One of the most energizing aspects in the start-up space is talking directly with founders and getting to peak into their world to see the creativity, innovation, and passion that emanates. Recently, I had the pleasure of talking to Darius Willis, founder of Willis Sports Organization about his story, their brand, and some key learning’s from the journey thus far. Here’s a look their ‘start-up story’:
“ I wanted to carry on the Willis sports name, for him as a symbol of second chances and having opportunities ”
What’s your origin story?
We got started because of my passion as an athlete and coach. For me, I've always been in sports, it’s a part of my life. I always wanted to do something where I can help others and Willis Sports Organization came about from my time being in the NCAA, having that quick stint with the New York Jets, and then traveling overseas to understand more about sports, recruiting, and the needs of athletes and coaches overseas. I chose to include Willis as our name because of my brother who passed away when I was in high school. It was one of the toughest moments of my life, but also one of the best memories. Toughest because that day, I lost my brother. Best because my entire high school team came to the funeral, the whole high school staff, and everybody helped me carry my brother and bury my brother. I wanted to carry on the Willis sports name, for him as a symbol of second chances and having opportunities, because that's what we stand for, making sure everybody has an opportunity to have a next step in their life.
What are you looking to disrupt?
We are looking to be the Bloomberg of international sports recruiting. We want to be the go-to platform when someone talks about international recruiting, they go directly to WSO because we have what they need.
How are you making a positive impact in the world?
“ We're creating opportunities and building pathways by reinventing international recruiting… ”
for athletes and coaches through a powerful matchmaking platform that utilizes data, training, and events. This is going to impact the world because it's going to give everybody an opportunity to be seen and connect with coaches and athletes. We are a platform for everyone, our goal is to be able to reach inside every country to provide these young athletes the chance to be seen and heard to make the next move of their career in the sports.
Who can benefit the most from your solution?
Two customer segments can benefit from our platform: athletes and coaches, specifically university coaches in the US.
For international athletes, these guys are hungry, they are so driven to go to the US that it makes you just want to do everything you can to help them. And it's such a beautiful thing because it was me as that age, that was my same drive to go to play in the NFL. They have that same passion to go to the US. It’s important to be able to be seen by coaches, but having that exposure is very difficult for them. Knowing what to do, taking the steps, having the tools that truly help them make that connection. By coming to our platform, they're able to match with these coaches giving them a direct connection for that next opportunity to get to the US.
Then there’s coaches, who are looking for whatever talent they can to help them win now. The recruiting landscape has changed since COVID Thanks to the NFL, and thanks to the transfer portal. Coaches are motivated to get behind more data-driven solutions as compared to before. That’s helped us to connect more with coaches as we pitch our ideas and concepts and while addressing their pain points like saving them time, reducing the effort, and reducing the cost. Colleges spend a lot of money on recruiting and since COVID, they’re required to use of their funds more efficiently across the entire athletic department. We help coaches streamline the day-to-day tasks, evaluate a greater number of athletes, and most importantly we help coaches understand this blue ocean of international recruits, with a database of over 20,000 international athletes, on top of 70,000+ American athletes.
What core values guide you and your team?
One core value for us is what we call Vision, we are giving athletes the ability to see their end goal. Starting from a young age, athletes have that mindset of wanting to go to the highest level in their sport, athletes who come to us can see they could do that. They see their peers having the chance e.g., he got a trial for the Chicago Bears. They see all this and now this is becoming a part of their vision. This is also our vision to help them get to that dream of playing professionally or going to the US to play college sports.
What’s one word to describe your brand?
For us, the word would be relentless. We are relentless in our pursuit to satisfy the pain points of our customers to be able to help them achieve their goals. Through our platform, we're relentless in our pursuit to be one of the best, if not the best.
What encourages you about being an entrepreneur?
I think becoming an entrepreneur is probably one of the hardest but best decisions I ever made. I love the challenge and learning new things, it puts your mind in such a different field, it's hard to explain, it's just so unique. You find yourself in a place so passionate about being able to do what you love and to help others…that's a beautiful thing.
what did you learn from a risk you took?
When I got started, honestly, especially as an early-stage single founder, I was so unaware about how everybody comes at you, let's do this, we can do that, we can do this. I paid for a company out of nowhere to do development for me, and it was a complete disaster. From that, I learned how to be more prepared how to plan and strategize from a development and technical standpoint and to have the right people around you to push the product development in a certain way. And of course, making sure that companies deliver on what they say they can and provide.
What challenges have you run into?
A main challenge we ran into was around technical product development. It's great to have people who have a great understanding on this process, or what it needs and what it takes to build out a product. This was my very first time, I would be lying if I say I knew exactly what I was doing. I had no idea. It was great for me to go through those full processes. Starting out as an entrepreneur to learn the user journey, what it takes to get valuable feedback from the coaches, etc... That product stage can take so long and it’s important to break it down into phases and have great people who can do that without trying to do a lot of that stuff on my own.
What are some resources that have helped you?
The best resources would be certain networks, ecosystem, accelerators, incubators, workshops, I did a lot of workshops, and there you meet with so many intelligent minds, and brainstorm and gather so many ideas. They bring so much to the table.
What advice would you Give to other startups?
“ Be you. A lot of people over the time will throw their solutions hard on you… make sure you stick to your values and never deviate from what you believe in. “
Surround yourself with a great group of people who have this shared vision as you as an entrepreneur, who are willing to buy in and give that extra for the company. It's important to surround yourself with a great advisory board to help you see your blind spots because it’s easy to get caught up in the product, the fundraising, the marketing, and sales that you can often get lost in the tiniest little detail. But just as important, stick to what you believe in. Be you. A lot of people over the time will throw their solutions hard on you… make sure you stick to your values and never deviate from what you believe in.
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