Background
Competing in the Connected World was one of my favorite MBA classes because it taught us how to solve business problems as the physical and virtual worlds combine forces to make lives better. We were tasked to come up with a product that would utilize smart technology to solve a consumer problem.
Problem
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is a youth sports organization where young individuals play pickup games in a determination to improve their skills and showcase their talent to professional scouts.
Serious players focus more of their time and energy on this organization over their high school teams. College and professional basketball have started using smart technologies to track performance data, but this technology is too expensive for the AAU audience. My team decided to develop a product that can be scaled to the youth level in a cost-efficient method for players, parents or scouts to track performance and make data-driven decisions.
Solution
We developed a conceptual product that combines players and the court using smart components. The ecosystem consists of an instrumented court, basketball, shoe insoles and wristbands.
Revenue generation would come from data monetization and third-party selling to scouts, colleges, professional and brands.
