Pivoting to scale
Facing difficulties to scale a company centered on writing services, Aumueller said he and his team about two years ago started looking into AI tools to help streamline their own story production process. As their clients showed a similar interest in improving the speeds of their own story outputs, Aumueller said FanWord pivoted to offer its AI-powered writing software as a product.
He said FanWord is currently serving over 160 schools with its product and services.
Similarly, wanting to find a better way to scale, Friesen said SheMate is currently developing an app. This product would give users curated materials to access whenever they had time in their busy schedules — instead of having to wait for a coordinated meeting with a mentor.
Under Rhone’s leadership, SportsTrip has evolved into a full-service product, assisting with travel logistics such as transportation, as well as expanding into markets such as youth sports.
Rhone said the company has grown over 10 times the number of customers since COVID. Internally, the SportsTrip team has expanded from three members before the pandemic to 17 full-time employees.
“With Hudl and Opendorse, I think a lot of that’s built around … you’ve got good tech but then you’ve got a really, really good workforce,” Rhone said.
Finding a home in Nebraska
“The talent coming out of our local universities is exceptional, and the city’s growth and Nebraska’s quality of life (have) made it easier to attract professionals from across the globe,”
Hudl Co-founder Graff said.
Aumueller, who moved to Nebraska from Germany to play tennis at UNL, said he fell in love with the state’s adoration for the Huskers. As a Husker himself, he also got the chance to connect with then UNL football players Blake Lawrence and Adi Kunalic — the co-founders of Opendorse. The two would act as mentors in his own journey, Aumueller said.
“When you see that in your hometown, you want to follow the lead,” Aumueller said. “Nobody’s competing with anyone — not that I would ever want to compete with Hudl or Opendorse — but we’re all in different verticals of sports.”
“Seeing them just absolutely crush it motivates me and motivates us to continue to carve out our niche and be a leader there,” he said.
Friesen said she was also thankful for the early conversations and relationships she has formed with local leaders in the sports industry. Acknowledging the “all-virtual” nature of her business, she said basing her operations out of Omaha instead of Lincoln can feel like a barrier to traction at times.
“I do think there is definitely something to be said about the culture and the connections that have been established in Lincoln that lean themselves very well to being a leader in sports tech development,” Friesen said.
Rhone furthered the praise for the Lincoln community and the talent and support he has received in the state’s capital.
“At the end of the day, this is always going to be a Lincoln-based company for me,” Rhone said.
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