Background and Growing Up

TL;DR

• Tanner’s upbringing on a small farm with four brothers and a sister instilled in him a strong work ethic and a highly competitive spirit.

• His curiosity and fascination with investing began at a young age, leading him to create a board game about investing at 11 and diving into stocks and NFTs.
  
  

Q: What’s your background, and what was it like growing up for you?

I grew up on a farm with four brothers and a sister. It wasn’t a huge farm, but that’s where I learned the value of hard work. My dad was adamant that we work, and Saturdays were our dedicated workdays. I grew up in an extremely competitive family. Growing up with four brothers who played football gave me a strong sense of competition. To us, everything was a friendly competition, even something as simple as eating dinner.  

From a young age, I always had this drive to start and create things. I was also curious and fascinated by investors. To me, investors were the coolest people on earth. I loved playing Monopoly with my brothers and wanted to merge that with my interest in investing.

At 11, I started creating a board game, which I finished prototyping by 15. I didn’t know much about stocks, so I read a book called “The Everything Guide to Investing in Your 20s & 30s” when I was just 11. Despite not being a fan of reading, I was curious and wanted to learn more, so I read the book. 

My curiosity then led me to day trading stocks through a custodial account and eventually into NFTs. This journey of exploration and learning paved the way for what I’m doing now with my startup, Athlete Squared. 

Q: What’s something someone wouldn’t know about you unless you told them? 

Fun fact: I’m married and been married for two years, right out of high school. 

The Journey Creating Athlete Squared 

TL;DR Version

• Athlete Squared was inspired by Tanner’s personal experiences overcoming training challenges in high school and college. He wanted to create a platform offering affordable and effective training for athletes.

• Tanner started by dumping all his ideas onto whiteboards and refining them with input from teammates.

• He narrowed down his ideas to meet their needs and adopted a subscription-based model.
  
  

Q: How did you come up with Athlete Squared? 

Athlete Squared is a product of who I am. I went to a pretty bad high school where the football program wasn’t strong, so I had to get creative with my training. I couldn’t find anyone who matched my style, fit my budget, or was even in my area. So, I started watching college athletes who played how I wanted to and based my training on their plays and drills. 

My logic was simple: I could follow their path if I could mirror their performance. And it worked—I committed to Villanova after my junior year, becoming the first Division I player from my high school.

A lot of my success came from my upbringing, which instilled a strong work ethic in me, and God blessed me with talent from a young age. But when I got to college, I faced new challenges. I realized that to get paid as an athlete, you either had to be a top performer or attend a big school. Additionally, college athletes often don’t have the time or resources for effective training. I wanted to address these issues.

That’s how Athlete Squared was born. I wanted to create something that acknowledged the time constraints of college athletes and provided affordable, effective training for other college athletes. I started talking to others and discovered that many shared the same struggles. It wasn’t just a personal problem; it was a widespread issue. Athlete Squared is connected to my life experiences and is a genuine and authentic reflection of my journey. 

Q: What did the first stages of building Athlete Squared look like? What were the first actionable steps you took? 

That’s a great question. Whenever I talk to other young founders or people who want to become founders, my first piece of advice is actually what I did when starting Athlete Squared: brain and idea dump.  

On campus, there are three whiteboards, and I unloaded every thought I had about the Athlete Squared onto them, front and back. People often overlook this. They wonder how to start, but it’s very simple: take your idea and get it out there. Write it down and talk to people.

It’s like when you prepare to say something in your head and then say it out loud—it might sound different. The same goes for business ideas. When you write it down, you might realize it’s a horrible idea or see that it has potential. One of my really good friends, Jack, who also plays quarterback, came by when I was doing this. I was in the dorm room lobby area, and I was blasting out ideas on these whiteboards. Jack sat down and watched me go through it mentally, adding and erasing ideas as I explained everything to him.

Those initial steps—getting the idea out of your head and onto paper—are crucial. If you’re creative enough to start the idea, you’re creative enough to build on it. You need to get it out on paper and let other ideas build from there. That’s how the first stages of Athlete Squared started for me, and I give that advice to anyone looking to start their own venture.

Q: It sounds like you had a lot of ideas when you first started. How did you know what to focus on? 

Yeah, so while I had a lot of ideas, they were all within the scope of Athlete Squared. I wasn’t throwing out random concepts. I knew I wanted to create something that served both young athletes and college athletes because I’ve been both. Being authentic to what you’re building is crucial. It meant leveraging my own experiences and thinking, “If I was a young athlete a year ago, what would I have used?”

I was fortunate to be part of a great user base with my 90 teammates, who were all in the same boat. They were high school athletes just a few years ago. So, I would bounce ideas off them and ask, “Would you guys use this?” This approach helped narrow down a million ideas to a few actionable ones. I used my target audience to refine and focus the ideas, making sure they were relevant and useful.

Q: What’s the pricing model for Athlete Squared? 

We’re a subscription-based training service. When we originally started, we planned to be a masterclass-type platform. The idea was to pay college athletes to create content, and we were even considering flying kids out or flying to them with our own videographer to film specific drills. But we quickly realized that approach wouldn’t work.

So, we pivoted completely to a subscription model, which is what we use now. We’ve made numerous small pivots and adjustments to our business model to refine it and better serve our users.

The Growth of Athlete Squared 

TL;DR Version

• Tanner used trial and error to discover motivational sports content. 

• They spent around $120 on paid promotions across 20 accounts, negotiating prices to keep costs low.

• Athlete Squared’s Instagram has over 70,000 followers and reaches 2.6 million accounts monthly.
  
  

Q: Before beta-launching Athlete Squared in early May, thousands of athletes were on a waitlist. How did you grow your waitlist? 

Yeah, it was definitely a process of trial and error. Talking to our customers is one thing we do well, which many founders overlook. I spend much of my day on the phone with college athletes, parents, and potential users, constantly gathering feedback.

When we started, I needed to validate that other people shared the same issues I did. I began by reaching out through my personal Facebook account, which I had never used before, and cold messaging parents to get their thoughts. We quickly realized the power of social media, especially Instagram, where many young athletes are active.

We tried marketing through 20 or 30 different pages, ranging from fan accounts to parent-focused pages. Eventually, we found success with an account that posted motivational sports content. Our ads on this account performed 11 or 12 times better than others. The followers of these accounts were our target audience—young athletes who are motivated to reach the next level.

This approach helped us significantly increase our waitlist. We focused on accounts that resonated with our target audience and refined our strategy based on their engagement. We’ve built our own Instagram account to continue growing our community. 

Q: How much money did you spend to post promotions on the Instagram accounts you were testing to send out your survey before launching Athlete Squared? 

Yeah, so that was actually pretty manageable. Out of the 20 accounts we tested, we spent a total of around $120 on paid promotions. It was quite affordable, with each story post costing about $10. I negotiated the prices down, so it was cost-effective.

Interestingly, that’s the last penny we spent on marketing. If you count that as marketing, it was all done before we even officially started the company. Since then, we haven’t needed to spend on promotions thanks to our strategic use of social media and organic growth.

Q: What’s Athlete Squared’s follower count and reach on IG? 

We have 70,000+ followers and built that in less than a year. Our reach is awesome—we connect with 2.6 million accounts every month. It’s amazing how this strategy has worked out. When we post about Athlete Squared and what our platform offers, we have a large audience ready to engage with our content. 

Having 70,000 potential users in front of us daily allows us to share stories and updates effectively. Our goal before launching was to get the biggest audience possible in front of us, and it’s been incredible to see the progress.

How Tanner Built Athlete Squared’s Social Media Presence to 70,000+ Followers 

TL;DR Version

• Tanner and his team are full-time and plan posts to maximize engagement, focusing on stories to maintain audience interest.

• He taught himself Instagram marketing, applying lessons from past experiences and through extensive research.

• Athlete Squared hired the owner of a successful marketing account to manage Athlete Squared’s Instagram, leveraging his expertise.

Q: How strategic are you when it comes to building your audience on IG? 

We are very strategic with our Instagram content. For example, a video gained us around six to seven thousand followers just from that one post. We don’t just post randomly because that would diminish its value and engagement. Instead, we’re very deliberate about when and what we post.

One simple video we posted, with text prompts like “I’ll give you my password if you know my last name, favorite sport, nickname, and favorite color,” got over 6.7 million views. This wasn’t a fluke. We posted a similar video six months prior, which also performed well with 4.5 million views. We knew the right music, background, and timing to maximize engagement.

We’re turning this into a science, analyzing every aspect of our posts, from the time of day to the tone of the music and color gradients. We aim to perfect this process to reach even more of our audience. Ideally, we aim to reach 10 million accounts every 30 days.

We’ve realized you don’t need to post on the feed constantly. By focusing on stories, we aren’t overwhelming our audience and are maintaining engagement. 

Most people don’t see the deeper level of strategy behind our posts. We’ve spent hours on research and analytics, using dashboards to determine the best combinations of tone, color, and video type. We track every user interaction to understand better how to serve our customers. This level of detail is why I have to be a workaholic—these small details make a big difference in our platform’s success.

Q: Did you have any prior social media marketing experience? 

Yeah, a bit. I did some Twitter marketing for NFTs, which was quite different from what we’re doing now. I had little experience with Instagram, but it’s funny because none of us had any significant experience with it when we started. I had to teach myself how to make the most of it. We’ve learned a lot along the way and have become pretty adept at it through trial and error and lots of research.

Q: Who currently runs the Athlete Squared IG? 

Here’s the funny thing—you’ll appreciate this. The guy who runs our social media owns the first account through which we ran our marketing for the survey. When we saw how well his account performed, I approached him and said, “Your page did great. I want you to build one for us now.” So, he became part of Athlete Squared.

He also runs another account with around 200,000 followers. Our philosophy was simple: get them on board if we can’t beat them. Initially, I paid him to teach me how to create content, and I managed the posts for a while. But I soon realized I didn’t have the time, so I delegated it to him. He’s been running our social media for over a year and a half now, and it’s been a great decision.

How Athlete Squared Leverages Its Social Media Presence

TL;DR Version

• Athlete Squared utilizes Instagram polls to gather thousands of responses quickly, enabling rapid iteration and incorporating athlete suggestions into platform features.

• They leverage their 70,000+ follower count for credibility, significantly increasing response rates and successfully converting college athletes to the platform.

• Tanner focuses on engaging potential customers and building trust through strategic Instagram use, avoiding direct product promotion to maintain high engagement and credibility.

Q: How have you leveraged your audience on social media to build and refine Athlete Squared? 

We use our social media audience extensively to test and improve features. For example, we polled the other day and got 1,400 responses for one answer alone. Instead of spending a month planning a survey, we can put a poll on Instagram Stories and get thousands of responses almost instantly. On average, our polls receive about 3,000 responses across all answers, which provides us with a substantial user base for feedback.

We’ve run demographic polls to understand the sports and positions our audience plays, helping us tailor our features better. Social media has allowed us to be truly built by the athletes. Many features we have now come directly from suggestions by college and young athletes. For instance, when we were deciding whether to build an app or website, we ran a survey and received a 97% vote in favor of an app. That kind of clear feedback makes our decisions straightforward.

Our goal is to be one of the fastest-iterating companies in the world. Using Instagram polls, which last 24 hours, we can quickly gather feedback, make iterations, and get further feedback in just a few days. This rapid iteration cycle allows us to develop our platform faster than most companies, who might take months to gather and act on similar feedback. Social media has been valuable in accelerating our development and ensuring we meet our users’ needs efficiently.

Q: How have you leveraged Athlete Squared’s IG to recruit college athletes to your platform? 

We use Instagram strategically to recruit college athletes. Running a page with 70,000 followers lends us a lot of credibility. A college athlete with a few thousand followers is likelier to respond to our DMs because they see our large following and high engagement. We reach out with a pitch about our platform, and when they check our account, they see the follower count and millions of views on our videos, encouraging them to engage with us.

Once we get them on a call, our conversion rate is about 93%. The challenge is getting them on the phone in the first place. As our follower count has increased, our response rate and willingness of athletes to take calls have also increased significantly. When our account had 20,000 followers, the response rate was much lower than now at 70,000. This higher follower count translates to higher credibility, making getting athletes on the phone and onto our platform easier.

We take our Instagram presence very seriously, not for direct product promotion, but to build trust and get potential customers in front of us. 

Balancing Personal, Business, and College Life 

TL;DR Version

• The scholarship was a significant factor, but Tanner’s dedication and hard work in football drove him to pursue and succeed in college. 

• Balancing football, marriage, and running Athlete Squared is a challenge.

• Tanner acknowledges that his chosen path requires sacrifices and an imbalance in priorities. 
  
  

Q: What influenced you to go to college? 

The scholarship I received was a big factor, but honestly, it was more about the effort I put in. In high school, With football, I put in more work than everyone else, which got me to the next level.

My approach to football and everything I care about is to give it my all. My dedication is what drove me to pursue college and succeed there. 

Q: How has it been balancing your venture, Athlete Square, with school and your personal life? 

Well, the truth is, there’s never really a balance. I manage the three—football, my marriage, and the business—pretty well, but school isn’t a huge priority. I wouldn’t have gone to college if it wasn’t for football.

My approach differs from that of most people who go to college for education; for me, playing football was a necessary decision. My grades aren’t the best, and you’d never guess I run a company or have any intelligence if you just judged me based on my grades. 

Despite the imbalance with school, I’ve been able to manage my schedule, thanks to God. There are things I wish I could do more of, but I’ve chosen a path that requires certain sacrifices, and I have to be okay with that. Balancing football, my marriage, and Athlete Squared is challenging, but it’s my chosen life, and I make it work.

Challenges and Lessons Learned Building Athlete Squared 

TL;DR Version

• Athlete Squared faced low attendance during a college tour, resulting in the cancellation of their tour. 

• The tour’s early cancellation allowed Tanner and the tech team to focus intensely on development, putting them a month ahead and ensuring readiness for beta tests. 

• Tanner views failure as a learning opportunity rather than an endpoint.
  
  

Q: What have been some of the challenges so far with building Athlete Squared, and what lessons have you learned from them? 

We’ve actually had a pretty steady path without anything crazy going wrong. I think my experience as a quarterback helps me stay calm and focused under pressure. If something goes wrong, I just fix it and move forward. God has blessed us throughout this process, helping us find the right people at the right time.

One of our biggest challenges was finding a tech guy to build our platform. Initially, the quotes we got were in the six-figure range, which was unfeasible. Then, out of nowhere, one of our team members mentioned a buddy who was willing to do it for equity. He’s still with us today. Similarly, another developer from Villanova contacted us randomly on LinkedIn and joined our team. We haven’t had to undergo extensive interview processes because the right people just seemed to come our way.

Our biggest hiccup was during a college tour we did in early May. It was the only week I could fit into my schedule, but it coincided with finals week, so we knew there was a risk. Despite high sign-up rates, the turnout at the first stop was poor. We tried calling every athlete who signed up to ensure they had all the details, and while they expressed excitement, the attendance still didn’t improve much.

When we reached Pennsylvania, where most of our team is based, we expected better results but still didn’t get the turnout we wanted. We planned three more stops, but halfway through, we decided to cancel the rest of the tour. My philosophy was that while we wasted money on indoor facilities, I didn’t want to waste any more time on a tour that wasn’t meeting our expectations.

These experiences taught us the importance of flexibility and iteration. We need to quickly adapt when things don’t go as planned and use every setback as a learning opportunity to improve our approach.

Q: Did any good come out of the tour canceling early? 

Absolutely. Our tech guy is based in Virginia, and we normally meet over Zoom or Google Meet. Since he was already on the tour with me, I decided to have him stay for the next three days so we could work on the platform together. This turned out to be incredibly productive.

We worked from around 9 AM until 2 or 3 in the morning for three days straight. This intense focus allowed us to get about a month ahead in our development. It was a game-changer. I even wondered if we would have been ready for the beta tests and other crucial milestones if the tour had continued. The cancellation allowed us to make so much progress, which was essential for the success of our platform. It was another example of things falling into place perfectly for us.

Q: How do you view failure and deal with it when it inevitably happens? 

Failure happens all the time. I love the quote, “You only fail when you quit.” So, while I believe in that mentality, I also acknowledge that there are times when I feel the impact of failure, like with the tour. The key is not to let it trickle beyond what it is. The tour failed, but something better came out of it as a result.

Failure is part of the process, but you can’t accept it as the end. It’s about asking, “How do I fix this?” and taking the next step. People are often scared of failing, but you can’t be afraid of it. I posted about our tour failure on LinkedIn, and the responses were supportive because people appreciated the honesty. LinkedIn, like Instagram, often showcases a perfect image, but I want to be transparent, especially as we’re about to raise money. Investors know companies fail and make mistakes; now they know I’m honest about it.

Being open about failures helps build trust. When I post about something wrong, I highlight how we fixed it. It’s a lesson: you’ll fail, so don’t be afraid to fail publicly. The point is to show how you learn from it and correct it. There’s always a way out, another step to take. My approach is to learn from failures, and we did just that.

For example, the tour being during finals week was a mistake, but now we know better. Calling athletes beforehand is something we should have done from day one. Failing publicly encourages you to fix the issues because there’s added pressure to correct it. It builds character and humility, which are great for business.

You see many success stories on platforms like LinkedIn, but the reality is different. Most companies face challenges and failures. Sharing these experiences publicly teaches valuable lessons and helps others understand that failure is part of the journey. 

Q: What other core values and philosophies shape your business and personal life? 

For business, our team motto is “Just Win,” which aligns with our company slogan, “Train to Become” – there’s no period at the end.

The idea behind “Train to Become” is open-ended. It encourages athletes to become the best they can be, whether that’s a better player, a Division I athlete, or something in between. 

“Just Win” is about not letting setbacks deter you. When problems arise, our response is simply to “just win,” meaning we figure out how to overcome the obstacle and keep moving forward.

This philosophy has become integral to our team. Initially, it started as a bit of a joke, but now it’s deeply ingrained. For example, before launching, I presented all the reasons why our company could fail—high failure rates in the tech and sports industries. But then, the final slide simply said, “Just Win.” We reframed the statistics as opportunities for us to be part of the successful minority. 

This mentality has helped us turn potential failures into wins. For instance, the college tour didn’t go as planned, but we pivoted, learned valuable lessons, and increased our content significantly. We approach everything with the mindset that as long as we take steps forward, we succeed, even if they’re small steps.

On the personal side, my life is guided by my faith. I’m biblically based, believing everything happens for a reason under God’s control. This perspective helps me manage stress and maintain balance in my life. If something goes wrong, I see it as part of a bigger plan, and I trust that God will bring me through it. This faith-based approach allows me to stay calm, break down challenges, and find solutions, always striving to “just win.”

Advice and Resources for Gen Z Entrepreneurs 

TL;DR Version: 

• Tanner suggests “Pitch Anything” by Oren Klaff for insights on structuring effective pitches and “This Is Marketing” by Seth Godin for its digestible, impactful marketing advice. 

• Tanner’s willingness to ask questions is a strength. 

• Tanner’s advice: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Use resources like YouTube, podcasts, and articles to expand your knowledge. 

Q: Do you have any recommendations for books, podcasts, or creators you follow that young Gen Z entrepreneurs should look into?

Growing up, I loved watching Shark Tank, which fueled my interest in entrepreneurship. More recently, even though I’m not a huge reader, there have been a few impactful books for me.

One book I highly recommend is “Pitch Anything” by Oren Klaff. I got it just in time before pitching to a company last year; it was my first time pitching to any company ever. With only three days to prepare, I read the whole book in one day, which was my first. The book dives deep into human psychology and how to structure a pitch that resonates with people. 

Another great book is “This Is Marketing” by Seth Godin. He’s considered one of the smartest marketers alive today. The book is structured with short, impactful sections that make it easy to digest. I review it, underline important points, take notes, and then type out those notes to create a comprehensive reference sheet. This process helps me revisit and apply key insights to my business as it evolves.

For podcasts, I recommend “Lenny’s Podcast” by Lenny Rachitsky. He interviews go-to-market strategists, CMOs, CEOs, and other key figures from companies like Airbnb and Airtable. The discussions are insightful, and I’ve found many similarities between their strategies and ours at Athlete Squared. These podcasts are about an hour long, but the value you get from them is amazing.

Lastly, I’ve been fortunate to connect with Ross Hoffman, who helped build Twitter’s revenue strategy. He’s been a great mentor and recommended Lenny’s podcast to me. It’s incredible how much you can learn from these industry leaders.

Q: What’s one of the best qualities about yourself? 

One of my best qualities is that I’m never scared to ask questions. People really appreciate this trait about me, especially our advisors. For example, Ross Hoffman, who has been a great mentor, told me, “If you have any questions, let me know.” That might have been his worst mistake because I always ask him questions.

He mentioned that asking questions is actually a sign of confidence because most people avoid it out of fear of appearing ignorant. But I’m always eager to ask questions like, “What do you think about this?” or “How would you handle this situation?” I even do this with Mark Cuban—when we talk, I introduce the company, and then my brain immediately starts thinking of questions to ask him about various challenges and strategies.

People often associate asking questions with a lack of knowledge, but it’s actually a strength. You need to know what you don’t know. 

Q: What’s one piece of advice you have for Gen Z entrepreneurs? 

Don’t be scared to ask questions. Ask a lot of questions. Leaving yourself in the same spot because you’re afraid to ask is a huge mistake. There’s this misconception that you shouldn’t ask questions, but that’s wrong. Everyone, even successful people like Mark Cuban, had the same questions at some point when he was in my position decades ago. It’s crucial to ask and figure things out.

The internet is an incredible resource. YouTube, podcasts, articles, and other online resources can provide a wealth of knowledge. I get asked a lot about how I know so much at a young age, and my answer is simple: I use the internet to learn. You just need to know how to use it effectively. Don’t hesitate to look up things you know nothing about just to expand your knowledge.

Connect With Tanner 

You can connect with Tanner on LinkedIn and support his journey building Athlete Squared on LinkedIn and Instagram (@athlete_squared). 

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DISCLAIMER: This article is written in the voice of Tanner Maddock. The conversation and answers are based on Tanner’s actual responses and have been edited in collaboration with him to reflect his authentic voice and experiences.