After his NBA dream was shattered by injuries, Thomas Fields founded a sports startup. His company, Grind, offers an alternative to expensive basketball shooting machines. He pitched the company on Shark Tank and landed a deal with Barbara Corcoran and Mark Cuban. As of 2024, Grind is valued at $2 million.
Thomas Fields’ Background
Thomas Fields, a native of Houston, Texas, played basketball for Heights High School. Before graduating, he suffered multiple anterior cruciate ligament injuries and underwent four surgeries. These injuries left him with no choice but to change careers.
He attended the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business. While there, he became a speaker at the startup accelerator REDLabs. Thomas also enrolled in the MIT Sloan School of Management’s Success Program.
In 2017, he joined the board of directors of TXRX Labs, a non-profit hackerspace that brings together creative minds, and the following year he became a member of the MIT Media Lab.
Founding
Thomas came up with the idea for the company when he was still an NBA hopeful. While recovering from a knee injury, he wanted to practice but didn’t want to rely on a coach all the time. He preferred to train on his own, but shooting machines were too expensive.
After graduating from high school, he used his own money to build an affordable, portable basketball machine. He had trouble raising funding at first, but REDLabs and a few angel investors helped Grind launch in 2017.
Despite supply chain issues, the startup got off the ground with a strong social media presence, which has allowed the young entrepreneur to receive more than $215,000 in pre-orders and is currently working to complete a prototype.
Shark Tank Appearance
Before fulfilling the orders himself, Thomas Fields thought it would be best to find a new partner. In 2020, he appeared on Season 12 of Shark Tank and asked for $250,000 in exchange for a 5% stake.
It’s no surprise that Mark Cuban and Alex Rodriguez, both sports fans but also businessmen, praised the product. The two investors expressed concerns about the small profit margins.
Surprisingly, Barbara Corcoran was interested, but she wanted to improve the look of the product. Barbara wanted a partner, so she teamed up with Cuban to invest $250,000 for a 25% stake. Even though he wanted to give up more equity, Fields agreed to the deal!
After Shark Tank
The deal with Mark and Barbara was never completed, according to Sharktankblog.com. Despite the setback, the first batch of pre-orders was shipped. In early 2021, the second batch of orders was delivered, leaving only 20% of the orders unshipped. Grind ultimately achieved $1 million in revenue in 2021.
Now, Grind is focused on fulfilling new orders and improving their product on GrindBasketball.com. On their website, they have a 4.5 star rating. In addition to the shooting machine, they have also begun selling shirts, shorts, and hoodies. Thomas was also named to Forbes’ 2022 30 Under 30 list.
After Shark Tank, Grind participated in the Techstars Sports Accelerator program, which helped them raise $1.6 million. Thomas and his team have not yet released any sales figures for 2023. The company is currently stable and is worth an estimated $2 million.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn