Athletes and fans alike seek to engage with each other. You will find that most athletes are already connected on social media, but the current platforms that are primarily utilized do not do an efficient job to promote and sustain engagement and conversation between fans and the athletes they love. This is where Slyce hopes to enter the conversation, and fill a void in the social media landscape.
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NBA MVP Steph Curry is in agreement with this, evidenced by his status as co-founder of the company. His career also served as inspiration for the concept of Slyce. I talked with two of the co-founders of Slyce, Bryant Barr and Jason Mayden, to discuss their products origination, offerings and future. Jason serves as the Chief Product Officer for the company, while Bryant is the CEO and also a former teammate of Steph’s at Davidson College.
#teamslyce x Rolling Stones pic.twitter.com/SY2sKSlD0F
— Slyce (@teamslyce) February 7, 2016
How did Slyce come into being? Who had the idea?
Bryant: “The idea was born as a result of my observations from Steph’s (Curry) journey as rookie, from the early stages of his career especially, through now. I had insight into what he was doing because of our shared background and friendship. He was very intentional and deliberate even early on in his career about building an audience and personal brand that he could extract value from. He continued to grow his online following and went above and beyond to engage with his fans. His activity fell off in recent years, with his usage being monotonous, basically just posting a photo or such and then stepping away. This happened essentially because it was a hassle to keep going above and beyond, with the way social media platforms have to be operated. It wasn’t worth his time. He and I talked to guys in the league, not just the NBA but other leagues as well, and it turns out it was an industry-wide problem.”
Where is Slyce going? Adding celebrities?
Bryant: “Down the line that is our intention, but for the time being our focus is on the needs of the athletes. However, Slyce helps solve a widespread problem that is not exclusive to just athletes, but it would behoove us to currently focus on athletes at the moment. We want to get it right for this vertical first before spreading ourselves too thin and too quickly. Our platform and services can aid any high-profile individual, we’ve had politicians and business executives express interest in what we do. Recently, the CEO of T-Mobile shared positive comments about it. To best serve everyone we need to approach them all individually, and cater to their needs.”
When someone says “Steph Curry isn’t that good.” (via @teamslyce) pic.twitter.com/5cj9Hn12Q0
— Carlos Murillo (@LosMurillo126) February 27, 2016
How do you see influencer space evolving, in the short and long term?
Jason: “The influencer space itself is ever changing because the ways to gain access and intel are constantly evolving. As such the dynamics which affect communication will significantly change and help the Athlete deepen and extend their relationships with their fan base. Additionally, Slyce will be able to simplify the process of gathering insights, creating consistent narratives and help to identify and match opportunities for emerging influencers in sports, entertainment, etc. As the technology evolves, new tools will emerge that simplify the way athletes can distribute local content locally and globally. They want to command their narrative from the palm of their hands, making a move towards the global marketplace and increase their value.”
How are pro athletes changing the face of technology?
Jason: “There’s a long history between two. They have to perform at the highest level, both biomechanically and cognitively, and what we’ve created is a tool to provide a digital competitive edge which will allow them to perform at their highest level via social engagement. What we have seen thus far, is that there has been a huge interest from athletes, to explore opportunities in Silicon Valley because they understand their power beyond the court or field. Athletes are now sitting on boards of companies in advisement roles. They use their position to help start-ups innovate and grow. Innovation is at their core, and they are beginning to take the next step from physical products to digital.”
How is technology changing the relationship between fans and athletes?
Bryant: “It’s simplifying the process. Technology has opened an avenue for increased interaction and engagement, but its accompanied by a lot of noise. Athletes join social media platforms to engage fans because it provides them a big audience, but they’ve never really had a way to reach their targeted audience directly. Our efforts are differentiated from other platforms because we’re building it with them. We look at those influencers on our roster as thought partners, opposed to customers. We emphasize a design-thinking mentality, and are constantly getting feedback from the athletes, what their likes and dislikes are, what they would like to be able to do and see implemented, or what they would get rid of. We can give them what they want more quickly than the bigger platforms because our direct intention is the provide the athletes with the best and most efficient means of interacting with fans. Our background in athletics and careers with big sports brand gave us tremendous insight and understanding of the needs and wants of athletes. There’s a distinct advantage of using technology and crafting it around the people you work with.”
How will your software filter questions that are important to the influencer?
Jason: “As it stands it is mostly done manually. The software will automatically exclude anything involving inappropriate language, and filtering based on contextual relevance. An example of that would be if Steph wanted to answer questions about his experience at the NBA all-star weekend, it would compile questions relating to it by way of key terms. We’re going to finish building our robust dataset before moving the system to automatic operation.”
Is the Q/A platform the most important aspect of your app?
Bryant: “It’s definitely our most unique aspect from a fan-experience perspective. That instant back-and-forth between athlete and fan is a unique experience. Whether one’s involvement with the content is as an observer, engaged user, or if it’s viewed after the fact, it provides everyone with unique information and has been a hit thus far. The engagement has been very high. We have several more features that will continue to improve the fan experience of the platform as well.” 
Does the increased willingness of athletes to deal with new technology/startups come from them wanting to increase their brand/earning potential?
Bryant: “It’s the underlying thought of it. But really, they just want something that’s easier to use. We deliver on that end. The Q+A process itself is young and new but we’ve already experienced high engagement from the athletes and fans. Athletes are pushing content to more platforms overall when using Slyce opposed to standard platforms of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.”
Are the athletes paid partners, or does their benefit come from the increased following that will go along with their involvement?
“All involvement from the athletes is completely voluntary. Steph is an investor, and as such plays a larger role, but there is nothing that ties him to using the platform for personal use.”
Describe your product for me.
Bryant: “What we have is a mobile product, with a highly engaging Q + A feature. We built a product that’s intuitive for the user, easy to use, and an overall great experience for the athletes. It’s in it’s infancy at the moment, but we are currently building more tools for athletes to engage with fans in a seamless way. We’ve given athletes the tools to push content where they want it to be. The biggest aspect for us is idea of content delivery. We aim to have the athlete’s content go seamlessly going from them to the fans, and to provide more access to high quality content. There’s currently so much great content related to athletes, but they themselves don’t have full access to it all. At some point along the way, they lost control of ability to tell their narrative in way that they want.”
Jason: “To build on Bryant’s points. A large reason of why athletes have placed their trust in us, as a developing company that is in it’s infancy, is Bryant Barr’s ability as a CEO and his disposition as a man to be trusted. He and I both have worked with athletes, and have helped them tell their stories in unique and different ways. We want to give their audience content that is driven through collaboration and understanding. Our mission is to continue to be seen as trusted partners and collaborators that are easy to work with for many years to come.”