statewide prep sports positions

I am relatively sure that most/all the "oil" money is out of this business now, hence them pretty much slinking back to the single-state cave.

rb

 

Ah, the stories we all could tell ....

I received a phone call from another of the original Texas crew a few days ago to commemorate the one-year anniversary of our first group meeting, a.k.a., the first time CoachesAid.com sent people with no clue whatsoever about what we were doing to come tell us what to do.

I second the thought earlier in this thread that this could have been a really good idea if executed and funded properly. But with no marketing and no ad sales within the state (other than the five ... then four ... then one of us in editorial), and with an IT staff spectacularly unsuited to handle the demands of that many states, and with (again, as perfectly put earlier in this thread) snake oil money backing it, it was a mission doomed to failure from the get-go.

I was and remain impressed with the work we put into it. In terms of what we were asked to do, I can think of few state coordinators who didn't come through with flying colors and then some, especially since (for example) we never once received a stringer/photographer budget that came even remotely close to being adequate.

The October purge cost us (statewide and nationally) a helluva lot of good, talented people and created some feelings of rancor both internally and externally. Still, we soldiered on until the other shoe dropped.

In hindsight, I agree with the earlier thought that franchising was the ultimate plan from the outset. Clues pointing to this drifted in from time to time during the seven months we were operational, but never to the point where anyone went, "Aha!" We all had been led to believe we had enough operating capital to sustain us for three years or so.

As for the franchising agreement, it's very, VERY easy to see why few, if any, took them up on it. In addition to the across-the-board fee, there also was a per-public-school fee that, in a state as large as Texas, made the cost unbelievably high. As I told people: "So let me get this straight: You want me to buy back my job for a fee higher than my annual salary, and at a rate that increases annually, to try and turn a profit with a site that couldn't do so with corporate backing? Where do I sign!?"

The personal experience was great. I met and worked with some tremendous people, many of whose friendships I still treasure. But the professional experience? I'll say only this: THE DAY BEFORE the franchising scheme was announced, all of us with CA e-mail addresses received a religious mosaic chain letter from the CEO that basically said all hell would break loose if we didn't forward it. I humbly apologize to all former CA employees for not doing so.

 

My first offering from the e-mail files ...

***

Mr. Swanson,

As a dedicated CoachesAid.com employee from the date of my hire until Feb. 1, I wish to ask two simple questions:

1. What happened to the company’s positive outlook you detailed in this note?
2. How I am supposed to look my family in the eye and tell them that I feel lied to by the entire process?

I know those questions cut to the core, but your final paragraph in the e-mail below requested that we ask you questions if they arise. We have been led to believe, since the very beginning in Oklahoma City, that the company that you head is one of integrity and commitment to its employees.

I look forward to a response.


-"RB"


From: Jason Swanson
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 11:57 PM
To: All-Users
Subject: All employees

October 19, 2009

Re: Layoffs

Dear Coaches Aid Employees:

I want to take a few minutes to discuss with you some of the actions we have taken over the past several days, the reasons behind them, and the future of our company. Most of you met me before at our launch in August in Oklahoma City; you should know that I speak simply and plainly. This message is part one of the discussion. The second part will be an open conference call with everyone in the company occurring later today.

There have been a lot of messages sent back and forth, and the high emotions and strained feelings are understandable. As everyone knows, last week we laid off roughly 45 people in the company. The majority of these were state content coordinators in about 35 states across the U.S. When we started our rollout and launch last summer the plan was the deliver high quality original content in addition to scores, schedules, rankings, etc. as we built an audience. Since launch, we’ve measured what readers go to and are interested in to see states that are growing and those that aren’t.

What we learned is that people are interested in scores, schedules, rankings, and a discussion forum. The other content is what will eventually keep them on the site, but it isn’t the reason they go there.

We are a company that is funded by a large group of smaller investors who I answer to. The financial management team, content managers, and others heavily evaluated what it will take to develop an audience and keep them. After looking at all the data and talking with folks inside and outside of the company, it was determined that our decision to create the type of content we had planned wasn’t the right decision to start things off. We’re a sports company so simply, you can’t win games without solid fundamentals. Our fundamentals aren’t the stories and rich media content; they are scores, rosters, schedules. Doing those right each and every day, game after game, in every major sport is what we must do to draw an audience.

All of that didn’t make our decision any easier. We launched a company with over 200 people just a few weeks ago. Radically changing our direction now with all the hard work, long hours, and dedication that everyone has put in is one of the hardest choices the management team and I have had to make in all our time in business. We made it for the simple reason that if we didn’t the company wouldn’t accomplish its goals and it would have all been for nothing.

Some have said that we should have known and not wasted everyone’s time. Maybe that is true, but in our defense we didn’t know and have learned our lesson the hard way. So the question on everyone’s mind is, “What now?”

As a company we are maintaining the original focus in 10 key states. We will continue to provide the basics in the other 35, but will focus on the ones that our strategy seems to be working in. What I will do is continue sharing on a regular basis how things are going, what our plans are, and how I think we’re going to get there.

Can we afford it? Yes. Contrary to the tone of some of the emails you’ve read, we are not broke or in danger of being broke. At our peak, we were spending nearly $400,000 per month with $0 in revenue. In business this is called a ‘burn rate.’ It isn’t unexpected, but was too high for us to continue for the length of time it will take to attract the sizeable audience we need to be marketable to advertisers. If no changes were made, it would have potentially taken 36 months to reach some sort of substantial income. Assuming expenses grow and not shrink, that would have been roughly $15M.

What I ask from you is two things: if you have a question, talk to your manager or myself. I will answer everything to the best of my ability. The second thing I ask is that you focus on your job and help us deliver the results that will pay off for all of us.

Thank you for your time, your dedication, and your understanding.

Sincerely,


Jason Swanson

Sent from my iPhone

 

Well that doesn't sound healthy....

 

What was his response to your questions? Or was there even one?

 

His Oct. 19 email was after they hacked 37 of 50 states. My reply was on the day the other 13 got axed.

rb

 

I hate seeing this subject come up, but as a former content coordinator, I had to add to this so no one ever makes the same mistake I did.

This company offered health insurance which was supposed to be paid through the end of January. However, when the pay checks were late on Jan. 1, they also failed to mention that they canceled the health insurance policy. I took my kids to the doctors and my wife to the ER during this time only to get bills later on saying my insurance was canceled. It took two months to get a straight answer from these "business people." I was assured I could get COBRA and even sent them the checks. I was assured my insurance would be reactivated and would just have to resubmit any unpaid bills. Again, it was a crock. I called my state and even the federal insurance folks who told me they were under no obligation to offer COBRA because of the size of the company.

The time I wasted with this also impacted my ability to get supplemental insurance because I had a lappse of more than 60 days without coverage despite not knowing this until mid-March.

I never joined with the company with any grand ideas of it succeeding because I knew the business model was flawed and saw those in charge had no idea what was going on. It was just supposed to be a stop gap for me. All I wanted in return was honesty and never got it.

I hope those out there who worked hard on their sites got back on their feet like I finally did. Here's a lesson for everyone. If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

 

I was just thinking about this whole debacle tonight and had to bump this. I was one of the people at the first big meeting in Shattuck, OK when only 4-5 states were up, and only 3 were close to fully staffed. As the content coordinator for one of those states, I got a pretty close-up look at how the thing got its start and what we were told. Since I'm thinking about it, my two cents if anyone cares:

1. Mark Ward was the messenger, but not the source of the problem.

2. That said, he was a terrible messenger.

3. Bill Taylor (not sure his name has been mentioned yet) was my biggest pain in the neck. He was an oil guy- one of Jason Swanson's cronies, and he didn't know the first thing about covering sports. He would call me every other week or so just to 'check in' and basically grill me on everything I was doing in detail.

4. When I started, I was told that I would get a monthly stipend to cover my cell phone, internet, and driving costs. I worked for CA from January-June of '09 and never once received my stipend, despite many calls to Mark and the HR people (who kept changing).

5. Jason Swanson is a redneck oil guy from Oklahoma who funded CA at the beginning and thus has a large stake in it. He knows nothing about sports, writing, or sportswriting, he cusses like a sailor in any conversation, tells racist and sexist jokes, and is very confrontational and loud in person. I couldn't stand him from the moment I met him.

Anyway, those are my random thoughts about a year too late.

 

Every time this thread gets updated, I get that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

rb

 

It probably also didn't help having those pesky correspondents breathing down your neck for their checks that never seemed to come on time...

 

Got that right Chris...

Seriously though. I did get one of those heart is falling into my stomach and I can't breathe now moments when I saw this post get bumped.

I had forgotten (defense mechanism) and moved on to much better things!

Yet, we all should never forget. Guessing it's only a matter of time before it expands again and asks people to buy their sites.

Cheers to those who were duped. May you all be in a better place than you were 18 months ago.