Interview Questions for Philipp Omenitsch, Chief Technology Officer of Sequel
Get the Scoop on sequel: The Green Investment Platform for Pro Athletes
divide and conquer, y'all! Let's kick it old-school and dive deep into sequel, the online Playground for professional athletes to invest their hard-earned dough in earth-friendly startups. Philipp Omenitsch, the CTO of sequel, spilled the beans about this revolutionary platform and its mission to make the world greener, one startup at a time.
Ayesha Bhatti: So, Philipp, tell us a bit about sequel's backstory and its main purpose?
Philipp Omenitsch: Sequel is all about crafting legacies for future generations and our lovely planet. Our gang has been sowing seeds in the startup world for over a decade now. We've observed a growing interest among athletes to invest in companies that'll transform the planet for the better.
Beyond the green, athletes view sequel as a hub for learning 'bout investing, entrepreneurship, and building that rep outside the sports arena. Our investment app packs four gazillion hours of educational content, and provides athletes with a smooth and seamless experience when investing small tickets alongside big-time venture capitalists in promising, world-changing startups.
Bhatti: How does sequel leverage athlete data to identify and woo potential investors?
Omenitsch: We maintain close ties with our members, ensuring we truly understand their personal preferences. When athletes join sequel, we sift through data on their interests and earnings to finesse our data-driven sourcing engine, "Senna." This info helps us filter through countless startups to find worthy candidates and then engage with the crème de la crème.
To become a sequel member, athletes need to be vouched for by other members, in addition to meeting certain criteria. A future member would need a specific level of net-worth and a hunger to learn about startup investing, 'cause sequel's got a double dose of good karma: doin' good for the planet and teachin' the wealthy 'bout investin'.
Bhatti: Fill us in on the data analysis methods your team employs to assess a startup's potential impact on various industries or communities.
Omenitsch: We get scientific with our approach, using large language models (LLMs) to scan the industries that startups are active in. This helps us quickly find startups worth our time. More importantly, the LLMs help us filter out companies that could potentially do harm to mental or physical wellbeing.
We've also built a tool called PitchLeague.ai, which helps startups polish their pitch decks while also allowing us to calculate a "sequel score." This score gives startups a sense of how well they fit sequel's ethos. Sure, it's a work in progress, but the score already yields some useful insights.
In addition to this, certain funds or companies quantify impact for the industries they are active in, like health tech using quality-adjusted life years (QALY). This metric takes into account not just a long life, but a happy, healthy one. We dig that concept, and we're researching ways to quantify impact across industries.
Bhatti: Why zero in on startups that make a positive impact, like education tech and planet-friendly ventures?
Omenitsch: That's where the passion's at, fam! These topics resonate with our members, aligning with sequel's overall mission of creating a positive impact. Both the sequel team and our members believe that these crucial issues require not just more cash but more attention, and sequel is one way of stepping up to the plate.
We ain't spillin' the beans on our initial startup cohort just yet, but we have invested in a sleep health device company, a diagnostic imaging marketplace, an upcycled live shopping platform, and an AI platform reducing homelessness and helping get people into jobs.
We're aimin' to empower athletes in the investment world, offering them prime access to the best deals in sectors they care about. Sure, it's their choice to invest or not for each deal, but that's why we create a ton of educational video content for our athletes about topics that matter when they're dipping their toes into the startup investment world.
Bhatti: What's the story with athletes actively contributing their expertise, networks, or influence to support the startups they back?
Omenitsch: That's where the magic happens, y'all! We champion athletes for adding tremendous value, especially to early-stage startups, through networking, advice, and market exposure. Take Shaquille O'Neal as an example — he did wonders for Ring's growth by connecting the company with influential folks in the tech and business spheres. His endorsements and appearances brought the company tons of media attention, boosting recognition and credibility. Sequel aims to create the same opportunities for a wide range of promising startups, highlighting key issues and raising awareness.
- Sequel, an online platform for professional athletes, utilizes technology to empower them to invest in earth-friendly startups, bridging the gap between athletes and venture capitalists.
- The investment app offered by sequel features a wealth of educational content on investing, entrepreneurship, and building a reputation beyond sports, making it a hub for learning and growth.
- To identify potential investors, sequel uses data-driven strategies, such as their proprietary sourcing engine, "Senna," which analyzes athletes' preferences based on their interests and earnings.
- The team at sequel employs advanced data analysis methods to assess startup potential, focusing on companies that could have a positive impact on various industries or communities, using metrics like quality-adjusted life years (QALY) to quantify positive impact.
