New technology from startup ventures is transforming the global sports industry. This Startup Series has introduced over 200 startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience by allowing Founders of promising new ventures to tell their story and pitch their idea. Feel free to submit your startup’s answers to the below questions or contact us if you know of a startup that should be considered for inclusion in this series.
Company name: Athletic Intelligence Measures, LLC (AIM)
Founder(s): Scott Goldman, Ph.D. and James Bowman, Psy.D.
Headquarters: Ann Arbor, Michigan
1. What is your elevator pitch?
The AIQ captures sport specific intelligence that has a significant impact to talent selection and on-field performance.
When evaluating talent, chances are you measure physical traits like height, weight, speed, and tactical skills such as footwork or sport-specific knowledge. You may also have an “intangibles” category. A common belief is that “intangibles” cannot be measured. And, yet, they are sometimes what evaluators use to distinguish one player from another player. One notable “intangible” is athletic intelligence. They will comment, “He may not be the prototypical quarterback but he has a great football IQ.” The reality is that athletic intelligence can be measured, and measured objectively.
The Athletic Intelligence Quotient (AIQ) is a mental analytics tool currently being used by NFL teams (including 2 Super Bowl winners), MLB teams (including 3 World Series winners), NBA teams, Olympic training facilities, MLS teams, Division 1 teams (including FBS Bowl Winners and a no. 1 ranked basketball team), and training academies.
The AIQ measures the intellectual abilities most used in attaining, enhancing, and applying athletic skills. Just as a stopwatch measures speed, the AIQ provides valuable information about an athlete’s performance-specific intellectual abilities. The AIQ identifies an athlete’s mental strengths and weaknesses, helps coaches train athletes to reach the highest level of performance, and aids management and player personnel in scouting and roster decisions.
Organizations are using the AIQ in a number of ways, and its use can be tailored to fit your needs. For example, the AIQ can be used for:
1) Pre-Selection talent evaluation
2) Improving training and coaching through talent analysis and player development
3) Benchmarking current talent to continue to maximize roster potential.
4) Building a comprehensive performance profile
For more information, please check out our website: www.athleticintel.com.
2. Problem & Solution
Sports are unsolvable puzzles. Identifying talent and maximizing their abilities is an ever evolving quest. However, one major competitive advantage is the ability to identify the most significant variables and accurately measure them. Historically, teams have the ability to measure strength, speed and knowledge. Prior to the AIQ, they did not have a sophisticated means of measuring sport-specific intelligence.
Using the AIQ to analyze athletic intelligence allows athletes, coaches and scouts to better understand the mental aspect of their sport, thereby improving overall performance. Athletic intelligence is a valuable piece of the unsolvable puzzle. With the ability to measure athletic intelligence, athletes, coaches and team personnel can make more informed and educated decisions, which provide their team a competitive advantage over teams that ignore this important component of sport. Further, research has shown that AIQ scores significantly correlate with on-field performance in the MLB and the NFL.
3. Market – your target market and the overall market
Our target market are competitive teams and training organizations at the high school, college, professional, and international level.
4. Business Model – how do you make money?
Our revenue comes from two streams: a) team’s purchasing the AIQ and b) teams hiring our consultation services which includes sophisticated interpretation of the AIQ.
5. Management Team – with titles
Scott Goldman, Ph. D.
James Bowman, Psy.D.
Alex Auerbach, MBA and Doctoral Candidate.
If you’re an investor, startup founder or influencer, we recommend you check out ProInfluence, a platform that is uniting sports entrepreneurs and leaders to form mutually beneficial business partnerships.