BaseballPath Won Union College's SparkLab Competition
BaseballPath won the top prize at Union College's SparkLab pitch competition. The $12,500 is going straight into better data and real conversations with families.
Last week BaseballPath won the top prize at SparkLab, the business pitch competition Union College runs every year. The win came with $12,500 in seed money that I'm putting right back into the tool.
The way it worked, eight student teams each got five minutes to pitch a panel of judges. I got up and said the same thing I've been saying since day one. The college baseball recruiting process leaves about 90% of players guessing, and there's no honest, data-backed way to figure out where you actually fit. The judges were founders and operators who have built real companies, and they bought it. They agreed the problem is real and the approach makes sense.
Why this matters more than the money
For a year now I've been telling families that the recruiting industry makes its money by keeping you uncommitted, and that one honest evaluation beats another showcase ticket you didn't need. Putting that idea in front of a room of people who pick apart business plans for a living, and having them tell me it holds up, meant a lot. The validation from people even outside the baseball world speaks volumes to the solution we have come up with.
Where the money goes
Almost all of it goes back into the data, because the data is the only reason BaseballPath is worth using.
Part of it goes toward expanding and cleaning up the recruiting data behind every evaluation, so the school matches get sharper and the assessments stay accurate. The rest goes toward actually talking to families who are in the recruiting process right now. I'm sitting down one-on-one with families, because the people living through the same dead ends I hit are the ones who can tell me what they needed and never got.
Try it free during launch
Nothing about the mission has changed. I want the 90% to get an honest look at where they stand so they stop burning months emailing schools that were never going to be a fit.
For the first 50 users after launch, a BaseballPath evaluation is completely free. After that it's a one-time purchase, with no subscription and no reason for me to keep you "exploring options" forever. If you're just starting out or you've been stuck for a while, try out BaseballPath today and see which schools you should actually be reaching out to.