Author: True North Team Consulting

About Charles Reynolds I’ve spent my career at the intersection of sports business, leadership, and entrepreneurship—working inside fast-moving organizations, advising teams and founders, and learning firsthand how pressure, ambition, and uncertainty shape decisions. Over time, my work has evolved beyond titles or industries. What consistently shows up is this: people don’t struggle because they lack talent or drive—they struggle because they lose clarity about what matters, where they’re headed or results they're after, or how to move forward without burning themselves out. That’s where I focus my work. I help leaders, founders, and high-performing individuals think clearly, align their actions with their values, and make better decisions when the path isn’t obvious. Sometimes that looks like strategic advisory. Sometimes it’s coaching. Often, it’s simply creating the space and structure for honest reflection and momentum. Travel has played a quiet but important role in shaping how I see the world. Experiencing different cultures, systems, and ways of living has reinforced my belief that growth—personal or professional—comes from perspective as much as performance. That belief shows up in my work, my writing, and how I engage with others. I care deeply about transparency, holistic sustainability, and lifelong learning. I’m drawn to questions around purpose, leadership under pressure, ethical and personal growth, and what it means to build something meaningful without losing yourself in the process. This site is a home for my thinking—across leadership, business, life, and direction—and a place to connect with people navigating similar questions. If you’re building, leading, or re-orienting or just exploring, I’m here to help.

Football Dream Achieved Over Another Year Around the Sun

Well, another birthday has just come and gone. I love summer, but October is a bit more special for so many reasons for me: thrills, chills and football spills. One away from a big one and here I am sizing up my progress report.

Every kid has a dream. My passion was sports and after I hung up the pro playing dreams, I set out to be special off the field and on the business side where my hope was to someday run an organization, player personnel and business operations by making my up the business side. I made the hard transition and some amazing senior ticketing leadership opportunities (like one I had teed up for years with my hometown NFL team) because I wanted to carve my niche out in the more strategic sponsorship side, with expertise in the two key revenue cogs for pro teams.

I passed up a great opportunity with a much-respected industry leader in the S.F. Giants because the role turned from manager to seller when the team won it’s first of three World Series in 6 years. Despite the hankering to be heading west after my study abroad experience in Australia, family proximity, program prestige and a chance to work in football swayed me east.

While pursuing a global MBA in the nation’s capitol, I had to swallow my pride of being an NBA-record ticket seller to start all over as an unpaid sponsorship intern, commuting on my own dime sometimes 6 days, 3 hours in traffic and 40+ hours per week in office for the pro football team who’s advertised claim to fame was being the most profitable team. I was shocked to discover everyone running around in fear, with no CRM or tech systems competing against each other and interns doing it all including managing the salary cap. I finally met the hiring manager and reference my program director connected me with, who was advertising for paid positions and was let go after introducing myself for “going behind the back” of my current direct report. In front of the office in the hall, the owner made fun of me for not having the rally shirt on (as these were cut out for interns).

From there, I was lucky to get on with NFL Players sponsorships to help manage deals involving 5+ players signed on with the Union. Day 2: I’m surrounded by Buckeye grads and we’ve started a friendly rivalry discussion. It was 2010 and my Wolverines were getting owned by the sweater-vested Tresselites of OSU. My only argument was that if you stacked up NFL depth charts at the time, that we had a stronger list of superstars. Scottie Graham, head of player engagement and proud Buckeye and NFL former player and New Yorker, gets involved in the discussion and soon seemingly starts to have steam coming out his ears from getting worked up on the topic (missing the “present day” context, he was bringing up past legends). To add to it all, Eddie George happens to walk in the door and get inserted into the conversation. OSU had just lost a tough one to Wisco, but he just said how big of magnitude The Game had. Class act with some great rivalry jokes that would come up when I later saw him while volunteering to work Player event appearances around the Super Bowl (which Jerry outsold the game and there was no ticket for me through the Players nor one available for the $1k in cash I had in my pocket, tough pill to swallow for a Steelers fan who paid his way down there to schlep event-to-event after a snowstorm and long drives with no salt).

NFL Players only paid a metro card for what would have normally been a full-time coordinator role, but I started learning the ins-and-outs of managing official league partnerships and all the moving pieces (emphasis on paperwork from disparate systems – lots).

I left with incredible stories (ie. approaching the #1 most expensive player on our appearance list, Kurt Warner who gave me the time of day despite it being his wife’s big celeb fashion show fundraiser to spell out why it’s family first unless you’re offering $150k/2 hour appearance). A lockout between the largely-black Players Union and old-boys NFL owner club was on the brink – but the group was very tight-lipped. I then went to help put on, sell and market the inaugural AT&T Nation’s Football classic at “historic” (read: dump) RFK Stadium, a foray into the traditions of HBCU culture – Morehouse College vs Howard University. At one point, it felt like the concrete was giving out in our 3rd floor office and we were marched onto the middle of the field after the 2nd earthquake wave (maybe not the best place with all the concrete facing inward).

I motored through and graduated with 2 separate degrees in 2.5 years total as the fear of my mounting loans were kicking in (both of which were designed individually to take 2 years each). Despite all this, I had my eyes on being on that Sports Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” prestigious list. I still wanted to work in football and here’s a few search highlights:

I studied the landscape and keyed in on one of the biggest upcoming opportunities in sports – the developing LA NFL situation. While in school, I got an internship interview with Lagardere – leaders in player representation. The assignment was to present a SWOT analysis on that developing landscape. Student life is for the experience and exposure at the sacrifice of your time, skills and ideas – indentured servitude to “pay your dues.”
Previous collegiate experience in football ops and with an agent friend showed me what an entry-point for football ops was often like. “Runner” agent interns will go to any length for contact info and access – no job security as “sharks never sleep.” Scouts live on the road for years to work their way up for peanuts.
While volunteering for the MIT Sloan Sport Analytics Conference and rubbing elbows with founders and sportsbiz stars Darryl Morey and Jessica Gelman, I got a surprise call from the Dolphins for an open role I had positioning myself through my Michigan network for months. I could never get back in touch with the hiring manager (who has a similar come-up story in sportstech and later told me he was dealing with some tough family issues at the time).
After months on end back home in Michigan to save $ applying for various positions and getting no hits, I realized that I had to go on a roadshow to churn up traction. I met a few team business execs at the NFL at conferences, who encouraged me to reach out when in NYC. Along with some other interviews, I informally interviewed at the league office on Draft Day in 2012 for hopes of getting a shot at a few open positions around the league.
On the tail-end of the NYC/east coast “lightning strike,” I interviewed with Matt DiFebo, the original outsourced ticketing leader who was in the process of signing Pitt athletics by way of a former colleague. We ate Italian and talked about my candidacy for the GM role vs. a local favorite. I dropped Matt off at the airport and completed the days drive spanning from Maine to Michigan.

The very next morning, I was on a flight out to Utah to visit the Maverik Center and Utah Grizzlies, where I was being recruited for an open sponsorship sales role. Long story short, I accepted a sponsorship role before I had another offer – done waiting at that point. I was ready to be full-time employed in sponsorship (and to ski the “major leagues” of ski slopes) but not ready for the culture shock and adjustment to the minor league model. As an AEG arena, I was plugged in and trying to be a visible contributor with key players at the global entertainment group that led the Staples Center / LA Live efforts who were the known favorite for the NFL-to-LA bid.

From there, I took a job for an MLS leader in sponsorship metrics (and pressure) in Real Salt Lake. In a year, I interviewed in-person at Staples Center twice – the appeal of a new progressive tech-driven ownership profile in Steve Ballmer was appealing. I struck out twice, though. I struck out trying to work my way into leadership and ownership via sweat equity and resume after a short stint with the first “Fan Controlled Football Team” where video games meet live arena-style play and ownership democratization.

All of a sudden, I came back from the holidays and found myself abandoned and jobless. I was floored and humbled down to the studs of dignity.

Luckily, I got a chance to build a better workplace/workflow solution realizing project management hadn’t reached sponsorship and filled a big gap left by CRMs. Over almost 8 years, I’ve worked my way from unpaid consultant of Sponsorship Buddy to CRO and a top cofounder and CRO (formerly CMO) of Trak Software – we wisely rebranded.

Before the world fell to its knees during covid at top sponsorship conference IEG in 2019, I met and developed a relationship with “Coach” aka Sean Gannon at the (who resembles Rams Coach Sean McVey, who happened to be in the same building in Washington as I was around the same time working on his own path). Relationships at that same show helped us land a covid lifeline in the Broncos, who took past experience using us with the Memphis Grizzlies – our first paid client and my former Grad Assistant sponsor, to setting a new standard for NFL sponsorship management when it was needed most.

4 years after that internal Rams introduction after a move, stadium, Super Bowl trophy, parades, much due diligence, back-and-forth, reference conversations and an intense legal negotiation, the eagle finally landed in record-fashion for Trak. We are now working with some of the most iconic, innovative NFL groups spanning the 49ers, Patriots, Chiefs and 16 of 32 clubs. On the global football note, we also signed Inter Miami FC just weeks before the biggest sports headline of the year – Leo Messi’s arrival to the club.

In February, I was recognized at the National Sports Forum on the field at SoFi Stadium. Quite a night highlighted by tours, amazing food and being a kid again playing on the field – winning retribution on the 40 yard dash after an epic slip up in my dress shoes.

I learned that no if no one wants to give you the role you believe you deserve – go make it happen yourself. Use your inner “Chip” to prove them wrong.

Yes we’re a vendor but we are valued as a team extension behind the scenes. Game days are great, we can still get those by choice but so is helping people achieve their dreams by making digital transformation dead-simple with technology.

Trip of the Year: Alaskan Escape by Van

Trip of the Year: Alaskan Road Trip

Chip & Alli experience Denali National Park

As a vaccinated and cooped up adventurer, 2021 has been a rebound year on the travel front for yours truly. Since that second shot in my arm in April (and knowing that I couldn’t live with the thought of collateral damage ensued by not doing my part to get it), I’ve experienced the spring slopes of Steamboat Springs, heat of St. George, diverse corners of Seattle, title town of Tampa twice, lakes of Michigan and Wisconsin, mountain lakes and woods of the Uintah Mountains, an east coast swing to see family, friends and work contacts in Boston, Maine and NYC and a sports/work trip to Denver.

It’s been a welcome reprieve but all paling in comparison to the big one, of which I had to detail before the calendar flipped to 2022. With all the international limits on travel with the pandemic still raging, I had to get creative to hit my goal of one new place per year (country, territory or state).

Lucky for my wife Alli and I, we subscribe to a newsletter called Flights From Home, which notifies of the best flash deals on flights from local airports to our home in SLC. You basically get 24, maybe 48 hours, to book before the rates flip. When they posted a $225 Delta roundtrip deal to Fairbanks, Alaska – we hiccuped a little trying to figure out schedules, but ended up booking it in time. Because we hesitated, we got a direct flight going there but had to add a connection on the return with both flights being overnight red-eyes.

We watched them change the timing of the return flights maybe 20 times before departure. We also started hearing more and more about the influx of tourists to U.S. National Parks and Alaska – many parks, restaurants, hotels and vehicle rentals were booked out weeks if not months in advance.

Ultimately, it could have all been a bit more unnerving but we found through social media that our U of M/SLC friends happened to be road-tripping Alaska and overlapping on timing. Not only that, but they had put months of research into their spreadsheet-based itinerary with every distance, budget, restaurant, adventure, campsite/hotel and even shower mapped out (which is important when you’re living that #vanlife). No holds barred – they were going for it. It helped me establish a baseline of stops to research (along with Facebook Groups like the All About Alaska Travel group and some insights from friends and relatives who had been or lived there).

We lucked out and found Roobie via Outdoorsy. At $100/day (plus a mileage fee and mandatory insurance), this 1993 church van was owned by a handy family that was putting in the work to put a big bed in the back and rig it with all the essential supplies like camp chairs, a propane burner and grill, pots, pans, etc. – heck, even the all important can of bear spray. The family ran the business on the side and had multiple rigs and lots of advice had communicated throughout to make sure the supplies were up to standard and my only request was a covering for the windows knowing we were looking at summer sunshine nearly around the clock.

A quick five hour flight later, we touched down in Fairbanks and had to start getting used to dusk at midnight. After an interesting stay in a converted fraternity house turned small hotel, Roobie was dropped off and I got my bearings taking her to make a massive Costco run for snacks, meals and refreshments to take on our way out of town – we had 7 hours on the road ahead of us and off we went.

Interviewing Uncle Tom of Chitina – home of famous legendary Copper River red salmon

The next day, we had a shuttle arranged to get us into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (as the old railroad turned road was too rough for Roobie). We made it to our pickup area of Chitina (pronounced “Chit-NA”) and poked around the ghost town and quasi-maintained historic buildings before being directed over to Uncle Tom’s Tavern.

We didn’t mess around at Tom’s and drew out some fascinating life stories of locals like Tom, the pilot, gold mine owner, bar owner and fisherman/outdoorsman extraordinaire (who shot the bear above outside his cabin door in the park). We met three local fishing guides who told us how out-of-staters could hire a local and pull up to 30 fish a day out of the river by fishwheel or net (no reels needed here). The legendary Copper River commands more $ per pound for its red salmon swimming upstream at $45/pound! Being right outside the park, there was so much access to the resources around the park – including the grizzlies who tore into one fellow townie’s face. The people were genuine, stories were amazing of how people got there (including one local in George who had killed a man in Oregon at 17 — we didn’t ask for details). So much character and the highlight of Alli’s trip!

The wonders of Wrangell St. Elias National Park – moose, Root Glacier, McCarthy swimming hole

Our friends were missing and cell service was spotty across the state but luckily we caught them in the shuttle en route to the park just in-time. Our day in the 2nd largest National Park in the world (#1 in U.S.) was incredible from start to finish. Per owner instructions, we couldn’t take Roobie down the McCarthy Road, a 60 mile rough gravel-surfaced road connecting Chitina to the historic ghost town of McCarthy and took a group shuttle. Along the way, we met a Canadian Lynx, who came out of the bush and strolled right by our van before hopping back into the bush after a bird. What a sight! We also saw a moose calf grazing in a field and got out of the van to watch a very large bull moose cool itself in a pool nearby.

We crossed a rushing river, passed through the restored ghost town of McCarthy and hiked through the expansive restored ruins of the Kennicott copper mining empire, protected as a National Landmark since 1986. Next to the trail was what looked like a ridge of churned up dirt and gravel but in actuality, the Root Glacier of which we hiked down to the base of. Crampon-equipped explorers hiked up the glacier whereas we got to the edge to sample the pure water from the melt. It was an incredibly picturesque and satisfying journey although sad as the photos in the buildings showed how much more expansive the glacier terrain had been that they previously skied on before climate change melted it down to its current state.

On the way back to Chitina, we poked around in McCarthy, met a cowboy that was one of the original couple residents of the town, hopped in the scenic town watering hole to cool down from the heat (of which I was way overdressed for throughout the day). We then got to walk the picturesque bridge that Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is known for, staring down and the river and landscape below.

It took a few hours and a couple extra from summer construction to hit the coast in Valdez and we set up shop at a campsite right on the bay. What a sight it was, surrounded by mountains all around and chock-full of salmon plus the seals and sea lions that love to eat them. Nearby was the fishery, no stranger to bear sightings, where several obese sea lions gorged on all the fish trying to make their way up the man-made channel simulating an up-river spawn quest of which I could catch by hand as they were so plentiful. Nearby was a Glacier Lake with kayakers with ice islands and before heading out on our way, we took a spin through the sleepy downtown of Valdez.

The scenic Denali Highway was the direct way to make our way across the expansive state to our next meet-up point in Denali National Park. This was the 2nd road Roobie was not permitted as it is also unpaved. We opted for the paved AK-1 N and AK-4 W, which proved to be incredibly scenic with jaw-dropping mountain views abound until hitting the outskirts of Anchorage, then took AK-3 up north totaling 10 hours on the day to make it to the park.

Our campsite, booked weeks in advance because of the glut of national park tourist demand, was Savage River, the 1st site in the park. I was able to utilize the river for a quick, refreshing dip (especially nice without showers present). The highlight of the park was the pre-booked park shuttle, where we progressively got closer and closer to the animal action the deeper we got into Denali. We saw numerous Dall sheep, 6 caribou, 6 moose and best-yet, a total of 9 Grizzly Bears! We started spotting their golden coats off in the distance and progressively saw them gorging on berries closer to the shuttle. We arrived at the lookout point as far as the 92 mile road goes and with the luck of having a mildly overcast day, could see the south peak and lower part of the north peak of Mt. McKinley straight on. We saw two beers careening down the mountain, which ended up getting close enough to the overlook and pedestrian area that people had to be ushered back onto the buses by park rangers. What an experience of which I predicted as a “what if” could happen as we arrived!

We were so lucky timing-wise as that next week not only weather-wise, but that next week brought about also the borders opening back up bringing international tourists, there was a landslide that limited traffic to turnaround at mile marker 42 on the road, and a Grizzly attack on a lone hiker near the aforementioned overlook site.

From Denali the “Serengeti of the Arctic”, we headed down to the scenic coast and hit Seward some 8 hours south through Anchorage. We camped right in the town on the bay and river with no shortage of stunning views all around (ever-present theme in Alaska) for $8/day. Seward housed the only Olympic-sized pool in all of Alaska and as I was grilling burgers in the parking lot, a parade for Olympic gold-winning 17 year old hero Lydia Jacoby unfolded before us on the bridge we overlooked of which the state’s top politicians opened for.

The Seward highlight was the Kenai Fjords Peninsula & National Park cruise that we took, of which we took in majestic splitting glaciers, split rock seat-jutting landscapes and the multitudes of sea life enjoying the fair weather. Getting to watch porpoises swimming under the boat, 5 Humpbacks playing in the sound, puffins, sea otters and the like was truly magical.

From Seaward, we day-tripped up to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center to see rescued wildlife of most native species including moose, elk, buffalo (aggressively in heat), wolves, coyotes, and napping/playing Black & Grizzly bears amongst others. We made it out to the picturesque glacier/fishing town of Whittier to poke around although would have loved to see it from the water. We also briefly stopped in Girdwood to checkout Alyeska Ski Resort.

Anchorage proved to probably the most picturesque large city I’ve ever been to, with roads curving around the waterfront. A walk through the 49th State Brewery offered no chance of seating (much like most restaurants booked out and short-staffed). We ate nearby and still got to sample the local beer, salmon and reindeer sausage before crashing in the parking lot of the Native Heritage Center. It was great to walk through the indoor museum with outbuildings, take the tour and hear about the 9 different cultural regions and tribes and clans still holding onto passed down customs to survive.

En route up towards Denali we hit the bohemian town of Talkeetna known for its shopping and McKinley peak overlook views and were not disappointed. We continued all the way up past Denali and past Fairbanks when we started having our first car trouble aside from nearly running out of gas (always fill up when you get the chance in Alaska). Ole Roobie started overheating and not wanting to make it up hills. We pulled aside and called the family contact who was nearby and ready to come if needed but who suggested just putting water in as a coolant substitute, which did the trick for us and we were off on our way down some back roads to get to Chena Hot Springs.

Chena Hot Springs served as our first hotel and shower since night 1 in Fairbanks and was equipped with not only large outdoor hot springs, an indoor pool fed from the springs and a bevvy of activities. I rode a horse with Alli around the area in guided fashion for the first time. We also enjoyed the Ice Museum, which consisted of all kinds of sculpted igloo palaces, knights and the like with a full bar with drinks in ice glasses.

Had we known our flight was going to get derailed and we would be stuck at the airport, it would have been much more of a relaxing relief to stay at Chena, but alas. We made it to the novelty town of North Pole, visited a few reindeer and Santa’s workshop gift shop for some choice items. Our last day was in Fairbanks, we poked around the waterfront a bit but it was a torrential downpour and we found ourselves napping while working on finishing off the ambitious Costco order of beverages and the like unsuccessfully before Delta finally put us on an Alaska Airlines flight (many more of those) to connect in Seattle and head home.

Thousands of miles by van an extra day at the airport, a few dim hours, much daylight and many an adventure later, we were back to reality.

I would easily put Alaska up with any other place when it comes to adventure potential and scenery and its no wonder so many find themselves not leaving!

First the Bomb Drop. Then the Reconciliation.

2020 was the year of all years where every sign of the apocalypse showed up at the doorstep.

In the isolated island that is Utah, not only did we have the devastation of the ongoing pandemic, but an earthquake with powerful tremors reverberating for weeks, a hurricane-like windstorm uprooting many massive hundred year old trees, political and social justice turmoil, armed militia-presence and progress denial and since, killer wildfires and avalanches.

It took the public police execution of George Floyd and countless others caught and shared on social media to collectively start forcing awareness and change on the law enforcement and social fronts.

It’s forced us all to be real about what we truly believe and who we are instead of hiding it in the shadows.

The sports and entertainment world is traditionally the great melting pot where even political and social differences could be overcome by collectively rooting for the home team. However, organizations were largely not forced to choose sides and bigotry and hostility often swept under the carpet and left to fester. Until 2020.

With that, longstanding oppressive actions of controlling elites have become exposed. Notably, two of the sports organizations I had been involved with came under fire and investigation for racism, sexism, bullying and abhorrent cultures created under the old guards. Scrappy local reporters and brave former employees stuck their necks out and via social media spurned “Me Too” movements that caught so much traction that they could not be denied. Feel free to read into the Washington Football Club and Real Salt Lake sagas independently as there is plenty there from countless employees and fans.

The precedent is shifting and it’s no longer an acceptable practice to abusively get away with being bigoted, self-centered, controlling tyrants.

There are consequences to pay because transparency is here to stay.

While the gap has widened considerably between the haves-and-have nots, through this mess of a year, change is happening and the messages of the slighted are now being surfaced, and in some cases recognized and even prioritized. There are no easy fixes and change takes time.

Purpose and character – where do you stand? Individuals and companies were all put on the spot transparently. If you’re hiding in the shadows, you’re considered guilty. If you don’t come off authentically, you get called on it.

There’s too much on the line: lives, jobs, daily, travel, norms, environmental sustainability, and family routines.

Real change has taken place and there’s no going back from here.

It’s a new era – Derek Chauvin, the police officer that infamously killed George Floyd on camera has been convicted and not let off the hook.

Now, as we continue climbing out of the hole with the mass 2021 vaccine rollout, issue prioritization and economic recovery, lessons have been learned and there’s no going back.

What happens when the lights go off? … Time will tell.

Since The Bomb Dropped

So much has happened since my last post.

“The Ugly American” stereotype was the understatement of them all. We were going backwards and showing our ugly side, handicapped by a retaliatory gesture to thwart progress made during the Obama era and preserve dying industries like coal while propping up our racist roots. People lost the ability to be civil, work together and decipher what’s real vs. manufactured with an angle on the news front.

Surface-level indicators like unemployment % and stock market gains were touted by the nationalistic administration. Under the surface, however, the seams were bursting and blood was boiling.

Our approach to the pandemic, now a year in, has made us the world’s pincushion. We pushed to keep business and life normal while the virus took over and such a short-sighted approach has cost us now over 500,000 (of the over 2 million global) lives and counting with all kinds of collateral damage including a mounted financial debt (and even more foreboding, mental health debt).

I had a near breakdown in April when reading into the trajectory and impact it would have on sports and entertainment, where my company does business. Sure enough, many of these tea leaves turned out although sports did find a way to return – to entertain, distract or for some, employ us.

Hateful conspiracy theory-spewing groups like QAnon have thrived on spreading misinformation and cling to holding the pandemic around as long as possible by demonizing masks, covid-19 vaccines and preying on the vulnerable.

Oh, did I mention that my own college-educated uncle and aunt reached out last week – in February of 2021 mind you. Somehow, they have come under the impression from these conspiracy theorists that covid is a hoax and ploy. Meanwhile, my year of staying home sequestered aside from masked errands and my ski release caught up to me and that as I write this, I’m battling the virus myself – or “the flu” in their eyes. My wife the social worker had a real scare tied to her work in the schools as a result of also picking up the virus.

The irony…

Is it all doom-and-gloom, though?

No, there is a silver lining. Stay tuned for more.

Global Reckoning Period – Adapt or Die II

It’s like a bad sequel. Groundhog Day: Return of Ned Flanderson (sans Bill Murray).

Just when you thought we were turning the corner to stop the gore and the killer had disappeared, we stumble, trip and allow for the villain to catch back up.

We have now entered into the eye of the storm. It’s quiet. Too quiet. And peaceful. But just you wait.

Experts and past leaders knew a pandemic was well within the cards. Luckily, we were prepped for past threats in SARS and Ebola. When the world watched China and Europe get decimation, we hesitated, thumbed our nose and got crushed.

Instead of a World War II-like rallying behind our leaders and mission, our Fake News fragmentation and direction for states to figure it out independently kicked in.

Sadly, the fact that it’s a crucial election year and prospects of a depression took precedence over public health and getting mass testing and herd immunity to where it needs to be.

“Liberation” of our freedoms, opening up non-essential businesses and protesting from close distance is the obvious death trap. Just ask John from Ohio. Oh wait…

No, we won’t save ourselves from UV light or drinking bleach. Please don’t try it (although do go outside – sunshine helps your mental psyche, although it won’t defend much against viruses).

The U.S. (and much of the world similarly) has now far eclipsed the quickest unemployment rate drop. Time and decisions made by all of us will tell whether we eclipse the peak rate of 24.9% during the Great Depression. Hopefully those affected will learn valuable new skills and trades in the meantime while growing relationships at home to evolve and come out of this stronger.

The economy is vital to us all, but we have to trust the scientific experts and the math (see Domo’s live trend visuals). A few weeks of apprehensive business openings isn’t going to be worth the collateral damage we face by being premature and negligent.

Chances are, many more of us have had it than we know. We need mass testing and antibody testing to tell us that as and we still don’t understand what level of exposure (if possible at all) we need to have had to mitigate the threat of a second mutated bout.

We’re working feverishly to enable a vaccine but best case scenario to get one is by almost all accounts is a year from now – around April 2021. Then it has to be mass distributed to the public.

Life as we knew it in terms of going to the flights, concerts, games, bars and restaurants we so loved won’t be the same. We’ll have to adapt to the new normal, even after the vaccine.

We are seeing heroes and valiant, selfless acts happen all around us. It’s the medical, grocery, delivery workers and average Joes going to get groceries for their elderly neighbors that are making the difference and deserve to benefit when the dust settles.

If we’ve learned anything through this, it’s the danger of not educating and equipping the poor and ignorant. If we don’t give everyone access to accurate information, health care and the means to work and live, everything else is threatened. Billionaire Mark Cuban (story of past encounters with him to come) has been a voice of reason for the people, making a public play for trickle-up vs. trickle-down economics.

Maybe we will swallow our pride and step up together when it counts.

Regardless, the shark will be stalking the shores and connected rivers beneath the surface.

Global Reckoning Period – Adapt or Die

Speaking of stalled aspirational progress, as we are all now acutely aware of, the global economy hit a screeching halt by way of a COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.

Ramifications and the related coverable topics are endless.

A globalized reckoning, which was anticipated to happen at some point by the experts, caught us all on our heels and we couldn’t react quickly enough to put it to bed before massive loss of lives and economic progress resulted.

What are we learning in the process?

Leadership and the ability to listen, emphasize and unite matters more than ever – without it, everything can unfold.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. The true heroes pulling us out of this mess are the service workers on the front-lines putting lives on the line to save their brethren (nurses, doctors, EMTs, social services, teachers, grocery store and “essential business” workers). These folks deserve every accolade, perk and quality of live improvement possible.
Globalization Revisited – it doesn’t matter if your GDP is greatest in the world if you can’t stock or make the basics to save your people (ie. PPE’s like aprons, masks, gloves, etc.)
We need to focus on the industries, tactics, practices and strategies proven to sustainably benefit the masses. Sometimes it’s time to stick in that fork and move on vs. continuing the life support.

Personally and professionally, we are all at a crossroads. Adapt or die (figuratively and literally so, sadly).

It’s a group exercise, too. One outlier can derail the recovery progress for the masses. We are all ready for the economy to return to normal – your non-distanced protests only hurt our chances to get there.

How we prepare today will impact tomorrow. It is well worth the extra few weeks of staying at home to not set ourselves back months more.

If all you have to give is goodwill and positive thoughts, pay it forward, spread it (especially while staying at home!) and the returns will multiply and help get us all back on our feet.

1 Year in Blockchain, Synonymous worth 10 Years of Outside Experience?

bitcoin

You blinked. It’s changed. Pivot.

This post was meant to be written so long ago but this whole blockchain movement shape-shifts at the speed of light. Blink and you are steps behind and can’t even catch up to write a blog post.

If you’re not yet familiar with blockchain technology (it can be very nebulous for many), the premise is quite simple. Synonymous with distributed ledger technology, it equates to automatically-recorded electronic data records (a series of 1’s and 0’s in the case of Bitcoin, the original and most famous use case). Enabling it eliminates the need for a middleman (like the government or a bank) to authorize the records.

It was December, 2018, the markets were exploding with Bitcoin frenzy and initial coin offerings (ICO’s) offered the promise for a gold rush that even the luckiest 49er couldn’t fathom. The 90’s internet boom was upon us, and everyone was tokenizing (converting to digital shares) and netting millions from the masses for their world-changing project.

I had been a managing partner in a fast-growing SaaS startup that I helped launch in Trak Software (for you sponsorship marketers out there, think of it as having your day back). The opportunity arose to take on a C.O.O. and Head of Fundraising role (but also taking the lead in finance, sales management and deal vetting, research, and go-to-market duties) at a crowdfunding group that had birthed an upstart project after pivoted itself to accommodate accepting cryptocurrency for the instant settlement and decentralized prospects that blockchain tech provides with huge, demonstrable upside. I had a lot of friends that went into finance successfully and had always had an eye on what’s next and after all, every industry was about to be disrupted and we could be at the epicenter.

In December, I volunteered my time unpaid to “train” long hours. The time was now. Over the holidays including Christmas Eve and Day, I devoted myself to formulating and editing version after version of the “white paper” – the business plan of the industry and key to a successful token sale. New, amazing white papers came out with the mindset of a new, disrupted future. Every industry, new models, protocols and structures. Grand ambitions with incentives to get in early and win big – (like everyone was doing, average ICO return was 1720% while dreams got funded). There are too many big wins to count like Polymath, EOS, Blockchain Capital, Stellar, Crypto Kitties (right?) or any 2017 ICO in general to the tune of $6 billion raised digitally.

There was a frenzy over who could be novel, first, most appealing and successful in cutting out today’s central power to change tomorrow’s standard. Globally, countries were trying to turn to decentralization to thwart the corruption that had ran them into the ground for years by the greedy, bribed politicians and empirical rulers.

But who would take down “the man” on behalf of the world?

If you’re unfamiliar of how the movement started, let’s rewind to the financial crash of ’07. I was coming out of college and like many, had no idea what was happening. Essentially, all the banks were selling collateralized debt, packages of garbage loans on houses, cars, etc. performed all over by shady or naive financiers to other financiers and packaged into investments. Housing prices skyrocketed, real estate will never fail!

Until it did. Hard.

What people didn’t realize was that the exorbitant interest rates they signed the 1st or 2nd mortgage for didn’t quit. When they lost their job, and all of a sudden they were under-water, their house was worth less than they owed on it and poof. It was gone.

The banks all owned these CDO’s (collateralized debt obligations), yet no one truly seemed to know what they owed or how unstable it could become. They were too busy leveraging what they (thought) they had on hand or in-pocket and were too busy leveraging that credit well beyond what they should have. They were too arrogant and uninformed to read the tea leaves and the result was, the largest financial crash in U.S. feeding the rest of the world’s history since the great depression.

In the midst of it emerged Bitcoin, founded by the enigma Satoshi Nakamoto, a system of binary code of 1’s and 0’s, mined by believers (stored on a local drive for returns). Bitcoin could be sent to digital wallets anywhere with no bank needed to reconcile.

Sadly, however, the mainstream media was too stuck up its own ass to realize what it meant and the first use case most everyone knew about was Silk Road, the marketplace made famous by the drug trade. That was the last association people had, not the fundamentals of creating an instantaneous, world where math was the answer and you didn’t need a middleman to register and record the transaction as the blockchain revealed all. The power could now be out of the hands of the corrupt and given back to the people.

Fast forward ten years. More and more people had caught on to the point of the Bitcoin market price going up hundreds if not thousands of dollars per unit. No one had seen anything like it. And Bitcoin fed every other spawned cryptocurrency and blockchain project behind it symbiotically, including Ethereum, the 2nd biggest currency and a protocol that every new ICO project was built on (ERC20 Standard) which itself shot up beyond $10,000 per ETH unit.

Our original founder missed the dot-com boom and was hell-bent to not miss another wave, working around the clock and expecting me to do the same. The software in place was compliantly-designed after the JOBS Act of 2012, where companies could go to the masses to fund their projects in exchange for equity or tangible benefits of sorts. Think Kickstarter, except instead of handing out hats or T-shirt for cool ideas, they’re handing out a piece of the company.

Compliance is the key word in all of this. We had it, they need it.

Our “token flow” model enabled us to take a piece of the companies we helped launch, and to launch ours, we would give up not only some of our equity, but a representative % of these token flows that we took in from issuers. Being guided by our resident crypto advisor, who had started mining Bitcoin in 2011 when it was a worth a few bucks per, we were targeting a hundred million dollar raise of which we would bring in some of the top established “whales” and players to the family to launch us and partner with their established game-changing tech platforms. I was in charge of coming up the proformas, and even in the most conservative of scenarios, this was a can’t miss investment scenario (vetted by my critical-eyed veteran VC and private equity advisors that I brought in to add strategic value).

In exchange for giving these hungry issuers the platform to launch their dreams that would check off the compliance x’s and o’s, we would take a setup fee, and small % of cash and tokens from each company. The rush was on to get it and we held the keys.

We were about to hit it big. All we had to do was go live with our go-to-market materials and plan and start soliciting investments.

I was brought on to speak at a conference and judge a business pitch competition with the biggest names in the decentralization space in Brock Pierce, his wife Crystal Rose and Patrick Byrne of Overstock and TZero. We were racing, maneuvering, positioning, getting ready to go-to-market and hit go, launching promising projects on their fundraises.

Then boom.

Unfortunately, the government’s lack of legislative clarity on digital securities quelled the momentum. Despite all the positioning, networking, developing, interviewing and screening of the next world-changing companies and projects, FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) put a wet blanket on the fire. My blockchain dreams to help usher in a new standard dried up 1.5 years after it started despite all kinds of promise, much like those of many other similar digital pioneers out there (especially domestically).

The premise and possibilities of the technology will, however, continue to develop by big or well-resourced players.

Don’t sleep on the spark.

Are your sponsorships actually working

Evalute. Develop. Execute.

Underdog Sports started featuring sports businesses through our social media channels over the last couple of months. We wanted to highlight entrepreneurs who are making an impact in sports business and inspire other who have ideas, to take action. I came across TRAK Software (formerly Sponsorship Buddy), and was impressed by the work they were doing.

Trak is a collaboration tool used by organizations who buy, sell or consult on multi-asset corporate partnerships. Trak helps accelerate and simplify sponsorship execution of each partnership; so sponsorships are executed with the correct artwork, the right people, and every inventory item is maximized.

Giving everyone time back to strategically build, plan and THEN activate their partnerships instead of getting bogged down with complex partnerships (which is what everyone wants and needs) because their disjointed rows and columns (excel anyone?) and inefficient processes (more meetings phone calls and…

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Closing Out 2017 with a Blockchain Bang.

2017 will go down big in the record books.

On the personal side, I took the plunge to get engaged we just closed and moved into our 1st home, a life-changing ordeal in itself. I also personally learned that a country doing everything it can to self-destruct that’s $20 trillion in debt sorely needs software to help the drastically under-equipped IRS manage operational claims to chip away at (separate post in itself).

Sponsorship Buddy is rebranding within the next few weeks to encapsulate the force it has become, now directly optimizing workflows for thousands in the brand, agency and rights holder/property space (recently including the San Francisco Giants, who I could’ve garnered multiple rings based on a different life choice made (another post of its own). With a valuation now in the 9 figure range, one could ask how I could entertain usage of my full-time hours going to something else?

The answer? The blockchain.

I also passed up an equitable opportunity with a software behemoth fast approaching IPO and an executive spot with the most elite membership and concierge program in the world involving curation of the most customized VIP global personalized experiences.

After a few weeks spent volunteering, negotiating and absorbing, I signed on to become the #2, C.O.O. & Head of Fundraising for what we believe could be the most compliant blockchain solution in the exploding ICO market. By the way, ICOs (initial coin offerings) have overtaken traditional venture capital funding means and skyrocketed to over $5 billion in funds raised for 2017.

Everyone’s now heard of Bitcoin (the Amazon of the cryptocurrency world), but most don’t understand it or the blockchain. This distributed ledger system promises to change the world by decentralizing everything, from global monetary policies to how transactions are recorded.

There are innumerable roadblocks in the way before that happens, however. Many early ICOs were launched by the likes of 19-year-old Ukrainians arming a cartel without as much as a business or legal backing. While due diligence, transparency and sound legal business principles are on the rise, there is an impending fear of the unknown, especially the SEC coming down to ban and punish those deemed outside of the legal limits. A day of reckoning is in order in today’s new age Wild West.

At OMINEX, sister-company CrowdEngine has the SEC & FINRA compliance nailed. OMINEX plans to offer a wallet to manage such security and other crypto tokens and provide the portal to launch the buttoned-up ICO, funding your dream, world-changing blockchain project.

But first, we need believers to take a chance with us and invest in the most compliant fundraising solution seen to date (while benefitting with us along the way). We could use great Advisors, referral partners and investors to help us build out the vision before we can draft the team.

It’s been quite the heroic comeback story, 2017 vs. 2016 that is.

Who’s ready to take the world by storm in compliant fashion!? Blockchain and ICOs are possibly the most world-changing phenomenon we’ve seen, can you afford to miss the boat (more about ICOs as the new gold rush – biggest wealth transfer in human history)?

Happy New Year 2018!

Lessons in Rejection

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Red Wings, Baltimore Orioles, Sporting Kansas City, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Saints & Pelicans (among others pictured above): what do these represent? All, the latest and greatest clients of Sponsorship Buddy Inc. I, as the lead hunter, should be out celebrating in the streets to land these huge, globally embraced and recognized team brands as clients of our disruptive new platform, right? Not so fast, my friend.

Early entrepreneurial life is not glamorous (nor is the sports industry). Over the past 20 months, I’ve had to learn all kinds of new skills, competencies, and levels of resiliency and discipline. I set out with a goal of transforming the sponsorship industry in much-needed fashion for the better to help create more transparency, streamlined communications, a better client experience and improvements in quality of life. In doing so, I hoped to make my mark as an innovator, disruptor, and difference-maker and put it all on the line to do so (personal life, relationships, financial stability).

Full disclosure, it’s been the most challenging period I’ve had in life and there have been some big ones. While persistently searching out believers in my network, I’ve been aggressively pursuing careers and been so close on fantastic opportunities in sports or tech in Denver, San Francisco and here in Salt Lake City, only to be passed up on at the finish line. My closest contacts have seemingly written me off while it’s been impossible to fight off bouts of despair, depression and not feel like a failure.

One of my key strengths is my resiliency, persistence, and aversion to quitting. I thought the industry would snap up this relatively inexpensive tool but learned that it was going to take completing the marathon to change the game.

Back when we were looking for our 1st major league client after the Utah Jazz (beta customer of ours), I leaned on my former group in the Memphis Grizzlies, who have been notably innovative. In speaking with Mya Donald, activation lead for the team, I said something along the lines of, “I know this is new and daunting, but this can not only put the Grizzlies on the map as a leader in the space, but do great things for your careers.” The Grizzlies bought in, embraced the tool, and four weeks ago, Mya was on-stage as a finalist at NBA league meetings citing us as a key piece to the team’s peer-nominated Relationship Management Program of the Year. To add validation, the winners of the award, the Cleveland Cavaliers, known not only for being runner up in the 2016-2017 NBA Finals, but also for a notable Goodyear Jersey Patch Campaign and innovative 365-day activation approach have followed suit as our 5th client in the most innovative of all sports leagues (NBA).

Taking excerpts like these to market, we’ve now established ourselves as an industry-recognized brand with success stories throughout the major and minor leagues, not to mention being in the process of signing our 1st brand and agency clients. We accomplished our set growth and vesting goals a year ahead of time and have solidified our brand and platform as a force with huge upside from here while maxing out my equity shares in the company.

As we look to solve the sponsorship industry’s communication issues one client at a time, I’ve realized that I have a long ways to go to become a great communicator myself. I realized that my emails, like everyone’s texts or emails from time to time, can be misinterpreted and come off the wrong way. Instead of leaving tone, reasoning, and objectives up for interpretation, I insisted on a face-to-face meeting to speak my mind, and after a 2nd fishing trip meeting to close out the summer and further collaborate on ownership stake and employment terms. I’m now about to be in a much more secure place while being in control of day and destiny.

Lessons learned: don’t take rejection to heart. It only takes one (you). Even when everyone else loses faith in you, what you believe in and set out to do, you can accomplish anything with determination. Be mindful, self-reflective and don’t be afraid to ask for constructive feedback, advice or someone else’s time to hear you out.

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