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While five or 10 years ago, a company could get away with offering the same product or service for a few years, Cheng said today the pressure to innovate is tremendous. One key reason why some startups lag is that they are too slow to bring their product to the market, or offer updates and adapt to competition, according to Tina Cheng, a partner at Cherubic Ventures - an early stage technology VC firm that has invested in over 100 companies in the U.S. So what makes a business succeed? While having a technology or a product that can change the industry, or create a new one, is an advantage, investors say there are several reasons even the most promising startups can fail. But an average idea with great execution could become successful.

Veteran Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Vardi, who has invested in 86 startups, of which 30 made exits, told CNBC in his experience a good idea with poor execution would not go anywhere. To be sure, Son also favors unique ideas and technologies that can differentiate well from the competitors, but he emphasized that passion - one that founders will not give up on during trying times - influenced his bets. So I won't check any business plans, any economic projections, spreadsheets but (instead) I focus on the founder's mindset (and) passion.' He told CNBC, 'My criteria to invest are the founders. As a seasoned investor into startups, including the successful southeast Asian company Garena, Son said he preferred backing founders over business ideas. Taizo Son, the brother of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, is the founder of Mistletoe, a venture firm that also is partly an accelerator and incubator. Unsurprisingly, the viability of an entrepreneur's idea was important, but most VCs said they placed a greater emphasis on the founder's personality, and on his team. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower “We place high value on the right strategic partners and are thrilled to announce the support from Greg Norman and our other investors.Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit “By leveraging Spalk’s patented Virtual Commentary Studio, sports leagues and broadcasters no longer have to fly commentators to the stadium or studio to call games – they can do it from a laptop anywhere in the world,” said Ben Reynolds, CEO of Spalk. “Mass personalisation of live sports content opens up enormous revenue opportunities for leagues and broadcasters and we are excited to support Spalk as they disrupt this legacy industry,” said Brandon Janosky, Managing Partner at Stadia Ventures. The new partnership will aid in Spalk’s North American growth and support introducing the technology in golf and other sports verticals. The technology is already being used extensively by FIBA, the governing body for basketball, as well as World Rugby and several Division I college conferences in the US. Since launch in 2017, Spalk has covered more than 5,000 live events for 100+ content partners who have seen up to a 70% increase in audience size. I am a firm believer in entrepreneurship and to have the opportunity to discover the ‘next best thing in sport’ and give a head start to the young entrepreneurs at Spalk is really special to me,” Norman added. “Demographically targeted commentary is a win-win for both fans and broadcasters and Spalk is leading the way.

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“As the world becomes increasingly more global, a one-size fits all approach to sports broadcasting is no longer relevant,” said Norman, whose Greg Norman Golf Course Design Company is a Full Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

Spalk was a finalist in ‘Greg Norman’s Search for the Next Sports Entrepreneur’ held at the University of Miami in March, 2017 wherein Greg Norman and his team of investors held a worldwide search to discover the next successful inventors, creators and innovators in sport.Īfter receiving hundreds of applications from around the world – including eight countries and five continents – Spalk, a New York City-based company with New Zealand origins, emerged as the winner.

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West Palm Beach, Florida, United States: Greg Norman Company has announced a material investment in Spalk as the leader in a US$1.5 million series seed round alongside Stadia Ventures, Ice Angels, Sparkbox Ventures and others.Ī virtual sportscasting studio, Spalk’s proprietary Live Sync technology synchronises live sports streams with multiple alternate remote commentaries from anywhere in the world.įans are able to choose a commentator for each game that suits their preferred language, style or bias – driving fan engagement while increasing audience size and lowering production costs for content owners.

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