Thuzio

Thuzio
Founded 2012
Founder Tiki Barber
Mark Gerson
Products Online marketplace for talent booking
Website Thuzio.com

Thuzio is an online marketplace that allows users to book professional athletes for local experiences such as dinner, celebrations, corporate outings, or promotional events.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Thuzio allows talent to monetize their brand. The Talent sets their own experience list and pricing and accepts bookings that work with their schedule.[3][4][8]

The company’s network includes active and retired athletes from 10 US cities.[5][10][11][12][13]

Background

Leadership

Mark Gerson is co-founder and chairman of Gerson Lehrman Group, United Hatzalah and the African Mission Healthcare Foundation.[14][15][16] Tiki Barber is an author, sports analyst, businessman and corporate spokesman who played for the New York Giants from 1997 to 2006, and was named Pro Bowl Running Back three times.[2][3][17][18] Jared Augustine is Thuzio’s CEO. Jarrod Jordan is the company’s vice president of business development.[4][5]

Advisors

Thuzio’s Board of Advisors includes Matthew Higgins, CEO of RSE Ventures; Michael Weisman, Emmy Award-winning producer and executive in charge of production for “Football Night in America”;[19] Thomas J. Laffont, Senior Analyst at Coatue Management and Partner at Coatue Management;[20] Jordan Bazant, principal at The Legacy Agency;[21] Casey Coffman, advisor at Carpere Group; Billy Nash, Senior Vice President at UBS; Jason Freier, chairman and CEO of Hardball Capital.

Services

Thuzio’s athletes are for hire at speaking engagements, charities, auctions, celebrations, a shared meal, a pickup game, karaoke, coaching, summer camps, or a round of golf.[3][22][23] Thuzio markets their services to sports enthusiasts, summer camps, and corporate events by creating a marketplace where customers choose from a menu of encounters with pricing based on athlete, event, and location.[1][2][3][4][5][5][6][11][24][25][26]

Featured athletes

Thuzio’s list of athletes reached more than 700 in its first seven months of operation.[12]

Basketball

Gary Payton, Zach Randolph, Caron Butler.[27][28][29]

Baseball

RA Dickey, Fred McGriff.[7]

Football

Pierre Garcon, Ronde Barber, Eric Dickerson, Errict Rhett.[7][13]

Soccer

Brian McBride, Tony Meola, Cobi Jones.[7][13]

Olympians

Kerri Strug, Sasha Cohen, Tara Lipinski, Jeremy Bloom.[7][28]

Hockey

Glenn Anderson, Brandon Bollig, Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies.[7]

Other

Dean Karnazes, Kobayashi, Vince Spadea.[7]

Investors

Thuzio received $1.5 million in venture capital in July, 2012. RSE Ventures invested $2.56 million in January, 2013.[30]

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Breakfast With Tiki: Retired Football Star Has New Radio Show, Startup to Help Jocks Cash in on Fame". BetaBeat. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "For Tiki Barber, Thuzio Startup an Authentic Experience". Black Enterprise. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Here's How To Play Pick-Up Basketball With An Ex-NBA Star For $1,000 (Thanks To Tiki Barber)". Business Insider. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Former Star Point Guard Talks About NBA Legends and Current Stars". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Celebrity menu is a pricey one". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Your Secret Weapon: A Rental Athlete". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 "The Wonderful and Weird World of Thuzio". Grantland. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Thuzio Brings Fans and Athletes Together". Blood, Sweat, & Cheers. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Play Antoine Walker In Pick-Up Basketball For Only $2,500". The Smoking Section. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  10. ↑ "First Mover: Tiki Barber The former Giants great on the Super Bowl, Manti Te'o and clowning around on talk radio By Christopher Heine". ADWEEK. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Tiki Barber’s Thuzio raises $1.5 million to pimp out pro athletes". PandoDaily. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Thuzio Lets You Pay $2,500 to Play Pick-Up With Antoine Walker". Mashable. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Here’s Your Chance Meet Brian McBride And Other Soccer Heroes For A Low, Low Price". KCKRS. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Gerson Lehrman Group Board of Directors". Gerson Lehrman Group. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  15. ↑ "International Committee". Israel Rescue. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Board of Directors". African Mission Healthcare Foundation. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Tiki Barber". NFL. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  18. ↑ "CBS SPORTS RADIO TO LAUNCH WITH TIKI BARBER, DANA JACOBSON, DOUG GOTTLIEB AMONG OTHERS". Awful Announcing. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Women In Sports Media-Michael Weisman, TV producer". BlogTalkRadio. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Top hedge fund Coatue launches $300M Valley-based growth fund". PandoDaily. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Legacy Agency CEO Mike Principe Building New Firm Around Baseball". Forbes. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Thuzio Video on CNBC". CNBC. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Pro athletes will now hang out with you thanks to Tiki Barber". Thrillist. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Q+A Kenny Anderson". Slam Online. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Q+A John Wallace". Slam Online. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  26. ↑ "The Rumble". New York Post. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Gary Payton on Hall, Sonics, trash talking". ESPN. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Thuzio". SASSTAG. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  29. ↑ "huzio Connects Athletes with the Public". Sports Networker. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  30. ↑ "Archives". Xconomy. Retrieved May 1, 2013.