraScan. Using standard mobile devices without requiring expensive DEXA scans or specialized hardware, the platform captures high-fidelity anthropometrics, biomechanics, and DEXA-verified body composition in seconds. Originally pioneered in retail and 3D apparel design, fitmatch.ai is shifting how professional and youth sports organizations analyze athletes, moving beyond basic movement and jump metrics to provide objective baselines for bio-banding, maturation context, growth trajectories, and longitudinal physical change.Asna discusses fitmatch.ai’s transition from retail sizing to working directly with MLB and MLS organizations, how the platform safeguards athlete privacy by generating de-identified 3D avatars without storing photos or videos, and how integrating baseline body shape data empowers teams to better understand the physical foundation powering athletic performance.

    332: Asna Khan, Fit match.ai - 3D Body Intelligence in Sports & Performance

  3. Jul 29

    #331: David Wurth, PLYR - Modernizing Fan Engagement & Proximity-Driven Networking

    David Wurth is the founder and CEO of PLYR and founder & publisher CSQ Magazine. David is a veteran entrepreneur and media innovator who built CSQ Media into an award-winning executive publishing, thought leadership, and high-level networking platform. Drawing from years of bringing business leaders and decision-makers together through CSQ Media and Wurth & Company, David turned his focus to sports technology to solve one of the biggest challenges facing modern leagues: engaging the next generation of sports fans.Today, David is revolutionizing fan engagement with PLYR, a sports technology platform designed to bridge the gap between player-centric fandom and live sports consumption. Recognizing that Gen Z and younger fans follow individual athletes and short-form digital moments over traditional teams or full broadcasts, PLYR captures player data through its proprietary "Player Graph." By sending real-time alerts and micro-moment notifications when players are live in action, PLYR seamlessly routes fans to live broadcasts, sports betting, and direct commerce opportunities like merchandise, tickets, and collectibles. Podcast Chapters: 00:26 - Why In-Person Proximity Accelerates Sports Tech Business 2:13 - Navigating Category Expertise, VC & the Wildfire of NIL 3:52 - Capturing Next-Gen Fans: Following Players Over Teams 4:22 - How PLYR Monetizes Micro-Moments Across Broadcast, Betting & Commerce 4:50 - Building the "Player Graph" to Unify Siloed Athlete Data

    #331: David Wurth, PLYR - Modernizing Fan Engagement & Proximity-Driven Networking

  4. Jul 27

    #330: Dylan Zane, Velocity Capital Management - Inside Sports Private Equity

    Dylan Zane is the Vice President at Velocity Capital Management. Dylan’s career path reflects a deep-rooted passion for bridging sports, media, and business. A Westchester native and lifelong New York Yankees fan, Dylan began his career in investment banking at Rothschild & Co.’s TMT group during a period of massive consolidation across sports media rights, sports betting, and digital IP. He went on to join Evolution Media Capital, the merchant banking arm of CAA, before becoming the first employee hire at Velocity Capital Management alongside Managing Partner David Abrams. Today, Dylan works on sourcing, evaluating, and executing growth equity and buyout deals across the sports, media, and entertainment ecosystem. At Velocity Capital Management, Dylan focuses on specialized middle-market investments across intellectual property, business services, and technology. By leveraging a structured framework that targets businesses with strong community IP and operational scale, Dylan and the Velocity team provide strategic capital, operational support, and deep industry networks to build best-in-class assets across the broader sports landscape. Dylan breaks down the evolving world of sports private equity and creator-led media. We discuss the democratization of content production, how investors evaluate management teams and operator alignment, and what founders need to understand when pitching private equity firms. Dylan also shares actionable advice on cold outreach, crafting clear deck messaging, and why the line between live events, entertainment, and sports fandom is disappearing faster than ever. Podcast Chapters: 02:08 Dylan's Journey in Sports Investment 04:37 Understanding Velocity's Investment Strategy 07:10 The Importance of Management Alignment 09:19 Evaluating Investment Opportunities 12:08 Effective Communication with Investors 13:50 Challenges in Early-Stage Funding 14:57 Leveraging the Creator Economy 16:11 Exploring Food and Beverage Opportunities in Sports

    #330: Dylan Zane, Velocity Capital Management - Inside Sports Private Equity

  5. Jul 22

    #329: Stanislas Marchand - How Rocapine Hit $6M ARR in 9 Months Re-Engineering Wellness Apps

    Stanislas Marchand is the co-founder and CEO of Rocapine. He brings a sharp, growth-oriented perspective to consumer tech, having started his career in strategy consulting before entering mobile gaming at Voodoo, the publishing powerhouse behind hit titles with over 7 billion downloads. After years of mastering product mechanics and user retention in mobile entertainment, Stanislas realized he wanted to shift his focus from pure engagement toward long-term human impact, leading him to co-found Paris-based Rocapine alongside Jean-Gabriel Boinot-Tramoni and Sammy Teillet to redefine our relationship with technology. Today, Stanislas is applying high-velocity growth frameworks to digital health and digital well-being. Rocapine is an AI-native wellness venture studio and publisher building consumer apps designed to "hold instead of hook", aligning business incentives with real user value rather than ad-driven screen addiction. By adapting the mobile gaming playbook to test hundreds of app concepts per year, implementing subscription models, and pairing AI automation with human design craft, Rocapine achieved $6M (€5.1M) in ARR within nine months of launch and recently secured an €11.2M ($13M) Series A led by Educapital. Stanislas explores how tech can be engineered for human flourishing rather than brain rot. They unpack Rocapine’s internal mechanics for prototyping apps in less than a day, one hit reaching $1M ARR in just 16 days, the plan to scale to 400 apps tested per year, and the shift from attention metrics to 30-day value retention. Stanislas also shares his vision for reaching 40 million lives, building privacy-first encrypted wellness products, and what founders can learn about scaling consumer tech in an AI-driven era. Podcast Chapters: 01:15 Stan's Journey: From Strategy Consulting to Wellness Apps 03:25 The Playbook for Rapid Growth and User Engagement 09:04 Iterative Model: Finding Product-Market Fit 12:48 Structuring the Venture Studio: App Studio vs. Publisher 15:55 Measuring Time Well Spent: Beyond Subscriptions 19:24 Leveraging AI for Personalization and Data Privacy 22:36 Governance and Security in App Development 25:58 Investor Insights: Traction vs. System 28:49 Exit Strategies and Long-Term Vision

    #329: Stanislas Marchand - How Rocapine Hit $6M ARR in 9 Months Re-Engineering Wellness Apps

  6. Jul 20

    #328: John WilliIs, Accelerate Sports Ventures - High School Sports the New College Sports?

    John Willi is President of Accelerate Sports Ventures; John brings a uniquely holistic perspective to sports business, boasting a diverse career that spans every tier of the industry. From rolling up his sleeves as a young GM in minor league baseball and driving collegiate media rights at IMG College, to handling corporate partnerships for the New York Jets and advising World Cup host committees with Playfly, John has spent decades connecting with audiences from the grassroots to the global stage. Today, John is leveraging that deep experience to scale Accelerate Holdings across the collegiate and high school sectors. While Accelerate's collegiate arms focus on NIL consultancy and alternative revenue generation, John leads Accelerate Media, a division dedicated to professionalizing the high school landscape. By executing regional market rollups, building premium broadcast networks like the Super Football Conference Network, and embedding revenue-share models that fund local scholarships, his team is unlocking a massive, historically fragmented market. John unpacks the untapped potential of a high school sports industry that draws 500 million attendees annually. They dive into the strategy behind building localized, college-style media networks, how high schools are competing against the travel club circuit, and the mechanics of structuring deals through school district red tape. Finally, they discuss the critical responsibility of commercializing youth sports while protecting the amateur experience, highlighting the growing need for athlete education, mental health resources, and keeping the game fun. Podcast Chapters: 02:39 John Willi’s Journey in Sports Management 05:19 Understanding Accelerate Media's Role in High School Sports 07:51 Strategic Approaches to High School Sports Media 10:42 The Impact of Club Sports on High School Athletics 13:16 Structuring Partnerships and Revenue Models 15:52 The Success of the Super Football Conference 18:54 Cross-Pollination of Opportunities within Accelerate 21:39 Future Trends in High School Sports Media 24:09 Challenges and Responsibilities in Youth Sports 26:48 Engaging Diverse Audiences in Sports Broadcasting

    #328: John WilliIs, Accelerate Sports Ventures - High School Sports the New College Sports?

  7. Jul 15

    #327: Sandy Ogg, Founder of Curve Sports - The Future of Youth Baseball

    Sandy Ogg is the CEO of Curve Sports, a company partnering with elite youth baseball organizations to help them scale through capital, operational support, and shared best practices. Before launching Curve Sports, Sandy spent decades leading and advising some of the world's most influential organizations, serving as an Operating Partner at Blackstone, Chief Human Resources Officer at Unilever, and Chairman of Nord Anglia Education, one of the largest premium education groups globally. Rather than acquiring and rebranding youth sports organizations, Curve Sports partners with club owners, allowing them to retain their identity while gaining access to capital, operational expertise, and a nationwide network of elite operators. The company's long-term vision is to build a connected ecosystem of premier baseball organizations that creates better opportunities for athletes, families, and club leaders alike. In this conversation, Sandy shares why youth sports represents one of the biggest untapped investment opportunities in sports, how Curve Sports is building a new model for consolidating travel baseball, why leadership matters more than financial engineering, and how the intersection of education, athletics, and long-term athlete development is shaping the future of youth sports.

    #327: Sandy Ogg, Founder of Curve Sports - The Future of Youth Baseball

  8. Jul 13

    #236: Keith Zubchevich, CEO of Conviva - Why Most AI Agents Fail in the Real World

    Keith Zubchevich is the President and CEO of Conviva, where he leads the company at the intersection of agentic AI, real-time analytics, and digital customer experience. After nearly two decades with Conviva, including serving as Chief Strategy Officer, Keith has helped build one of the leading platforms for measuring how consumers actually experience digital products, enabling businesses to optimize performance, reduce friction, and improve outcomes at scale.Before joining Conviva, Keith held senior leadership roles at Riverbed Technology and Cisco. Throughout his career, he has focused on helping organizations use technology to make better decisions, improve customer experiences, and drive measurable business results. Today, he is one of the leading voices on how AI is transforming digital businesses and why measuring AI performance is becoming just as important as building it.Keith explains why today's AI agents are more like toddlers than trusted employees, why an 80% success rate is unacceptable for customer-facing AI, and how businesses should think about deploying, measuring, and improving agentic AI systems. He also shares insights on the future of digital experiences, the importance of real-time analytics, and what leaders need to understand as AI becomes embedded into every customer interaction.Podcast Chapters:00:59 Keith's Journey in Technology and Conviva02:22 The Importance of Measuring Experience in Streaming04:58 The Complexity of Live Event Streaming08:53 Navigating AI and Productivity in Business11:56 Quality of Experience and Fan Engagement14:33 Personalization through AI in Sports Viewing17:42 Structuring Data for AI Insights18:08 The Importance of Structured Data in AI20:20 Consumer Efficiency and the Future of AI23:43 Personal Experiences with AI26:22 Educating the Market on Agentic AI29:49 Continuous Learning and Personal Growth32:06 Lessons from Childhood and the Human Experience

    #236: Keith Zubchevich, CEO of Conviva - Why Most AI Agents Fail in the Real World
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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
23 Ratings

About

Insightful convos with the founders, operators, and investors transforming the future of sports.

Information

  • Creator
    Andrew Petcash
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    399
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Andrew Petcash
  • Show Website
    The Profluence Pod 🌐

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