Primer Sports Duo Help You Stay on Your Game

“Man, did you see Matt Ryan’s stellar play-action fake last night? Like a ninja. The Falcons may just come out of this slump with moves like that.”

Let’s face it, watercooler sports talk is a part of business (and many Thanksgiving dinners). Whether you’re a huge sports fan or think “spread option” is about lunch, Primer Sports has you covered with inside-tracked news delivered straight to your inbox.

The service was developed by Brent Macon and Andrew Faircloth to help users gain timely stories that give relevant insights and fun facts to stay in-the-know on all sportsball needs. We caught up with the dynamic duo to learn why they decided to leave their lives as management consultants at Bain and McKinsey to set up a sports media startup.

Why transition your career to launch a startup?

BM: It was a big decision, but it helped having a partner and a friend to jump in and do it. We had this idea during the College World Series in Omaha in 2014. That was the first conversation we had, and afterward we couldn’t stop talking about the idea. Brainstorm sessions on the weekends developed into test emails, which led to some useful feedback from our friends and family. We had such a blast that we couldn’t ignore that feeling. Can we get this thing off the ground? It may fly in the face of conventional wisdom to take a paycut to jump into this, but we couldn’t ignore our passion.

How’d you get the idea for Primer Sports?

BM: It happened really through a process of living it. In summer 2014, we were comparing notes about recent experiences (in consulting) and we came across two things. First, we were really busy and didn’t have time to follow beyond our favorite teams, and we lost sight of the larger sports scene. Second, sports was that sports were the watercooler topic at social settings and at work. We wanted to provide cool, fun facts – anecdotes beyond just the games.

Andrew is now at the Iron Yard, why was it important to have at least one technical cofounder?

AF: My goal going in was to develop coding skills to improve the user experience and delivery of our content, while also giving us more control to build and test new content ideas (e.g., interactive content where a user can more easily navigate and advance through content with clicks/hovers/scrolls). As I wrap up the coding program, I’m moving into building tools for Primer specifically. Our first goals are making it easier to share Primer and to provide customized content for our users. We’re working toward expanding our presence into a more complete web and phone application.

What are you delivering now as a product?

BM: A Monday-Wednesday-Friday e-mail newsletter. Our most popular is a weekend recap on Monday mornings, then we do a cross-sport snapshot on Wednesdays and a weekend preview on Fridays. We showcase the biggest things happening in sports with hope to help driver conversations. Our emails nclude links to the best articles that you might have missed, and are intended for busy and smart people.

Are you funded or bootstrapped?

BM: Bootstrapped. We are using savings for now, and have a decent runway. We hope to expand our team and deliver more customized content in beautiful ways in the future. To sustain growth, we have to find and maintain our unique voice in sports, adding value and giving people something they want to read that’s useful and interesting.  We’re excited to be moving into the Switchyards Downtown Club, which is opening in December.

Who are your competitors and how does Primer Sports stand out?

BM: Sports are a crowded industry. We are vying for attention at a crucial part of your day (the mornings), competing with the market’s many options. Our product has to be equal parts interesting and informative, something that empowers the reader. Primer Sports is focused on more than the nuts and bolts happening on the field. We are going to give you characterizations going into the game, as well as amusing anecdotes. It will be casual and fun, something accessible to both sports enthusiasts and others interested in learning more about sports.

Get a front row seat on all the action at Primer Sports and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.