Football is Life: Embracing Collaboration for a Winning Game Plan

The first official RocketNetwork event, in collaboration with Sphere, was nothing short of a blast!

A huge thank you to all attendees, speakers and especially Sphere, Cup of Joey, and Honeycomb Software for elevating the experience to out-of-this-world levels.

Our main man Mike Chabala gave us the lowdown on what the Sphere workout is all about. Plus, we got to play soccer, and for some, it's been a hot minute since they last played.

Our all-star panelists, Michael Chabala, Lydia Davies, Devlin Liles, Joey Sanchez, Betirri Bengtson, and Marco Oregon, owned the stage, sharing their tales, wisdom, and prowess with the crowd.

Marco Oregon, former referee and founder of a super-efficient software firm for managing ref communities, drove home the significance of networking for startups. It took him three years to cross paths with heavy-hitters like Mike, Joey, and others. That's the whole point of RocketNetwork: speeding up the connection game and helping startups hit their targets quicker.

Devlin Liles, another rockstar panelist, regaled us with a gripping story about a startup that sky-rocketed. This cutting-edge tool, whipped up by a startup and now part of the MLS App, is known by different monikers in each league, and in the MLS, it's called the Audi Player Index. Devlin pointed out that if the startup had insisted on keeping their own branding, they might not have reached their current level of accomplishment. This tale is a potent reminder for up-and-coming startups: to win big, you gotta ditch the ego.

Devlin also hit us with that classic Arsenal quote: "Play for the name on the front of the shirt, and they'll remember the name on the back." This motto tells Houston startups to zero in on team goals and company wins, not just individual glory.

Two-time MLS champ Mike Chabala dished on creating Sphere to mirror the locker room vibe and spark new connections via soccer. Mike's heartfelt words showcase his commitment: "Making people feel connected sounds easy, but it's actually super tough in practice. As I grow older and realize I'm not immortal, I want to give back to the game that gave me so much." Sphere is now a thriving startup, fueling fitness, camaraderie, and joy through soccer-inspired endurance workouts.

Lydia Davis, another powerhouse panelist, shared her zeal for getting women involved in sports and forging genuine bonds. She reminisced about the pure joy of playing sports as a kid and the value of teamwork, stressing that sports should stay fun as we age. By the way Lydia was crushing it on the field and netted a few goals, a fiercely competitive player and founder.

Joey Sanchez demonstrated the enduring relationships built in the locker room with a 13-year-long WhatsApp chat connecting him to international pals. He underlined the need for better storytelling and including the right squad members on our journey.

Lastly, artist Betirri Bengtson relayed his journey of overcoming an injury that threw his sports career off track, ultimately finding solace and self-expression through sports art. He touched on the bond between sports and NFTs, acknowledging the solid connection between sports and art.


After the panel, we had magical networking on the patio, where everyone was asking when the next game would be. RocketNetwork's kickoff event highlighted the tremendous possibilities in the sports tech scene and the importance of collaboration, networking, and ditching the ego. With more events like this lined up, the future of Houston startups is looking brighter than ever!

Let’s keep the momentum going with #playagreatgame #whatsyoury and #letsrocketnetwork. Strap in and prepare for blastoff with RocketNetwork, where the perfect connections are made!

NOW, LET’S ROCKET NETWORK!

We are using emojis to guide subscribers in our event list 📅📍

HERE ARE MY PICKS FOR THIS WEEK

Monday, May 8

Ion Open Accelerator: Project Management 101

Tuesday, May 9

🚀Cup of JoeY - Sugar Land

TEDxHoustonLive 2023: POSSIBILITY

Nonprofit Startup Organization Meet-up / EVERY TUESDAY & FREE TO ATTEND

Wednesday, May 10

🚀Poptarts & Pitches

♻️May Transition On Tap

🤓💻Code4Y’all: Intro to Robotics

🚀Buildings Sector Pitch Day

Thursday, May 11

2023 Rice Business Plan Competition

🦄💰Investor Studio Series Dream Big Ventures x Ion

Spring Into New Connections: Young Professionals Happy Hour

🚀Side Project Society - May 2023 Meeting

🚀🚀🚀 Cup of Joey

Aramco Ventures Office Hours at the Ion

Linkedin Profile Refresh Workshop

🚀🚀🚀🤓💻Houston Product Community - May 13th

2023 RBPC Final

Ion Activation Festival is coming up - May 17-19, 2023. Mark your calendars and "Get involved" !!!

Community Ask and Founder Spotlight

You have to know these SportTech startups in Houston

sphere 
sphere is connecting the world by helping adults unite through soccer and fitness. at sphere, our goal is to build communities where people huddle up around one of our game-changing workout experiences, locker room atmospheres, or seasonal calendar events. we’re a community committed to connecting, not competing, creating an even playing field where all teammates are welcome.

TEAMATES
Sports meeting, social media and rewards. Get down to play with teamates and join our active community. Teamates is all about the drive, the community, the love of movement, and people. Founded on pure passion for sports and connection.

RefereeLink
RefereeLink, aims to be a part of the exponential growth of soccer specifically to referees. Understanding the deficiencies that currently exist in the refereeing community they are developing high-efficiency software that can help organizations manage their referee communities in a cohesive tech environment.

Varsity Hype
Varsity Hype's video and analytics platform provides youth and high school fans, students, athletes, schools, clubs, and organizations the ability to manage/interact with their activity (sports, arts, academic, and extracurricular) video content at a cost effective level.

BeONE Sports
BeONE Sports is focused on globalizing access to specialized training for athletes and coaches around the world. Our "Comparative Training" platform, enables College, Olympic and Professional athletes to become models for advanced training. At BeONE Sports, kids around the world can train with their heroes!

AiKYNETIX
are developing an intelligent video analytics app for runners and coaches. We aim to measure and optimize your running performance on treadmills using advanced metrics.

GRIND
GRIND is an interactive sports platform that offers a portable basketball shooting machine w/ fun game-inspired content.

Also, you must know about POKATOK LABS and HTX Sports Tech

POKATOK LABS PROGRAM. The 9-week program is completely free, runs twice a year and participating companies receive access to a network of organizations, advisors, investors and subject matter experts within sports tech.

HTX Sports Tech is an experienced consultancy that specializes in providing comprehensive advice to sports organizations, innovation ecosystems, academic institutions, and startups developing technology-enabled products and services in the sports industry.

Check out sport artist, Betirri. TEDx Speaker and internationally recognized through the exhibit of his art around the world, including the last three FIFA World Cups!


Octaria is now offering 1 hour “Product Management Coaching Sessions” to help founders figure out product-market fit and pricing and how to decrease engineering costs.

Bayou City Startups, just launched an Instagram page. Follow them here - LINK

Meet Deven Nongbri and check out Yonder Hospitality, Luxury outdoor resorts expanding across the American West.

One of the startups I forgot to mention in the last Web3 edition of the newsletter is Decentralized Wireless (DeWi) is a transformative approach to building and operating communication networks using blockchain technology and protocols, empowering individuals and businesses to contribute to network infrastructure. As a leading enterprise deployer, LongFi Solutions partners with DeWi networks to seamlessly manage large-scale hardware deployment, installation, and optimization, facilitating the growth of robust, decentralized, and cost-effective wireless networks for the next generation of connectivity. Connect with Josh Heller, P.E. and learn more.