Wooter: The One-Stop Shop for All Sports in Your Area
As you get older, it is sometimes hard to find the time to play sports. You have become busy and there may only be a brief window of time where you can actually go out and play basketball or soccer or tennis. Since you are only free from 7-9PM on Mondays and Thursdays, it’s difficult to find people who are available at that time too. That’s where Wooter comes in. Wooter is your one-stop-shop for all sports in your area. They partner with leagues, coaches, trainers, facilities and organizations who offer sports and connects them with people looking to participate. I had the opportunity to talk with Max Avs, the Chief Growth Officer at Wooter, about spike ball, hula hoop fire dancing and why it’s important to stay composed.How did you get involved with Wooter?Max: I got involved with the process very early on. I went to college with one of the founders and he knew I was a good salesman. After getting to know all of the founders I enjoyed my time with them. All of us are in our early-mid 20s so we all related to one another. It felt like a real team. The energy and the dynamic were both great. It just felt like a natural fit.What was the best day in the company’s existence?M: I’m going to cheat and give two answers. The first happened in late July/early August. We decided to pivot the company to strictly sports; before we also included recreational activities. We felt like Groupon and Classpass has such a hold on the recreational activities world that it was hard to compete. So we decided to focus on sports and sports leagues. This really re-energized us and made us all more passionate about what we are doing.My second answer is a few weeks ago we acquired Dream Leagues, a sports company the provides league enhancement services. With the acquisition we were able to provide stat tracking, video highlights and so on for our leagues. It was the perfect complement to what we do at Wooter.What’s the level of growth you’d be satisfied seeing in the next year?M: Financially, we are expecting to see around 1 million dollars in revenue (to be conservative). Better yet, I can’t wait to have our internal social network, The Player Network, up and ready. Finally, there will be a place for amatuer athletes to interact with other athletes, trash-talk and compare stats. Just imagine, you can see your competitors’ stats before getting to play them. And after you beat them, you get to boast about it.What’s the most uncommon activity featured on wooter?M: Well before we made the move to just sports, there was hula hoop dancing with fire. A Coach would actually teach people how to hula hoop with fire. We offered a Hollywood Stunts class that was also really cool. It was just hard to compete with Groupon when it came to activities like these. Also! Samurai classes.Any advice for young entrepreneurs?M: Honestly, just stay composed. There are going to be so many problems along the way, whether it be a new competitor or an internal problem, just stay composed and calm. We always found a solution.What sports do you play?M: I’ve been playing a lot of Spikeball recently. It’s like a combination of tennis, volleyball, and handball. The sport has so much potential. In five to ten years, Spikeball will become much more mainstream.Anything else?M: In the fall we hosted Startup Field Day where we invited startups to play sports. It was a great way to network and we will be doing it in again in April. Stay tuned to our Facebook to RSVP: facebook.com/whatiswooterWooter is currently in the Staten Island area, expanding very soon to all of NYC (and nationwide). Wooter is ready for a big year in 2016. You can meet the Wooter team at NY TechDay 2016 on 4/14!Special thanks to Max Avs of Wooter! You can reach him at max@wooter.co