Opinions expressed by entrepreneurs’ colleagues are their very own.
A few years ago, Collin Castellaw was an art teacher who earns only $ 25,000 a yr when he decided to begin making YouTube movies. Today, next to his business partner Deron Guidrey, runs Playerstv -The first athlete and fans of television sports and lifestyle with a valuation before money of $ 75 million.
“We are not from a traditional television background or older media and I think it distinguishes us,” says Castellaw. “It allows us to think differently, move quickly like a startup and focus on where the industry is going, not where it was.”
Guidrey discovered Castellaw for the first time Shot mechanicsHis YouTube training channel with over a million subscribers. At that point, Guidery worked in marketing with skilled athletes and saw the opportunity to cooperate.
“He connected me with several professionals and asked who was dealing with business monetization,” recalls Castellaw. “I didn’t tell him anyone – I just relying on sponsorship of sponsorship.”
Recognizing the potential, Guidrey offered a takeover by placing Castellaw on a modest monthly setting of $ 2,000. It wasn’t a very long time before Castellaw expressed his fears, but Guidrey was sure that larger offers appeared on the horizon.
Things modified when Guidrey noticed the increase in the content of first person athletes on platforms comparable to Tribune and uninterrupted.
“I recognized the problem,” says Guidrey. “Athletes created production companies, but they had no distribution.”
He imagined a dedicated channel that showed the athlete’s lifestyle outside the game, containing cooking programs, the reality series and content that humanized players outside their uniform. He reached Castellaw, proposing a partnership that combined his marketing knowledge and talent strategy with Castellaw skills in the field of digital promotions and content production.
“I took the page from the Jay-Z plan, when he launched Tidal, combining artists to create his own stream platform of music,” says Guidrey. “I used the same concept of athletes – a platform for them.” And so Playerstv was born.
Picture loan: Playerstv
Built by athletes. Powered by fans
Playerstv is the only media network that is an athlete and fans that provides 3000 hours of licensed and original content. Has distribution agreements with major platforms, comparable to Directv, Fubotv, YouTube TV and Fire TV, and soon launches its own direct stream transmission service to consumers. It seems that investors liked the Jay-Z line.
“We are not just a production company creating IP,” says Castellaw. “We focus on guaranteeing from 10 to 20 million eyeballs on the content. This is the largest unlock, which no one has achieved in this space at our level.”
Lots of Playerstv success may be assigned the foundations under the duo before launching.
“We looked at the problem first,” says Guidrey. “Suppose you have 40 athletes who want to create content – well, there is not enough buyers to host it!”
The goal is for Playerstv to change into a plan for creative athletes looking for distribution, soothing pressure on agencies to secure the offers of more selective networks.
“Cartoons have a chain of cartoons, the anime has Crunchyroll, and now this content also has a house,” says Castellaw.
It indicates limited availability of sports content on the major platforms. “If you look at places like Netflix, there is only a handful of sports content every year,” he explains. “We always say that where there is fragmentation, there is a possibility of aggregation.”
From viewers to shareholders
(*75*) of the most original functions of Playerstv is the initiative of fans ownership, enabling sports fans to purchase small shares in the company in exchange for advantages, comparable to exclusive events, and in fact the right to brag about having athletes.
This initiative collected over $ 3 million from over 2,200 “fans owners”, because of which Playerstv is the first media company of its own athlete and fans.
For Castellaw, the philosophy of the initiative boils all the way down to a easy saying: If you desire to go quickly, go alone. If you desire to go far, go together.
“When the investor questions our valuation or market grip, we point to our fan shareholders as a proof of the concept,” he says. “This is direct support from the audience itself, which we aim at the distribution of content.”
“Watching athletes and fans in the first place, we are preparing to attract investors on our own conditions,” adds Guidrey. “The capital model with fans resonated deeply with athletes, and even authorized us to make our first acquisition – a company bought with the support of our athlete and shareholders of fans. How cool is it?”
Guidrey and Castellaw revived their vision, combining their unique skills, identifying key problems and remaining faithful to their basic values. Although they still have a good distance, Guidrey wants the company to change into the first publicly traded IPO belonging to the athlete.
“Everything we do depends on the desire to influence lasting, not just racing money,” says Guidrey. “We may not be great names, but we want our history to inspire other founders like us.”