A new kind of soccer newsletter for a new kind of soccer fan.

The things I learn as I keep working on my start-up.

As you may or may not know, I am a gigantic TV and movie addict. I also have a degree in Film and Television, attended acting school and in my other life, I was an actor and film-maker. I even wrote, directed and starred in an independent TV pilot that got nowhere. It was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.

The reason why I bring this up is because now, as a journalist, curator and entrepreneur I (consciously and sub-consciously) use everything I have learned from the world of entertainment and apply it to my work. I won’t bore you with ALL my thoughts as you can read most of these takeaways in my previous article. This piece is about a start-up I recently launched and how my love of movies helped me build it. It’s also about understanding the needs of others and treating them as if they were our own.

Before I continue, I just want to let you all know that this is just one philosophy and my product is still developing. I am always hoping for more suggestions from my subscribers as I try and improve JOGA in every way. Additionally, you should all know the spark that lit the proverbial fire was Jeremy Caplan and his Entrepreneurial class at CUNY J-School. His teachings gave me a foundation to build on. For that and much more I am truly grateful. I also want to give major props to Lena Groeger. One workshop from her will blow your mind, trust me.

A quick description of JOGA: your soccer fix:

For the millennial soccer fan, JOGA is a visual sports newsletter that provides the latest soccer news and highlights from your favorite publishers and delivers them to you in one fast, smart, fun package.

I am a big fan of The Skimm and how their founders — Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin — developed their newsletter is truly remarkable. Wouldn’t it be cool to create a curated newsletter for the global soccer fan? Where just like The Skimm, we build a community of loyal readers with a product that isn’t patronizing, that is informative, but most importantly: it’s accessible.

I also wanted to focus on a newsletter that was more visual. A sports newsletter needs to offer more visual elements and less text for two reasons: One, the newsletter reader wants to catch up on news, whilst he/she is getting ready for work/commuting/as they wake up…etc — The use of GIFS, images and curated context makes the experience even more accessible for the reader. Two, users want to consume information much faster than ever before. We want to facilitate the everyday routine of our users by offering an attractive news platform for soccer.

So where do the movies come in? I’m getting there….don’t worry!

We all remember this famous line, right?

Field Of Dreams: great movie, great line. But unfortunately, when it comes to creating my product I wholeheartedly disagree. Building it, my friends, is a small step. We have to go our communities, we have reach out to them, we have to communicate and enter their lives as if they were our friends. We have make it easier and easier for our audience to have access to whatever it is we’re offering. So build it, go to them…and they will stay. It’s not as sexy but it’s the line we need!

This is all very well, but we have to keep it simple. Let’s stop showing off. Remember, all you want to do is make lives EASIER. I’m not saying treat your audience like Derek or Hansel, but rather empathize with people. Just because you understand something, doesn’t mean that they will too.

I leave you with one more: It’s time to FOSTER POSITIVE THINKING. We live in a cynical world, a cynical world…(name the movie) so I wanted to build a soccer product that was cheerleading other people’s work. I love Jason Hirschhorn’s REDEF concept. I love how curating can be both an art of story-telling and a celebration of other people’s work.

Life is Beautiful takes positive thinking to another level. During the Holocaust, Guido — a Jewish librarian — has been separated from his wife Dora, so he convinces his son that time in a concentration camp is just a game. Roberto Benigni is truly remarkable in the film and his Oscar acceptance speech was almost as inspiring.

There is so much sadness in the world, so much anger and judgement. Sometimes, we can open our hand instead of using a fist.

Keep the love moving forward and good luck with whatever it is you’re doing!