We are spotlighting one of the many innovative companies within our portfolio, GRIND, and its founder and CEO, Thomas Fields.
What was your professional background before becoming a founder?
My start at becoming a founder was an untraditional one. I started GRIND at 19 with a passion for doing it from my experiences as a basketball player. None of my family had experience in Corporate America, so it was outside my realm.
For more context, I had torn my ACL four times in my basketball career, and my NBA dreams were starting to dwindle. I was still focused on getting into college and playing basketball, though.
My high school purchased a shooting machine that captured made and missed shots and automated passing the ball to athletes. It wasn’t conducive to being a student; it wasn’t portable, and it was expensive. I realized that these shooting machines weren’t designed for student athletes.
What was your “Aha” moment that sparked the idea for GRIND?
I had an idea while using the shooting machine at my school: “What if Nike created a shooting machine for athletes that didn’t cost $10,000?”
If someone could make something more affordable that was less heavy and could fold into a bag, and portable to take to a park, that would be valuable for a student player.
Instead of waiting for a company to create something, I took matters into my own hands, my friend taught me how to weld, I self-taught myself mechanical engineering, and three years later, I had my first prototype.
How has GRIND grown since starting?
We launched in 2020, and on the first day of launch, we had $25K in preorders. This caught the notice of Shark Tank, and we went on the show in 2021, securing investments from Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran. Shortly after, Bronze Valley became our first institutional investor. We are forever grateful for that check.
Our portable shooting machine product has continued to gain notice. The first video we posted went viral in 2020, gaining over 1 million views. Since then, we’ve sold thousands of units and have created a viral marketing engine that runs constantly. Revenue is growing 110% year-over-year, making us the fastest-growing company in the industry, and we are just getting started.
I’ve been part of many great opportunities as a result, including TechStars Sports Accelerator, I was named a Forbes 30 under 30 in 2022, and most recently secured our biggest investment to date from Pharrell Williams through his fund Black Ambition!
What’s ahead for the company in 2025 & beyond?
We are in hyper-growth mode now, and focusing on our smart ecosystem of sports equipment is what’s next for us. In addition, empowering student athletes to grow in other areas of sports, since more than 90% of athletes don’t make it into professional sports. We hold an annual event on August 12th called “GRIND Day” in the City of Houston, where we bring sports, technology, and culture under one roof. Through this event, we hope to inspire student athletes to become interested in technology.
Looking ahead, we’d also love to partner with athlete investors looking to be involved with sports companies like ours.
Founder to founder: What’s your advice to other entrepreneurs?
Be yourself unapologetically and love what you do. Oh, and most importantly - solve real problems. It takes a lot of sacrifice to start a company, and that can be even harder when you're younger, from my own experience. It’s a lot harder to get through the doors when you’re 19 or 20, but it makes for a great story.
Just continue to keep working towards knowing you’re the best person to solve your problem, and go for it.
Thank you, Thomas, for sharing your story about GRIND and for the helpful advice for new founders! We look forward to your progress in the year ahead.
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