How did you come to be an entrepreneur? I didn't like being an employee. I worked for a bunch of different banks and financial organizations before I got the guts to start my own business.
How did you come up with the idea? While chairing the organizing committee for the NCAA hockey championship in 1996, I traveled to Albany, NY, to attend the regional tourney. While there, I visited the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. It was during this trip that the idea for The Ultimate Sports List,
TUSL.com, a checklist of the world's greatest sporting events, was born.
Can you share a funny or amazing entrepreneurial experience with our readers? Upon arriving at the US Open Tennis Championship last September, I plopped down on a bench in the south plaza under the shadows of Arthur Ashe Stadium to get my bearings. Within minutes, I saw a familiar face walking towards me: it was tennis legend Bud Collins, with his trademark wild pink plaid pants, selling his new book,
The Bud Collins History of Tennis. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet Bud. A quick conversation revealed Bud's mom is from Cincinnati and he is quite a big fan of our city. We took a quick picture for the website, and I got an autographed copy of his book.
What companies or founders do you admire and why? Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. Each is a modern-day pioneer who literally changed the world with his vision.
What's next for you and TUSL? We will soon add a mobile app, allowing fans to check-in and upload their pictures and comments from the events while they attend. We will also upgrade our forums, tying them into all social networks to make our website the place for fans to go to share their insights and experiences about the world's greatest sporting events.
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