Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nicolas Escalante. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nicolas, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
So I attribute a lot of the credit for my going down the entrepreneurial path to my joining an accelerator seminar put on by my university. Specifically, this was the iChallenge and it was there I started fleshing the idea out. This specific seminar was conducted over three days, and the purpose was to demonstrate how start-ups can go from a well-meaning idea to a full-blown pitch deck. It was throughout this seminar that I fine-tuned the idea and was ultimately designated as the ‘CEO’ of our group. Now fast forward a few weeks, and it became apparent that many in my group were not interested in pursuing the idea or potentially entrepreneurship after the completion of the three days. I, on the other hand, was on a mission because I truly believed, and still do, that this idea was incredible and could make a real impact on the world. The tough part was no one around me was willing to try this thing for real. As it turns out, I started hanging with an old college buddy around this time, and he, too, was in a situation looking for what he could do next. I get to tell him about Activate and he not only feels my enthusiasm but reciprocates it. The applications, the scalability, and the impact were apparent to us both, and we left that weekend with a partnership and an understanding that we would make this thing happen. That’s exactly what we did. We both had some contacts within our networks and we went around pitching the idea to try and raise some capital. We found both successes and failures, many of the latter, but our enthusiasm only grew the more we talked about and fleshed out this endeavor. At the same time, we managed to wiggle our way into a networking event, and I started a conversation with a fellow attendee who was moseying about in a similar way as I was. Turns out, he owned an IT company in the Arlington area, as well as a software development company that was in Costa Rica. Huh, I thought, here’s another sign that this business will exist because I was very much in need of a software development team. Seeing as we were pretty strapped for cash, the idea of outsourcing was something we looked into. A great partnership was born that day, and my business partner and I had a team to develop the app we were so excited about. In the end, won a capital factory pitch competition, and we raised the money required to build our app. From there, we were off to the races.
Nicolas, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Sports have always played a huge role in my life. From some of my favorite childhood memories of watching the teams I love to playing and competing, I played all of them. It didn’t matter if it was a team sport or an individual one; if it had a ball and people playing against each other, I was there for it. Sports were a way for me to exercise, which kept my mind and body healthy, a way for me to make and be around friends, and a way for me to open doors, as it was baseball that ultimately took me to my university on a scholarship, St. Edward’s University in Austin, Tx. It was at St. Edwards where I entered for a chance to join a 3-day entrepreneur seminar, and it was at this seminar that I came up with the idea for my app, Activate, previously known as pick-up. Wouldn’t it be great if you could use your phone to invite and coordinate your friends into playing a game? Football, soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and more are all available with directions to the closest courts and fields around you. For me, this would be a dream. I’ve always loved using sports and activities as a means to be social with friends. Not only do we all get to be together and outside enjoying the place we live, but we’re moving our bodies around and getting healthy – in a fun way! Collegiate sports put me on a strict weight-lifting regimen, and I completely understand the power in that, but at the end of the day, I find a lot more enjoyment in being with friends and playing the games I love. So I figured Activate had a pain point it was solving. Coordinating pickup games was a hassle that usually led to unplayed games. But I wanted to add to the value proposition for the customer. If you were going to take the time to go out and play, I wanted to do something that would completely enhance the experience and make you much more likely to build this socializing and staying healthy with friends into everyone’s routine. So, in this case, wouldn’t it be even cooler if we could log our games, scores, and time playing the app to earn points and work our way up the leaderboard? Essentially, turning real-life pickup sports into a video game where you’re the main player? and if these points earn you medals, which earn you real-life rewards to be redeemed at local businesses around the courts, fields, and city. I thought this was the perfect combination of real-life fun with technology-based enhancement. As a college player or sports player in general, you know there will be a day when you can’t play anymore. When you have to “hang the cleats up” for good. I wanted to make sure that with Activate, you could continue playing the sports you love for as long as you want to play them. Play. Score. Reward!
One of the things I am most proud of is the realization that Activate’s main draw to consumers is that it looks fun. We worked with my alma mater to conduct a market research project for current students. They sought exactly what people felt about Activate and what motivation they would have to use it or not. Ultimately, we discovered it was the idea of having fun. This opened the doors wide open for me. It’s not just a sports app but a way to stay in contact with friends or to make new ones. It’s not just a way to compete but to play more of the games we love more often. And at the end of the day, it’s not just for sports, but for any activity that gets two people together and playing each other. Activate is all about inclusivity. We want everyone to enjoy playing sports, not just the classic tropes. Playing is fun and should be done throughout life. Activate is simply a way to play more.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
The pandemic shook up our timeline, as it did for everyone everywhere. Here we were developing an app that would get people together in groups, and here we were being told about the need for social distancing. In a tough spot is where we were, to be exact. Not only that, but the pandemic made it to that our development team was no longer able to work on the project in an organized, consistent manner. This put a huge hold on the development of the app. Even as the social distancing measures began to slow, our development was off the rails. Much was thought about what we could do about this, but at the end of the day, I knew we had to move forward with something as we figured out what to do with the developers. The brand we were building centered around getting together out in the real world and was going to play a huge part in the post covid world, and people would be craving it. Not just people but businesses, too, we realized. Now that people were used to working from home, there was a void in what used to be office relationships and morale. We decided we could host corporate events centered around the very brand of getting together with friends and playing Activities that would be perfect for business post-covid. Not only did companies need a way to get their employees together to build spirit and morale, they needed a way to keep their employees, as many workers were now willing to find other jobs that fit their wants of the standard of living. So companies that would’ve never before spent money on employee retention were now willing to. Activate Events was started, and we’ve been hosting events for over ten months now. We also hosted several Trivia nights for local bars as a means to grow the brand and our exposure.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
After winning the business competition, we used to award money to file for an LLC. Then we went around to friends and family. We were privileged and lucky enough to have a few high-networth individuals around us willing to take a risk in our dreams. We pitched them hard for over three months and, ultimately, put together a team willing to fund the endeavor.
Contact Info:
- Website: activateatx.com
- Instagram: @theactivateapp
Image Credits
Activate Events participants, Activate CFO Kelsie Dancer and man-of-the-brand Alex Cabezas