Website: www.sportme.org

Interview with: Dani Warshager

How many founders does Sportme have and what are their names?

Sportme has 7 founders and their names are:

Dennis Kirschner

Kai Hansen

Philipp Hartmann

Mario Jung

Tobias Johann

Dani Warshager

What are the founders background and qualifications?

We have a solid mix of practical experience and knowledge that makes our team stand out from the rest. The team has a distinguished educational background from the European Business School and University of Applied Sciences in Germany; Carleton University in Canada and Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile. Tobias has his PHD in entrepreneurship; Philipp has a degree in finance and strategy; Kai is accomplished in management and marketing; Mario is an ex-pro football player and knows the ins and outs of sports, Sascha is a marketing and PR Guru; Dennis is an IT wiz kid and I am skilled in international business and am a serial entrepreneur. Together the sportme team is made up of the perfect recipe that enables the community to successfully grow.

What does your website do?

Sportme is an innovative sports network that assists grass root and semi-professional sports clubs, teams, individual athletes and fans to interact online and share their sporting experiences with one another. From football to archery, netball to bowls, sportme offers everyone involved in sports the chance to share their exploits with others in the sporting community.

Clubs, teams and individuals can create custom profiles and use the development functions to keep up to date with their sports schedules; coordinate practices, matches and tournaments and find local teams with whom they can compete.

Members can also communicate with their sports peers, develop friendships with other sporty people and promote themselves and their groups via the internet using Sportme message boards, sports forums, blogs, calendar and photo/video sharing functions.

When did you launch?

We have 2 Sportme versions, 1 in English and the other in German. The German site was launched in July 2007. Since the launch we have been experiencing successful results and decided to launch the English version in October 2007. Both versions are the largest in its category and continue to grow strong.

Has it been easy or difficult to build your community?

Building a community is an ongoing adventure and we need to continuously modify it in order to meet the needs and desires of our members. I would not say that it has been easy nor difficult rather I would say that it has been a great experience. We have received excellent feedback, the people love it and members are always inviting their friends to join.

What types of marketing have you done?

We have implemented various on/offline campaigns of which benefit our members and support a good cause. Some of the projects include: Athletes Against Racism, Grass-Root Team Sponsoring and the sportme Charity Project.

Do you have any revenue streams besides advertisement? Who is your ad provider?

We have not implemented any revenue streams as of yet. However, we have developed non-invasive income generating methods that will benefit both Sportme and its members. These will be initiated in the New Year.

Funding: Self funded, Angel Investment, or Venture Capital?

Each of the 7 founders has participated in funding the company and we are also supported by a few Angel Investors.

Are you currently looking for funding?

Our eyes are always open for new investors and we are happy to present to them the Sportme community and all it has to offer.

What is your favorite feature on your site?

I am a fan of our ‘Exchange Jersey’ feature. It is similar to a poking function but we made it specific to sports. Our members love it and it’s a way to break the ice and initiate conversations with new people.

What type(s) of technology do you use?

Sportme uses the most modern Ruby on Rails technology.

Any bold predictions for sports and technology in the future?

The combination of sports and technology is fairly new, however, together it provides a true benefit, on and offline. Sports are a part of the daily lives of many people and with the introduction of technology it enhances the users experience and sports lives. I believe that the online sports industry is still in its infancy and we will see some spectacular things happen within the next few years.

STN’s Take:

Sportme is a great social network for any person that is international. It is a very robust system that has many Clubs, Teams, and People to be a fan of. One can tell that the founders have a great attention to detail as there are many things to enjoy. As Dani said the exchange jersey function is very cool and a great feature.