BALLERS

About three years ago, in February 2014, Andre Iguodala spent a day during the NBA offseason at the offices of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in Menlo Park, CA. Over the course of four hours in a conference room, the Golden State Warriors small forward heard pitches from a handful of start...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bloomberg businessweek (Online) 2017-08
Main Author: Boudway, Ira
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Athletes
Bedding
Cline-Thomas, Rudy
Corporate governance
Hair
Iguodala, Andre
Professional basketball
Startups
Venture capital companies
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Summary:About three years ago, in February 2014, Andre Iguodala spent a day during the NBA offseason at the offices of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in Menlo Park, CA. Over the course of four hours in a conference room, the Golden State Warriors small forward heard pitches from a handful of startups in Andreessen's portfolio. One shared its plan to disrupt the hair extensions business by selling directly to salons. Another explained how a mobile platform could help the secondhand clothing market move upscale. A third showed how an on-demand business model could transform the phone-screen-repair business. He and his business partner, Rudy Cline-Thomas, own stakes ranging from $25,000 to $150,000 in about 25 startups, including the health and beauty brand Walker & Co; mattress online retailer Casper; personal-finance app NerdWallet; Derek Jeter's digital publishing company, the Players' Tribune; and Mayvenn, the hair extensions supplier they met at Andreessen. Kevin Durant who joined the Warriors as a free agent in 2016, holds a startup portfolio that includes the delivery service Postmates, micro-investing platform Acorns, and the Players' Tribune.
ISSN:0007-7135
2162-657X