There's a new initiative that is recreating the experience of being an athlete with teammates, coaches and training to reach peak performance….but instead of on the field…it’s actually in the boardroom.
The Post is a networking club for former athletes looking to recapture that camaraderie and teamwork from their playing days in business. The Post was co-founded by former NFL QB Christian Ponder, and Jason LaRose, former president of North America at Under Armour and former Equinox Media CEO.
Ponder and LaRose joined SportsJam with Doug Doyle to talk about The Post.
Ponder, CEO of The Post says you can’t buy your way into the special networking club. Applicants must be a former NCAA athlete or a professional athlete for five seasons. Then the vetting process begins.
"We weigh their athletic experiences and merits with their business experiences and merits. If you were an eight-year pro in sports, we think that brings a unique influence, perspective, experience an expertise to the table that provides value to the network, and we'd like for those people to be a part of it. For those who maybe finished their sports career at the college level, they are a little more advanced in their business career. We care about the business expertise they bring to the table and it creates this great mix of people learning from each other and pushing each other just like we had in sports. It's now a highly competitive space in business."
Every member has access to a curated board of advisors – or “team” – based on where they are in their career and their goals. They also have access to a network of fellow members through The Post’s mobile app, members-only events, and depending on their location, a physical, private clubhouse.
Ponder was thrilled when the first clubhouse opened in NYC in mid-September. It will hold co-working spaces, bookable boardrooms, recreation space, a podcast room, bar, and a lounge.
Ponder says the The Post idea came about after what he personally experienced as an athlete.
"My last year in the NFL was 2016. I moved to New York City in the fall of '17 to start the business chapter of my life which I was very excited for. I just realized that the first three or four years after football, I was dealing with this deep discontentment that I've been an athlete my whole life. It's been a huge part of my identity. my story and how I operate in this world. It didn't make sense to me that I was suddenly reduced to a past-version of my self or at least that's what it felt like. But even more importantly than that, was that I realized that the athlete community is the community I belong to. It's my tribe. It's my people. I desperately missed being a part of that community, not only because it's the people I get along with best and enjoy being around the most, but also the intangibles the athletes possess, the work ethic, the grittiness, the competitiveness, the drive, the self-accountability and the perseverance. When you're in a room where everyone is defined by those characteristics, it just makes you better. Now being removed from that room, I couldn't find anything that filled that void for me. We decide to go build it."
Ponder's 2010 season at Florida State University, his senior year, was his most successful. He was the first Seminole quarterback since Christ Weinke in 1999 to lead his team to victories over both its in-state rivals, Miami and Florida. He also won the 2010 James Tatum award, given to the nation's top student-athlete. He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers. The Viking drafted him with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Like Ponder, The Post co-founder Jason LaRose also came from a sports family. His brother Chad spent eight seasons in the National Hockey League and won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes. Jason has carved out a successful marketing and business career as the former President of North America at Under Armour and former head of Equinox Media. He says it was a perfect partnership with Ponder from the beginning.
"In many ways, we are at the ends of the spectrum when it comes to the members we have at The Post. For me, the athletic career as a failed walk-on baseball player was not so great, but I've been fortunate to work at some great places like Under Armour and Equinox Media and have a head start in those ventures. Christian competed at what we could argue is the hardest job in sports, being a starting quarterback in the National Football League, there are only 32 of them and it's a pretty hard gig. It's been a love affair for us. I was at Under Armour for seven years and it was a place built by athletes and what that meant from a culture perspective and competitiveness was incredible. While my sports career ended, my brother played in the NHL for eight years and professional hockey for 13, and I watched his transition out as he tried to find his community. So, this just really something that has resonated with me and it's been a real passion project for Christian and I to bring it together."
LaRose says his goals are based on his experience as well.
"It's really not so much about the business, it's really about the athletes. At the end of the day it's about serving our community and trying to crowdsource the things that they need. Things like access to an executive coach. We make that partnership available and they can do some leadership assessments with them. We have people who just want to connect with peer of folks who are tackling some of the same problems at the same level in their career. We have speaker series and create content. Christian hosts his own podcast called Built By Sport (for members only) to try and bring some of that together. We host events and we have our clubhouse in New York. We do all these things to try and be the grease. Our job is to try and give athletes a turn-key solution to networking through The Post."
LaRose and Ponder expects more and more network clubhouses to open across the U.S. soon.
Ponder and his wife, ESPN personality Sam Ponder, have three children. He has great pride and respect for his wife for many reasons.
"I wouldn't be here without her."
Ponder says Sam took on the financial role for the family as he got The Post off the ground.
"She's been tremendously helpful in bringing this vision to life and pushing me to continue to want more, do better and hold me to a high standand as a parent and now a CEO of a company. It's been great."
You can find out more about The Post here.
You can also SEE the entire SportsJam with Doug Doyle interview with Christian Ponder and Jason LaRose here.
