#292: Thomas Shields – Building Pickleball's Biggest Media Company

<p>Thomas Shields is the creator of The Dink – the biggest pickleball media company in the world.</p> <p>In this conversation, we spoke about why pickleball is everywhere, how he got his first 1,000 subscribers, his biggest mistake, and the most exciting moments of building his company.</p> <p>(0:00) Intro</p> <p>(2:31) Starting A Pickleball Media Company</p> <p>(4:14) Why Has Pickleball Taken Over?</p> <p>(5:34) Gary V, Tom Brady, &amp; Kevin Durant Buying Pickleball Teams</p> <p>(7:02) Going Into Other Sports?</p> <p>(9:41) Getting First 1,000 Subscribers</p> <p>(13:54) Life Before Starting The Dink</p> <p>(21:15) What Are You Optimizing For?</p> <p>(22:23) Getting MBA &amp; Entrepreneur</p> <p>(25:45) The Dink Taking Off</p> <p>(27:50) What To Do On Bad Days</p> <p>(29:50) Most Exciting Moments</p> <p>(31:45 )Process For Making Money</p> <p>(33:34) Microacquire</p> <p>(36:13) Reasons Why The Dink Is Successful</p> <p>(39:23) Expanding On Pickleball</p> <p>(40:13) Why?</p> <p>(43:07) Training For Austin Marathon</p> <p>(46:01) Ideal Scenario In 1 Year</p> <p>(50:31) Biggest Mistake</p> <p>(53:03) Creator vs. Business</p> <p>(56:41) Challenge</p> <p>-</p> <p>Thomas’ Links</p> <p>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/readmynewslettr">https://twitter.com/readmynewslettr</a></p> <p>Website: <a href="https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/">https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/</a> + <a href="https://upswingsports.com/">https://upswingsports.com/</a></p> <p>-</p> <p>SPONSOR:</p> <p>This episode is brought to you by My First Million. This is the podcast that I listen to and recommend whenever I want to learn more about business, technology, or the future. Sam Parr and Shaan Puri are hilarious, informative, and interesting. Check it out: <a href="https://link.chtbl.com/MFM?sid=Danny-Miranda">https://link.chtbl.com/MFM?sid=Danny-Miranda</a></p> <p>-</p> <p>My Links</p> <p>✉️ Newsletter: <a href="https://dannymiranda.substack.com/">https://dannymiranda.substack.com</a></p> <p>🎙 Podcast: <a href="https://anchor.fm/dannymiranda">