Innovation at Scale
How the NBA can teach startups a thing or two about innovation
Every other week I write an email discussing what I learn growing Reboot Motion. If you would like to receive it directly in your inbox, subscribe below.
Last month saw a few members of the Reboot team head to Las Vegas for Summer League and present the work we did as part of the NBA’s Launchpad Program.
Our focus was on developing infrastructure that 1) ingests, cleans, and processes 3d tracking data and 2) delivers biomechanical metrics and reports to improve player health and performance.
And, while we uncovered a ton about the various needs at the league and team level, I personally feel I learned even more about innovation…specifically innovation at scale.
Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
When Reboot was accepted into the Launchpad program, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
Our main thing is helping large organizations excel in biomechanics at scale, and our current focus was making the leap into the NBA.
Getting to work side by side with the league office was a perfect fit.
However- and it feels weird saying it today- I had some reservations.
I didn’t understand why the league office was spending their resources running an accelerator. I didn’t understand how partnering with private tech companies moved the needle for a league doing eleven figures of annual revenue.
While I kept my concerns to myself, I kept thinking “the NBA’s main thing is building a great on court product. They should focus on that!”
But I was wrong.
The NBA’s main thing is innovation.
They innovated years back with NBA League Pass. They innovated more recently with the in-season and play-in tournaments. And they’re currently innovating by bringing streaming into their most recent TV deal.
The NBA knows they are an entertainment company looking to drive long-term value.
And, while I would expect any large sports organization to academically know this to be true, I was amazed by the NBA’s ability to display this belief with full alignment throughout the organization.
I would argue every pro sports league-and maybe every company big and small- can learn a thing or two from how the NBA innovates at scale.
Not Your Average Corporate Incubator
When Reboot started Launchpad, I had a question:
Would the NBA- an organization doing $10B+ of annual revenue (and who recently signed a $76 billion tv deal) ever prioritize working with a handful of startups?
Six months later, I am confident the answer is yes- and below is 1) how and 2) why I think they did it.
The How
Experimentation
While the Launchpad program appears to be an NBA success story, it is likely only that way because it didn’t have to be.
At any large corporation, some new ventures won’t pan out, and those will obviously have a financial cost.
However, since successful experiments have a far greater upside, people need to know well thought-out initiatives are rewarded regardless of the outcome.
As an outside observer, this is clearly built into the NBA’s DNA.
This is the league that 1) created a bubble during COVID 2) recently launched a play-in tournament and a new in-season tournament, and 3) piloted the Elam Ending during the All-Star game and in the G-League.
In nearly every case, the easier path would have been to not do it. No one gets blamed for not doing things.
The same is true for Launchpad.
However, due to the culture that exists in the league office, the people behind the corporate accelerator knew it was the right bet to make.
Take a look at this image from 2022, and compare it to the one at the top of this post.
There are a lot more people involved today.
While the number of portfolio companies hasn’t changed much, the resources the NBA is dedicating has. This likely happened for two reasons:
First, the flywheel effect. As the league sees the value that comes from Launchpad, they dedicate more resources, and thus further increase the impact.
Second, they’re learning what works. The biggest value Reboot Motion got was working with a variety of key stakeholders within the NBA (Courtney Chaaban as our biomechanics liaison, Caroline Coughlan from Player Health, Greg Cartagena from Basketball Strategy, and Ian McKiernan on data strategy, just to name a few).
We are a better company- and therefore in a better position to return value to the NBA- by working directly with these people.
My guess is the league office learned this is the secret sauce of the program…full immersion.
League Wide Buy In
Let’s go back to the two Launchpad photos above. Look at how crowded the stage is in 2024 vs 2022.
However, there is one thing the 2022 stage had that the 2024 one does not: the commissioner.
Think about what Adam Silver’s presence in 2022 says for those working to get this program off the ground. Or the signal delivered to those being recruited to help make it bigger for following cohorts.
At that time, no one could be certain of Launchpad’s fate. However, once people saw Silver on stage, they knew the project was worth pursuing.
So why didn’t the commissioner come on stage in 2024? He didn’t have to. Everyone saw the impact. Countless NBA personnel from player health, basketball strategy, business operations and more were already in the trenches.
Gate Openers
The majority of Launchpad portfolio companies come to the program with 1) some commercial success and 2) a desire to break into basketball.
This was definitely the case for Reboot Motion. We have operated in MLB for years and, although we can leverage a lot of that work, are still new to the NBA ecosystem.
Just as we look to be a pro sports team’s “biomechanics guide”, we were lucky to have NBA guides in Tom Ryan and Shawn Sam. They set us up with the right people in the right departments- both to help us execute on our work, but also to better Reboot’s situation in any way possible.
The Why
Ideas Can Come From Anywhere
If the NBA’s goal is maximizing long-term value, they need to put equal focus on today and tomorrow.
That is why the NBA’s culture of experimentation is so vital. It allows them to constantly innovate, build a better on court product, and drive engagement.
The Launchpad is not only an example of an NBA experiment gone right, it is also an avenue that allows for more ideas, and therefore more experiments, to enter the NBA ecosystem.
Becoming a Believer
Now that the Launchpad is complete, I can revisit my question:
Would the NBA prioritize working with a handful of startups?
Absolutely.
While the NBA may have more immediate issues around media rights, apparel deals, international growth, fan engagement, and so on, they clearly have alignment from the top down that, long-term, innovation drives those things.
And innovation always starts off looking small.