Andre Iguodala had a busy summer.
On June 16th, the Golden State Warriors were crowned NBA Champions and Iguodala earned Finals MVP honors.
On July 20th, Twice, the first company in which he invested was acquired by eBay.
And on August 8th, he married longtime girlfriend Christina Gutierrez.
Not to mention the countless media appearances that go along with being an NBA Champion.
Oh, and training for the upcoming season …
The NBA Pre-Season tips off in two weeks so his schedule isn’t lightening up any time soon, but as he and his teammates prepare to defend their title, Iguodala made time to chat about his business ventures off the court during his guest appearance at Tech Crunch Disrupt SF.
In the Fireside Chat Iguodala discussed his entrepreneurial spirit and how being a member of Silicon Valley’s NBA team has helped him in this venture. Upon signing with the Warriors in 2013, he sought out business opportunities outside of basketball and has taken advantage of being in the tech capital to learn from the best. Iguodala says he has gained knowledge and guidance from the team’s ownership group, lead by successful venture capitalists Joe Lacob and Peter Guber (though he has not invested in any of their ventures per the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.)
When asked what he looks for when assessing startups in which to invest, Iguodala notes he is drawn to companies that address a need in an untapped market or companies that can disrupt the market and can be done more efficiently. Inspired by the need for fashion forward clothing for tall, skinny men, he joined Twice, an online clothing resale store, as the Menswear Style Director. He brought a menswear collection to the store in this role. In July, just a few months after he joined, Twice was acquired by eBay.
As he decides what to invest in next, he says “knowing what you’re getting into, having good intentions, and not being emotional in your investments will make life much smoother.” advice he received from Warren Buffett.
Iguodala isn’t the only tech-savvy businessman on the Warriors roster. He points out that a number of his teammates want to be businessmen and perhaps they’ll follow in the footsteps of 49ers legends Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott in starting sports tech funds. Andrew Bogut is an ambassador for an Australian watch company in addition to having a tech fund; Steph Curry is part owner of CoachUp, a private coaching and training app; Harrison Barnes is a master networker and does his research in determining what investments to make. Keep an eye out for these guys to become teammates in business once they hang up their NBA jerseys.
But before they hang up those jerseys, the Warriors will continue to take advantage of the technology in their backyard. Iguodala says technology and wearables provide professional athletes the analytics to help them succeed. Last season, the Warriors used heart monitors and wearable devices to determine whether they had fully recovered from the previous game and how hard they should go in practice, which played a role in being rested and injury-free going into the Finals.
Iguodala says he uses a variety of wearables and that the Jawbone band even helped him overcome sleeping problems. Now he gets enough REM sleep so that he’s ‘not so evil in the morning’ and getting on a better sleeping schedule has helped him on the court.
When the time comes for Iguodala to step off the court for the final time, he hopes to put on a suit and tie the next day and work with tech startups. Similar to the role the GM plays in an NBA franchise, he wants to play a role in getting the right players in place to build a successful company. Taking what he’s learned from winning an NBA title, he hopes to achieve the ultimate goal of success over and over long after his NBA career is just stats in the record book.