New technology from startup ventures is transforming the sports industry. The mission of this series will be to introduce startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience and allow Founders of promising new ventures to tell their story. Feel free to contact us if you know of a startup that should be considered for this series.
Company: FastChart Baseball
CEO: Art Arnold
Headquarters: Brewster, MA
1. What is your elevator pitch?
Baseball at all levels is a very traditional game, and coaches have forever been charting player and game metrics manually. FastChart Baseball is the first truly digital and paperless solution that focuses on helping coaches to streamline this process, remove the tedious task of performing manual calculations, and provide easy access to the important information that coach’s want and need before, during and after a game. Less paperwork, more time to coach.
2. Problem & Solution
Technology has integrated its way into every aspect of baseball; from recruiting, scouting and video analysis. The next logical step is to bring technology into the dugout. Coaches spend a disproportionate amount of their time collecting data that detracts from their ability to actually manage the game, and once collected is often not accurate and is difficult to analyze.
FastChart Baseball integrates all of the pitch calling and charting tasks into one easy to use application that makes game management and preparation easier and more effective. A process that currently often requires 3 assistants to perform can now be done by a single iPad user.
3. Market
FastChart was designed by a Division 1 collegiate coach as a better way to perform his many charting tasks. However we quickly saw the potential for developing a product with broad appeal, and we formed an Advisory Board made up of coaches from all collegiate levels (D1-3, Juco, Community College) as well as high school and youth travel ball. We quickly found that our product would have appeal and provide benefit to programs at all levels.
4. Business Model
FastChart is sold as an annual subscription. The app is built on the IOS platform, and downloaded for free from the App Store. We provide a free 14 day trial. Once a coach purchases the app, they have access to our database and analytics. We also provide data back-up and ongoing enhancements and support.
5. Management Team
Chip Dill is our Founder, and currently the Pitching Coach at the University of Tennessee. He played both at the collegiate level and professionally, and is the principal designer of FastChart.
Art Arnold is our Managing Partner. He is a retired IT Executive and manages day to day activities.
Arif Delawalla is our CTO, and is responsible for overall IT design, development, and implementation.
6. What else do you want the audience to know about your venture?
We are a self-funded, independent company focused exclusively on serving the baseball and softball coaching community. Our mission is to develop products and services that serve a need in our target markets, and we take our direction both from our Advisory Board as well as our client base.
Bonus Question: If you were to invite any CEO to dinner who would it be and why?
I’d choose three just to keep the conversation going and because they transformed their respective businesses-
- Fred Smith, Founder and former CEO of FedEx
- Steve Jobs
- Herb Kelleher, Founder and past CEO of Southwest Airlines
