Fancred provides sports fans with an app to capture and share every moment. As a member of one of Techstars’ first classes, we were named to Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Brilliant Companies and helped two basketball fans fall in love.
Our presentation at Techstars Boston 2013 Demo Day is still the greatest pitch I’ve ever been a part of.
Fancred was in the 14-company batch of the 22nd Techstars class. At our peak, we grew to 13 full-time employees and had Campus Ambassadors at 65 college campuses across the US.
The community, enabled primarily by our Campus Ambassadors, was our secret sauce. It was wild to turn on ESPN’s College GameDay and see a Fancred sign, a Big Ten mascot in Fancred tees, or our logo in front of an athletic department.
The community resulted in real-life friendships and even long-term relationships that result in tiny humans.
February 25, 2013 — Day 1 at Techstars Boston. We still don't know what Michael was doing with his right arm.
Highlights
Techstars Demo Day with Big Papi.
This segment on The Today Show.
The first teams from their respective leagues to join: Boston Red Sox (MLB), Liverpool (EPL), Carolina Panthers (NFL), Mississippi State (NCAA).
One of Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Brilliant Companies in 2015.
USA Today only mentioned one social app to download for the Super Bowl XLIX. TIME liked us, too.
Fancred Share Button for publishers (NESN, FanSided as launch partners) and the Fancred Bookmarklet for fans.
Make Gameday Everyday, a content marketing site powered by Fancred posts.
In our first 24 hours, we jumped into the App Store Top 25 for sports apps.
By the end of year two, we topped out at #5.
These were the days when App Store rankings could change the trajectory of your app overnight. The high-rankings days we experienced were celebrated by high-fives, hugs, and copious amounts of Dunkin’ Donuts.
When you watch a startup come to life it can be incredibly difficult to move on.
At its best, startup life gives the world something it never knew they wanted, but suddenly it cannot live without.
At its worst, startup life is like “eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.”
Fancred’s achievements never matched the dreams we had for it. Few startups do. Looking back, the Fancred team can confidently say that we busted our ass and had fun doing it.
It was an incredible journey for me, personally. I got to live in Boston, work in sports, and build a global community.
Professionally, Fancred was a pivotal moment in my journey. Fancred’s lead investor was Accomplice, a wonderful VC firm in Boston. I’ve since worked with two other startups whose funding was also led by Accomplice. I’m incredibly grateful for Ryan Moore and the Accomplice team.
If given the option I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
