New episode is out w/ Swupnil Sahai from SwingVision.
Swupnil was a computer vision engineer at Tesla when he decided to combine his love for tennis and racket sports with his computer vision experience and build an AI-powered platform to do automated stats, highlights, and line calling - using only your phone!
We get into where the idea came from, how he got started, where the initial data to train the model came from, how things have evolved from there, etc etc
Swupnil had good insight into stuff you wouldn't think about until you are building, like the pros/cons of processing on mobile vs in the cloud, how to turn customers into data collectors/model trainers, how he thinks about competiton/defensibility in the short-term and long-term, and where they are going from here.
Deeper into tennis and racket sports? Expanding to other sports? Putting cameras in the training facilities? Providing services beyond AI-powered analysis?
Tune in to find out!
spotify
Show notes:
Harnessing AI for Racket Sports: The SwingVision Story with Swupnil Sahai
In this episode of The Next Next, host Jason Jacobs interviews Swupnil Sahai, the co-founder and CEO of SwingVision, an AI-driven tennis and racket sport performance tracking app. Swupnil shares his journey from working on Tesla's autopilot team to launching SwingVision, which uses a single iPhone or iPad to provide real-time stats and video highlights for tennis players. The discussion covers his motivations, the technical challenges faced, evolving the business model, and strategies for market growth. Swupnil also provides insights into their funding journey, product iteration, and the future of AI in sports. Furthermore, they explore the intricacies of data privacy in the AI landscape and discuss potential future directions for the company. The episode is filled with valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs, especially in sports tech and AI.
00:00 Introduction to The Next Next
00:33 Meet Swupnil Sahai: From Tesla to SwingVision
01:37 SwingVision: Revolutionizing Tennis Analytics
04:16 The Reality of Entrepreneurship
06:49 Swupnil's Journey: From Academia to Tesla
11:15 Building SwingVision: The Early Days
14:47 Training AI Models for Tennis
19:50 Gathering Data and Scaling Up
22:11 Launching the MVP and Iterating
23:27 Advice for Aspiring AI Entrepreneurs
25:15 Customer Feedback and Data Utilization
26:56 Fundraising Journey and Initial Challenges
29:01 Go-to-Market Strategy and Organic Growth
31:23 Adapting to AI Advancements
36:03 Freemium Model and Product Experiments
41:23 Future Vision and Expansion Plans
44:04 Defensibility and Durability in the Market
49:01 Closing Thoughts and Encouragement for Entrepreneurs
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