Jump Forward Before Shark Tank
After seeing how many professional athletes were being overlooked in their high school years, he decided to launch a service where high school athletes could create profiles of themselves, and where coaches could log into in order to check out high school athletes.
Brian Duggan has a long history as an investment banker and auditor, making him very capable in the field of economics. Adam McCombs decided to work together with Brian Duggan, making him the Strategic Adviser of the company. Adam McCombs and Brian Duggan state that their business is innovative and is set to change the face of college sports recruiting.
Jump Forward During Shark Tank
“Adam McCombs and Brian Duggan walk confidently and stand in front of the Sharks”
Adam McCombs and Brian Duggan start their presentation by introducing themselves to the Sharks and stating that their company is called Jump Forward. Adam McCombs continues the presentation by stating that they are looking for an investment of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in exchange for ten percent of Jump Forward.
Adam McCombs states that Dwyane Wade, Jerry Rice and Ben Wallace are all very successful professional athletes, who also happen to have something in common. According to Adam McCombs, all three of these very successful athletes were overlooked during the high school athletic recruiting process.
Adam McCombs states that each year, there are thousands of high school athletes that never attract the attention of college coaches, basically being overlooked.
Brian Duggan states that Jump Forward empowers high school athletes and parents to take control of the recruiting process into their own hands. Jump Forward allows high school athletes to create an online profile, which enables them to upload pictures, videos and statistics about themselves. This way, high school athletes are able to market themselves to colleges, while at the same time college coaches can now search through tens of thousands of athletic profiles, in order to find the most appropriate athletes for their program.
Brian Duggan continues by stating that college coaches are under strict guidelines from the NCAA with regard to communication with high school athletes. He states that coaches are only able to make one call to certain high school prospect athletes; however, compliance violations for infractions are huge.
“Kevin O’Leary states that he understands what Jump Forward stands for and asks Brian Duggan how he would be able to make money, should he decide to invest in the company”
Brian Duggan answers the question by saying that currently, colleges pay a subscription fee, which is based on the level of the school itself. The fees are annual, and on top of that, colleges are also charged for maintenance and consultation.
“Robert Herjavec asks Brian Duggan if any major schools have subscribed to Jump Forward”
Brian Duggan answers the question by saying that over thirty different schools have already signed up. They also have three hundred different college coaches in their system and over sixty thousand prospective athlete students.
Brian Duggan states that in three months alone, they have generated a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in contracts. He believes that without the help of the Sharks, they could bring the maximum revenue to about twenty million dollars, while if the Sharks did help them, they could grow Jump Forward and make it a thirty million dollar business.
“Kevin Harrington asks Brian Duggan if Jump Forward has any competition”
Brian Duggan answers the question by saying that there are a number of smaller competitors; however what differentiates Jump Forward from the competition is that Jump Forward proactively prevents violations. Jump Forward is the only business in this field that is very strict when it comes to NCAA rules and regulations.
“Kevin O’Leary asks Brian Duggan if other services cannot implement the same features”
Brian Duggan answers the question by saying that Jump Forward is the first company that does this, and that they have a patent on their mobile application.
“Robert Herjavec asks Adam McCombs if the Jump Forward mobile application really notifies the coaches that they should not violate the NCAA rules by communicating with athletes”
Adam McCombs answers the question by saying that the application gives the coaches a confirmation that they are about to communicate with a client. If they manually override the confirmation, it means that they have seen the message, which means that they have made a conscious decision to override it anyways.
Barbara Corcoran states that Adam McCombs and Brian Duggan are obviously very smart people, but that she doesn’t trust them on one point. She states that she has built technology businesses in the past, and they are always twice or three times more expensive than you always envision. Barbara Corcoran states that she has never seen a technology business that did not spend so much more than they dictated at the start. For that reason, Barbara Corcoran doesn’t want to make an investment and states that she is out.
Kevin Harrington states that Jump Forward is very high-tech and risky. This makes him afraid to invest a hundred and fifty thousand dollars into the company, because it could be gone in a matter of months. Kevin Harrington states that he is out as well.
Daymond John states that Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs are way too smart for him, and that the concept of Jump Forward is a little bit too complicated for him. Daymond John also states that it is too risky for him to invest in Jump Forward, and for that reason, he is out.
“Robert Herjavec asks Brian Duggan if the value in Jump Forward is in the patent or in the fact that the company is able to attract a lot of colleges, coaches and athletes”
Brian Duggan answers the question by saying that he thinks they have a strong competitive advantage by being the first “mover” in this market. Secondly, he states that Jump Forward has a competitive advantage because they have a patent on the mobile application. Brian Duggan also states that he believes they have a competitive advantage because both Adam McCombs and he are experts in their respective fields.
“Robert Herjavec asks Brian Duggan what his background is”
Brian Duggan answers the question by saying that he used to work at Ernst & Young where he worked as an accountant and audited compliances. After working at Ernst & Young, he moved on to work as an investment banker.
“Robert Herjavec asks Adam McCombs what his background is”
Adam McCombs answers the question by saying that he also worked at Ernst & Young as an internal auditor, after which he worked at Cisco Systems for eight years. He continues by stating that he also has two CCIEs, which essentially are PhDs in the internet.
“Kevin O’Leary states that he is impressed by Brian Duggan’s and Adam McCombs’ backgrounds”
Kevin O’Leary states that he likes the Jump Forward story, that he likes Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs and that he likes the market, which is why he is making an offer of two hundred thousand dollars for a twenty percent stake in Jump Forward.
“Brian Duggan states that they will take that offer into consideration”
Robert Herjavec states that he wants to offer an investment as well, which is why he offers three hundred thousand dollars for a thirty five percent stake in Jump Forward.
“Kevin O’Leary looks over to Robert Herjavec in a surprised manner”
“Robert Herjavec states that he thinks that Jump Forward needs more cash”
“Kevin O’Leary asks Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs if they could go out the studio for a couple of minutes, because he has to discuss something with Robert Herjavec”
“Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs comply and walk out of the studio, into the hallway”
Kevin O’Leary tells Robert Herjavec that they shouldn’t bid against each other, because it is going to become a very expensive investment. Kevin O’Leary states that it would be a big mistake for Robert Herjavec to screw him on “this one”.
“Robert Herjavec asks Kevin O’Leary if he is threatening him”
Kevin O’Leary states that there are two ways that this could go. They could both stop raising the price, and rather collude with each other to their own advantage. This way, they could give Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs less cash for more equity. If that option is not possible, than they will have to compete with each other.
“Robert Herjavec states that he thinks Adam McCombs and Brian Duggan will accept his offer of three hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for a thirty five percent stake”
“Kevin O’Leary suggest that they should offer five hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for a fifty percent stake in Jump Forward”
“Robert Herjavec states that he likes that idea, and calls Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs back into the studio”
Kevin O’Leary states that both he and Robert Herjavec have been where Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs are, multiple times even, which is also the reason why they know what it takes to be successful. Kevin O’Leary also states that whatever Adam McCombs and Brian Duggan think they are going to need, they are definitely going to need more, which is why they need a buffer of cash.
Robert Herjavec states that the good news is that Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs are going to get a better offer than that they originally wanted.
“Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary state that they are offering four hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for a fifty percent stake in Jump Forward”
Brian Duggan states that he appreciates the offer, but what he is going to ask the Sharks to do is to back off the fifty percent, in order to give more room for Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs to manage their business, allocate equity to new and future employees.
“Brian Duggan states that he wants to go back to Kevin O’Leary’s original offer”
“Kevin O’Leary is surprised by the fact that Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs did not take the four hundred thousand dollar investment”
“Kevin O’Leary asks Brian Duggan if he is declining the offer”
Brian Duggan answers the question by acknowledging that they are declining the offer.
“Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec both state that they love Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs even more, after he decided to decline the offer”
“Robert Herjavec asks what kind of percentage he would get if he would offer two hundred thousand dollars as an investment”
“Brian Duggan takes out his calculator and states that he could offer a sixteen percent stake in Jump Forward, in exchange for a two hundred thousand dollar investment”
“Kevin O’Leary states that sixteen percent is too low and that it doesn’t feel right”
Brian Duggan states that sixteen percent would position an investor in the management team, in a business model that has already been proven to work.
“Robert Herjavec states that he still likes the four hundred thousand dollar investment, in exchange for a fifty percent stake in Jump Forward better”
Brian Duggan states that he doesn’t believe that they wouldn’t be able to raise a significant amount of capital in sixty or ninety days.
“Robert Herjavec offers five hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for fifty percent”
“Before Brian Duggan is able to decline the offer, Kevin O’Leary insists that he thinks about it for a while”
“Robert Herjavec states that he is not offering monopoly money, but real money instead”
Brian Duggan states that they appreciate the offer, especially because they have three hundred thousand dollars of their own money in Jump Forward.
“Robert Herjavec offers six hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for fifty percent”
Brian Duggan states that he is willing to accept the fact that Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary want to own fifty percent of Jump Forward. He states that in order for that to happen, Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary both have to be investors, and that the offer needs to increase to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
“Kevin O’Leary asks Brian Duggan what the other option is”
Brian Duggan answers the question by saying that the other option entails that they would be willing to accept an investment of three hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for a twenty five percent stake in Jump Forward.
“Robert Herjavec asks Brian Duggan to recap all the offers that are on the table”
Brian Duggan answers the question by saying that offer number one is three hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for twenty five percent of Jump Forward. Offer number two is seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in exchange for fifty percent of Jump Forward.
“Robert Herjavec states that he thinks Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs needs his money, which is why he is going to stick to six hundred thousand dollars, for fifty percent’
“Kevin O’Leary states that he is with Robert Herjavec on this one”
After thinking for a while, Brian Duggan states that he accepts the offer of six hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for a fifty percent stake in Jump Forward.
At the end interview, both Brian Duggan and Adam McCombs state that they have received a much larger investment than that they were expecting, which is very good for them.
Jump Forward Update – The Shark Tank Company Now in 2018
Three of the five Sharks did not want to invest in Jump Forward, because they are not keen on technology companies. Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary made a deal to work together, and offered six hundred thousand dollars, in exchange for a fifty percent stake in Jump Forward. Even though Brian Duggan didn’t want to accept the offer, he still did because Jump Forward could really use both Kevin O’Leary’s and Robert Herjavec’s expertise. There is no mention of Jump Forward being the best or worst on Shark Tank.
The Jump Forward website is located at http://www.jumpforward.com. It is easily noticeable that the website have been kept up-to-date. The website is responsive, which means that it will work properly on mobile devices as well. It seems like Adam McCombs and Brian Duggan were able to expand Jump Forward after receiving an investment from the Sharks. There are now over a hundred and fifty thousand users and more than a hundred and fifty different College Athletic Departments signed up to Jump Forward.
It seems that the products and services that Jump Forward is offering have also been enhanced. The app has definitely been updated, which is available for free for all Jump Forward users. The application itself is available for Android, iOS and Blackberry devices. Most of the reviews seem to be very positive, while others complain that the application doesn’t state that it isn’t free to use. All in all, I think the investment from Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec have helped Jump Forward to grow tremendously as a company.
Great Idea. The problem is most college coaches don’t recruit using these tools. There is a few high level scouting services used by football and basketball programs that scout the very best players in the country and act as a backup to the scouting the program has already done, but your average college coach isn’t online looking for random prospects. They attend games to watch prospects and not too many high school games because their season is also going on at the same time and it’s not the best use of their time because they won’t see as many prospects at a high school game. They recruit at high level showcases and tournaments in the summer where a large collection of prospects will be in attendance and through their own camps or camps run by other coaches. They also recruit high school athletes that contact them personally that the coach somehow has the ability to evaluate in person. A college coach really needs to see you play in some capacity and in a meaningful game. What is a meaningful game? A game where there is something on the line. College coaches want to see how you handle winning and losing, how you interact with your teammates, coaches, opponents and umpires and referee’s. They want to see how you handle pressure, success and disappointment. This notion that college coaches are sitting at their desk and logging on to websites to search for random prospects who they have never heard of or seen and know nothing about and prospects who know nothing about them is mostly that, a notion! College coaches know how to recruit. They have areas of the country they recruit from and have connections at different events, high schools, towns, States, regions, AAU clubs and other people they rely on for evaluations. They have a list of hundreds of potential recruits they have formed from scouting high school athletes with their own eyes, and hundreds more that have contacted them personally to express interest in their school or program. There isn’t anything you can really put on an online profile that is going to stop a college coach from unrecruiting a prospect they have seen with their own eyes to recruit you.
Awful investment. A very niche product. Coaches who look for this talent make up less than 0.001% of the population. I seen a few bloopers but this is among one of the big ones for the Sharks.
The company was acquired in 2016. It wasn’t a bust.