A Chat with Simon Ogus, the Co-founder and COO of SportTechie

By Hannah Herreid, Media Relations Specialist, Business WireRecently I was able to sit down with Simon Ogus, the Co-founder and COO of SportTechie a new website that focuses on the intersection of sports and technology. Ogus gave insight into the world of creating a new startup, how to pitch SportTechie, and their new partnership with Sports Illustrated. Check out our conversation below. What is SportTechie and when was it created?SportTechie is a website that started as a “passion project” in 2013. My co-founder and I found that the sports industry was not as up to date as other industries when it came to technology. We decided to create something that pulls sports fans that are also interested in technology by building a niche audience. We update the website on topics like: player performance, sports science, green sports, virtual reality, and how to use technology to run your business smarter.What sets you apart from other sports outlets?I think we’ve done a good job at targeting a space that has a lot of interest and is underutilized. It’s about getting unique content and distributing news that is interesting to people. The content matter is so important. Providing content that isn't readily available is also important, or at least providing additional perspective on more mainstream topics is vitalIf someone in public relations wants to pitch you, what do you look for?When I read a pitch I’m constantly asking myself, “What is the SportTechie audience going to be interested in?” I don’t care how long the pitch is, I just care that the person presents pertinent topics. You can easily research our page, or sign up for the newsletter, so you know exactly what we cover.As a startup we need PR professionals to help coordinate interviews and send ideas. We look for pitches or releases that provide photo and video options. There are so many restricted photos on the internet that can get you in legal trouble. As a small company, that can be difficult, so that’s why we appreciate Business Wire because the photos in each release are unrestricted which helps speed up our process.How do you find your news?We find stories in multiple ways. We use Business Wire because it helps collect varied breaking story ideas in one place and each day we evaluate which releases we may cover. Business Wire has also served as a great tool to form relationships with relevant public relations professionals. Since each release has the contact information, we are able to contact those that we are interested in and continue to build those relationships. Business Wire helps to facilitate those relationships.How did the partnership with Sports Illustrated come about?SportTechie is cobranding content for Sports Illustrated, so some of our content will appear on our page but also on the Sports Illustrated media page. In addition to online, we write one article per month in the magazine. The partnership was fairly seamless. Each side saw the mutual interests and benefits, and we created a relationship from there. We’ve been a startup with limited resources and limited man power, so we’re really excited to partner with Sports Illustrated. Their reputation is unmatched in the industry and will help get our message out to a larger audience.In a rapidly shrinking media world, what is your strategy for continuing to grow and evolve with the industry?Our strategy evolves as the industry does and opportunities arrive. I would say our main strategy is to provide really interesting and compelling content. We need to continue to bolster our connections in the space and continue to write about tech + media in sports but also in our lives as it is being impacted so greatly each day, and is a really compelling area to be in. As long as we continue to stay at the forefront of this topic, it will just add to the Sport Techie audience.Read further on SportTechie and their partnership with Sports Illustrated. Also, look for updates on Business Wire products, media tips and more.