We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Muldoon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

John, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

In the early days of SWHET (pronounced like sweat) , it was just my Business partner (Joe Antonelli) and I. We both were fresh out of college and were working at jobs that we did not want to be at long term. We knew what we wanted SWHET to be but we weren’t sure if it would work. We knew the idea was great and had the ability to be successful but we still didn’t know if we had the right process to get us to that point. The first thing we needed to find was a developer. We struggled finding someone who could build us a website that fit SWHET. The first developer we met with ghosted us and was never heard from again. The second group of developers that we met were not equipped for the job so they passed us along to some friends of theirs. Everything changed once we met Nash, Cole & Blake. They were free lance developers that had not launched their own business yet. They were professional, patient and ambitious just like Joe and I. We owe them, because without their knowledge and in site SWHET would have probably been dead on arrival.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Joe and I got into this business because we were both former Division I athletes. We knew what it took to get good at a sport in which you loved. We also knew that we aren’t the only ones that want to get better at their sport. After college, Joe and I entered the work force. Joe was making about 400 cold calls a day and I was getting up at 4am to deliver steel at 6am in lower Manhattan. We realized immediately that we did not want to be taking orders for the rest of our lives. Joe pitched me the idea of SWHET and the rest was history! From there, Joe and I would workshop the idea of SWHET to try and find a clear vision for the company. We still hadn’t even picked out a name yet… actually it was called “Athlete Master”

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

We had to pivot early on, when we final decided on what SWHET was going to be… we realized that we were thinking too big too quick. We decided to ditch the idea of being an app and decided to focus on creating a website. This was a big step for us because we had put a lot of money into building an app. It was tough for us to put it on hold. Even though we didn’t waste the money we spent we still had to swallow our pride and adapt to what the situation was and not what we thought it should be.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Our best source of new clients is what we have to offer. Anyone can create an account on SWHET. We have a large selection of sports to which clients can decided to either coach or play. All of our coaches are independent contractors that can pick their own hours price or location!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.swhet.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swhet_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swhetsportsapp
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swhet-llc-4093b9248/?original_referer=
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/swhetsportsapp

Image Credits
Alicia Kapolis- Jurgiel