{"podcast":{"title":"The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan","slug":"the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008","podcast_index_feed_id":974008,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/YAP2464511803","website_url":"http://www.foundr.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/a05eea46-5a0e-11ed-ad4d-7ba38e01bc89/image/ba743e807d05cc0b025845c0eaf7ee98.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Nathan Chan","episode_count":642,"summary":"Hear the stories, learn the proven methods, and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan. About the show: For over a decade, The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan has been a leading entrepreneurship podcast for open-book conversations with, by, and for founders. Whether you're starting, building, or dreaming about your business, The Foundr Podcast is where you can access experienced founders who've been in your shoes to learn their proven methods, lessons from failure, and inspirational stories. Past guests include Emma Grede, Mark Cuban, Neil Patel, Kendra Scott, Alex Hormozi, Trinny Woodall, Tim Ferriss, Sophia Amoruso, Simon Sinek, Tony Robbins, Amy Porterfield, Ed Mylett, Michelle Zatlyn, Reid Hoffman, Scooter Braun, Dany Garcia, Marc Lore, Ariana Huffington, Pat Flynn, Lewis Howes, Jordan Harbinger, and many more. About the host: Nathan Chan is the CEO of Foundr and the creator of The Foundr Podcast. Chan literally started from knowing nothing. He was just an average guy working in a 9-5 job he utterly hated. He knew nothing about entrepreneurship, nothing about startups, nothing about marketing, and nothing abou…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T02:19:36.248441+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008"},"episode":{"title":"657: They Bet Everything on a Sport Nobody Took Seriously… Now It’s Worth $200M","slug":"657-they-bet-everything-on-a-sport-nobody-took-seriously-now-it-s-worth-200m","published_at":"2026-04-30T14:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008/657-they-bet-everything-on-a-sport-nobody-took-seriously-now-it-s-worth-200m","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/5DA136/traffic.megaphone.fm/FMPL6740587988.mp3","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/5DA136/traffic.megaphone.fm/FMPL6740587988.mp3","summary":"These two brothers sold a profitable airsoft business to bet everything on a sport most people had never heard of. In 2014, Rob and Mike Barnes founded Selkirk Sport in the pickleball space—back when the sport was small, the products were cheap, and the category felt entirely mom and pop. Eleven years later, the company is valued at over $200 million with revenue up 1,900% since 2019, and pickleball is closing in on tennis as America's most-played racket sport. In this interview, the co-founders of Selkirk Sport break down how they built the premium brand in an emerging category—from serializing their first 360 paddles expecting mistakes, to investing $1 million into a dedicated R&D lab, to their contrarian take on athlete sponsorships and why signing a pro is only 30% of the work. What you'll learn in this interview: • Why they sold a profitable business to go all-in on a sport nobody had heard of • How serializing their first 360 paddles shaped Selkirk's premium quality obsession from day one • Why they invested $1 million in an in-house R&D lab instead of white-labeling cheap product like everyone suggested • The four P framework (Product, People, Process, Promotion) that's driven Selkirk's growth from day one • How they built an in-house marketing agency and cut all external agencies to move faster at lower cost • Why athlete sponsorships are only 30% of the work—and why investing in promotion is what actually builds brand equity • Their counterintuitive COVID strategy: reduce hours, keep every employee, and bet on the rebound • Why they launched SLK by Selkirk as a separate sub-brand to compete at lower price points without destroying the premium brand • How Selkirk Labs—a members-only experimental product program—created a real-time consumer feedback loop…","meta_description":"These two brothers sold a profitable airsoft business to bet everything on a sport most people had never heard of. In 2014, Rob and Mike Barnes founded Se…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3069,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008/episodes/657-they-bet-everything-on-a-sport-nobody-took-seriously-now-it-s-worth-200m/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008/657-they-bet-everything-on-a-sport-nobody-took-seriously-now-it-s-worth-200m.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}