FANFUL | harrylandis

Part I: Origins and Inspiration

The genesis of Fanful can be traced back to my second semester at Duke, where I was tasked with presenting a new sports business idea as a final project in my sports entrepreneurship class. As a lifelong New York Giants enthusiast, I was driven to critically analyze my experiences as a fan, identifying areas where they lacked fulfillment and could be enhanced. After moments of introspection, I came to a pivotal realization about my fan identity: despite my deep engagement, loyalty, knowledge, and support, I gained nothing tangible in return. This absence of concrete recognition or rewards for fans like me, who undeniably yearned for more, became a glaring issue.

I soon recognized a significant opportunity for sports franchises to better cater to their fanbases—groups characterized by an unmatched competitive spirit. Eager to explore existing solutions, I downloaded various team apps, only to find my suspicions confirmed: these platforms were outdated and lacked even basic engagement features like leaderboards, leaving a wide gap in meeting fans' expressive needs.

This revelation, coupled with the clear disconnect between existing team apps and fan expectations, fueled my conviction to establish a business that would address this gap effectively. Fanful, envisioned as a B2B2C enterprise, aimed to develop a next-generation team app that truly aligned with fan psychographics, resonating with their desires and needs. We planned to offer this app as a white-label solution to sports organizations seeking to elevate their mobile fan engagement, encompassing both professional and collegiate leagues.

Throughout the remainder of the spring semester and the following summer, I dedicated myself to crafting a prototype of this innovative team app on Figma and perfecting the pitch for potential clients. The app's design was rooted in a robust gamification framework, allowing for the tracking and recognition of every fan's in-app activities. These interactions would accumulate fan points, a digital currency that enabled fanbase leaderboards, loyalty clubs, and redeemable rewards such as merchandise, tickets, and exclusive meet-and-greets with players. The value proposition was straightforward: by using their team's white-labeled app, fans would enrich their fan experience beyond what third-party services could offer, while teams would gain from increased revenue, enhanced loyalty, and valuable data collection.

For more detailed information about the business at this stage, attached are a three-page overview and a comprehensive marketing deck that I used for my pitches to sports teams.

Part II: Navigating Challenges and Adaptation

As I entered the fall semester of my sophomore year, my confidence was sky-high. I was convinced I had unearthed a solution to a problem worth millions and was enthusiastic about presenting it to numerous sports teams. However, the ensuing months of reaching out and pitching to these teams served me a humbling dose of reality. Although the prototype and pitch of Fanful were well-received, the overarching feedback was strikingly similar: as a college student lacking an experienced team, a functioning product, and concrete data, these organizations were hesitant to take a risk on my venture. They encouraged me to return once I had established more substantial traction and a more convincing proof of concept.

Despite the demoralizing rejections after investing months in developing prototypes, financial models, and pitch decks, my resolve to dispel any doubts and achieve proof of concept only intensified. The challenge, however, was daunting: how could I validate a B2B2C business model when no business was willing to initiate a pilot? It was a classic chicken-and-egg dilemma, both perplexing and frustrating.

After extensive discussions with advisors, I decided to shift Fanful's focus temporarily from B2B2C to B2C, aiming to gather compelling user engagement data to later present as proof of concept to sports teams. The app's core functionality—a comprehensive sports application with a focus on gamification and loyalty rewards—remained largely unchanged. Yet, transitioning to a B2C model without a team partnership introduced new obstacles, such as securing funding for a self-financed loyalty rewards program and an impactful marketing campaign. This campaign needed to differentiate Fanful from established B2C sports apps like ESPN, Bleacher Report, and others. Additionally, the app had to be adapted to cater to fans of multiple teams, adding complexity to the minimum viable product (MVP) and extending an eventual engineering timeline and capital requirements. I dedicated the rest of my semester to refining the B2C strategy and prototype, eager to realize my vision and make it a reality.

Part III: Commitment and Acceleration

As I devoted more time to Fanful and realized my inability to fully engage with my coursework, I made the pivotal decision to take a semester off from Duke in the spring of 2022. This break was crucial to dedicate myself entirely to the development of the business –– my largest source of passion at the time. My goals for the semester were twofold: a) to finalize the app's minimum viable product (MVP), business model, and go-to-market strategy, and b) to gain acceptance into an app development accelerator program for the actual development of our product.

Towards the end of this focused semester, Fanful achieved a significant breakthrough by being accepted into the Kiwitech accelerator program, which valued us at a 9 million dollar cap. Through this accelerator, I was provided with a remote engineering team who’s job would be bringing our product vision to fruition. It was my responsibility to guide this team towards successfully launching our MVP, strategically timed to coincide with the opening day of the upcoming NBA season in October.

Following our admission into the Kiwitech accelerator, I also recognized the need for technical expertise in our team and subsequently brought on a fellow Duke student as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). This addition was pivotal, as I realized my limitations in analyzing code and monitoring progress, and understood the importance of having someone more adept in these areas. With the new CTO on board, I proceeded to raise a pre-seed round of funding to support the launch and initial operational costs. I offered equity through convertible notes, featuring a 20% discount rate and a 4.5 million dollar valuation cap, and successfully raised a total of $50,000 from a group of angel investors.

The pitch deck I used for this fundraising included a comprehensive market analysis, detailed financial models, competitive analysis, strategies for user acquisition and retention, among other essential components. Below, you will find the deck and financial model that were instrumental in this phase of our journey:

Part IV: Trials and Transformation

Throughout the spring and summer away from Duke, as I juggled leading the engineering team, raising capital, and managing partnerships, the immense burden of the business began to take a significant toll on my physical and emotional well-being. Regardless of where I was – whether socializing with friends, spending time with family, relaxing on the couch, or attempting to sleep – my mind was perpetually plagued with anxiety about Fanful's future success in the B2C marketplace. This constant worry transcended beyond the fear of disappointing others; it was more about not living up to my own expectations. I had intertwined my self-image with the success of Fanful, and the prospect of launching anything less than a perfect product filled me with dread.

This anxiety led to a critical misstep: I complicated Fanful's MVP beyond what was necessary. Instead of focusing on delivering a simple, "minimally viable" product, I found myself scrutinizing competing apps and adding more features to mine, aiming to match the most popular elements in their offerings. This approach not only diverted the app from its core purpose but also resulted in a product that was too complex for potential new users.

Our original plan to launch in October 2022 was derailed, and the app's debut was postponed until March 2023, nearly five months later than anticipated. Following the launch, we faced difficulties in retaining users, which compelled me to make the tough decision to discontinue our marketing efforts and loyalty rewards program.

It is without a doubt, but the launch of Fanful was a humbling experience, starkly contrasting my initial expectations and aspirations. It brought to light the realities of entrepreneurship and the unpredictable nature of bringing a new product to market. The perceived failure not only impacted Fanful but also profoundly affected my perspective.

Part V: Resilience and Reimagining

With funds still available from my previous fundraising efforts, I found myself at a crossroads, uncertain of the next steps for Fanful and even pondered whether returning the remaining money to investors was the best course of action. However, after considerable reflection, I realized that as long as there was money in the bank, the dream was still alive. The real failure, both in my eyes and those of the investors, would be to quit without exhausting every possible effort to make the business succeed.

Throughout the summer of 2023, I balanced my internship at Branded Hospitality Ventures with the task of reviving Fanful. The first step in this endeavor was to apply the lessons learned from my previous setbacks, ensuring not to replicate errors. I was determined that any new product iteration must meet two critical criteria: a) it needed to be exceptionally simple, and b) it had to fulfill a genuine need while offering unique value. I also felt a strong inclination to return to my original vision, focusing on a team-specific engagement platform that effectively tracks, recognizes, and rewards fan dedication. Additionally, I committed to grounding all UX decisions in data rather than relying on intuition. This data-driven approach was vital to ensure the product's appeal and relevance didn’t only appeal to me, but to a broader fan audience.

By the fall, I had conducted interviews with dozens of avid sports fans to understand what would motivate them to use team-specific apps for fan engagement rather than their current alternatives. This feedback greatly simplified the UX design process, helping me determine what to include in the MVP and what could be deferred to later updates. I created a new prototype on Figma and shared it with friends, who unanimously praised it as a vast improvement over the original Fanful and expressed interest in using such an app if they existed for their favorite sports teams. Bolstered by this encouragement and no longer part of the Kiwitech Accelerator, I used the remaining funds to onboard an engineer for the development of the new MVP.

As the launch in early February approaches, I am excited to see the app in the hands of fans, especially since the first white labeled one is tailored for the Duke Blue Devils and their fanbase. Being at Duke’s campus is an ideal setting to promote the app and create buzz. Further, as part of Duke's I&E New Venture Delivery class, I benefit from the support of three Duke students as team members and enthusiastic advocates for the app’s debut.

While there’s still a chance the launch may not meet expectations, I no longer harbor a fear of failure. Having given my all to this venture and learned immensely throughout the process, I believe that success has already been achieved, regardless of the eventual outcome.