Startup Spotlight: V1 Sports

In this monthly series, get to know who is building companies in Northern Michigan and what advice they have for those just getting started.

This month, we talked to Alex Prasad, CEO of V1 Sports.

We help golfers of all levels of expertise improve – from those with a 0-5 handicap to those who are picking up a club for the first time. We solve this incessant need to improve by providing “DIY” video analysis and instructional tools in our V1 Golf App,  and by providing software to golf instructors to connect and provide online lessons to the V1 Golf App users.

We knew that we were going to significantly grow our revenue on the V1 Golf App in 2023 – we set a goal to grow it by 50% as compared to 2022. In Q1 of 2023, we were up 300%, 6x better than anticipated. That has led to all sorts of fun questions like “what is working,” and “what can we do more of.”

The result of this is that we’re going to be profitable much sooner than anticipated in our turnaround plan, which, without counting chickens before eggs hatch, is a huge relief.

The Startup J Curve is a real thing. The valley of death is a real thing. Take a moment to embrace the suck – you signed up for a challenge and sleepless nights – and thank yourself that you have put yourself in the position to learn from a growth opportunity. Brighter days are ahead, and even if they are not, you likely learned a TON.

I joined 20Fathoms as one of the first things I did when my family and I moved to Traverse City. Best decision I made! I’ve met a ton of great people – personally and professionally. From Maria’s daily barbs (I’m joking – Maria is the friendliest person in the world) to Eric’s sage advice, I am thankful to feel like I am part of a real community.

Find me on LinkedIn – or check out our website – www.v1sports.com.