Moments - The Journey

The Ball is in your court. I think we all know why people start blogging—fame, extravagant wealth and of course Sydney Sweeney. Honestly, I'm not even sure why I'm typing this out. AI could generate content 100 times better in seconds. But you need to know about Moments Athletics right now. Like LeBron, you're only on page one, by the time you finish reading, you'll want to invest a boat load of money (2025 equivalent of 150 M's) and shout from rooftops about how Moments revolutionizes tennis.

Like many successful startups, Moments began in college, specifically in dorm room Hawkes 449 just in case anyone from the National Historical Society reads this. One rainy spring Sunday, I woke up violently hungover and started brainstorming ideas. Some promised more than others like- a video doorbell or a food delivery app (has anyone built these yet?). Avoiding the homework due later that day, one concept kept occupying my thoughts: a social media platform for VR. Knowing I needed technical expertise, I looked to the most obvious place—and ladies please keep your pants on for the duration of this sentence- my D3 tennis team. There I found an extremely competent and passionate co-founder in Sharan.

Time passed, and we discovered that building a successful social media app requires luck, money, and a super genius who might be: A) a lizard person, B) a robot, or C) a total weirdo—bonus points for all three. The app stalled because we lacked both funding and technical skills for such an ambitious project. Returning to the list, a sentence both boardrooms and serial killers use, another idea emerged from those hangover scaries: an all-in-one tennis training app where users could film, analyze, and play within an immersive environment. I pitched this concept to Sharan, and that's how Moments truly began. Years from now, when someone stumbles upon this corner of the internet, I hope time travel exists so you can invest.

Once we agreed on the basics, establishing a user agreement and planning the different colors of our future Porsches, we needed to define the app's core features. Tennis players across the globe lack the ability to film and upload tennis videos into a shared community, advanced analytical tools allowing them to train smarter and a consistent practice area. Naturally we built our core features off of those three ideas. A VR video player to view all practices, matches, missed dropshots and winners in one place. AI video indexing and analysis allows users to seamlessly edit videos, trimming down the video to the bare necessities. Users can find detailed match reports offering advanced statistics and integrated features in VR. Normally to access this kind of technology you need a 7 figure trust fund. Well known that tennis unequivocally costs a lot, Sharan and I decided that we would make this technology available for all. I'll pause for applause now.

Like any soon-to-be massive project, we started with THE idea, the one to rule them all. We refined our concept, both expanding and trimming the features list until we developed what would become our pride and joy. The main features emerged: an immersive video player, advanced match statistics, and a practice simulator.

Features Basic user flow The next logical step involved building preliminary user flows. Creating clear, well-defined user pathways truly breaks backs. You can see the basic user flow we decided on.

Preliminary market feedback: Now the fun really begins. We conducted preliminary market research by leveraging our network as collegiate athletes. Teammates, coaches (hypothetically speaking, NCAA compliance officers), former coaches, friends, and mentors all provided valuable insights. What we discovered: players desperately need affordable, quality tennis resources, specifically within an immersive environment. Promising, right? We certainly think so.

Investment meetings: No startup story completes itself without investment. Naturally, Sharan and I took a long, hard look in the mirror and decided we needed quality people to invest in us. We took some meetings, raised capital, and never looked back.

Began construction of POC Finally, after one and a half months of groundwork, we started the preliminary build. A bare-bones showcase demonstrating the potential power of immersive film review.

February: Finished first version of video player Just like many first-time experiences, development took much less time than we anticipated. While not a fully finished product, having a proof of concept opened doors to new opportunities: potential investments, partnerships, and crucial meetings.

Started simulator building: Credit goes to Sharan here. He championed the simulator. Tennis players often struggle with factors beyond their control: court access, coaching availability, and weather conditions. Our simulator addresses these challenges, supported by a metric ton of data confirming VR training benefits for athletes.

March: Finished construction of simulator March brought St. Patrick's Day and the completion of our simulator. Users can now hit 90% of all balls in the virtual environment. Next steps include increasing user accuracy and realistic ball feel. We're looking to hire a talented VR developer. If you know anyone suitable, send them our way.