The Future of Sports: Eric Recker of Indicaloud On The New Emerging Technologies That Are Disrupting The World Of Sports
Never Stop Grinding. Starting a business and maintaining a successful business is hard work. If you aren’t willing to put in the work and set the tone for your business, no one else will work hard to make your business a success. It’s up to you and your leadership team to set the tone!
New technologies have changed the way we engage in and watch sports. Sensors, Wearable Tech, Video Assistant Referees (VAR), and Instant Replay, are examples of new technologies that have changed the way we play and watch sports. In this interview series called, “The Future of Sports; New Emerging Technologies That Are Disrupting The World Of Sports,” we are talking to sports leaders, athletes, sports tech experts, and sports equipment companies who can talk about the new technologies that are reshaping the sports world.
As a part of this interview, we had the pleasure of interviewing Eric Recker.
Eric Recker is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations at Indicaloud, a premier producer of U.S. grown, high-quality delta 8 and hemp-based products. Through his experiences driving strategic growth for startups, Eric uniquely understands the complexity of building a successful business in an emerging industry like cannabis. Prior to Indicaloud, Eric managed and built sales teams at Catapult Sport and Sports Performance Tracking, helping to leverage data and analytics to support athletic performance. Eric specializes in launching new operations, increasing sales and consumer presence, and information technology. He holds a business degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Business.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Personally, I’ve always been interested in the cannabis industry. My path was a different one than many in this industry but my career up to this point was in consulting and sports technology. Sports had been my passion and a big part of my life from the time I was a young boy. Over the years in sports, cannabis has always been frowned upon and caused many athletes to lose their careers just because they were looking to reduce the pain of an ailment or to enjoy recreationally to relax. That didn’t sit well with me and I started researching the cannabis industry further while still pursuing my sports technology career. I noticed quickly through tedious research, that many cannabinoids including Delta-8 THC, CBD, CBG, CBN, THC, etc… can and will help with many sports ailments and would be highly beneficial to athletes. It drove me to research further and as luck would have it, I met my current business partner who was already in the process of starting a health & wellness distribution company that was heavily focused in cannabinoids. As we continued to grow our health & wellness company, we noticed that it was difficult to find high-quality and reliable cannabis products, which is why we decided to launch Indicaloud
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
This isn’t the one most interesting story that has happened to me but more of a line of stories. The cannabis industry can be taboo to many people including people in your inner circle (family, friends, etc…). It was difficult for me at the onset of this business to explain what I did because so many people have a biased and uneducated opinion on what the Cannabis Industry is. In some cases, I was hesitant to tell friends and family because of what they would think, rather than taking the time to educate them on the “why”. I learned pretty quickly that many people have a negative opinion of this industry because they haven’t educated themselves on the benefits and reasons why people use cannabis. I’ve learned to not steer away from the conversation but work to educate people why this is an amazing industry and how so many people can benefit from cannabis.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Don’t trust everything that
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’ve been lucky in my career to be part of many startups and within many of those startups, worked with some very dynamic leaders. I’ve been able to pick and pull great qualities and advice from each of them but my father has been the most influential in my life. He was an entrepreneur during a part of his life and his trials and tribulations taught me a lot about how to run a business. For most people, you learn from the successes and failures in business and hopefully don’t repeat the same mistakes. The one thing that he taught me and I learned from his experience was to always pick your business partners wisely and make sure that you surround yourself with great people in business. I believe that we have something special at Indicaloud with the great people in our organization.
Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
One of the most influential books that I’ve read is “Getting Naked” by Patrick Lencioni. The book is about being vulnerable and honest in business. In business, regardless of what industry you’re in, it’s always difficult to partner with the right people and to put full trust in those partnerships. I’ve always been in the camp of being an open book in business. I believe that if you’re honest and you are vulnerable when you don’t have all of the answers, that you draw in the right partners who work the same way. Ego can get in the way of a successful business and if you and your partners drop that at the door, I believe you can be very successful.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Work Ethic: Starting a business and maintaining a successful business is hard work. If you aren’t willing to put in the work and set the tone for your business, no one else will work hard to make your business a success. It’s up to you and your leadership team to set the tone!
Innovative: Consistently research and be looking at ways to improve your business with new products. Look outside of your core business group and seek out what consumers are craving. Many businesses succeed but to stay successful, you have to set and stay ahead of trends in the market.
Listen to Your Customer. Rather than only looking at your internal team for answers, ask the customer what they want, what are new trends in the market, what kind of products would they like to see… You can get so bogged down by your day-to-day that you forget to go out and seek what customers are looking for.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I’ve always believed in giving back to the community and helping those in need. Whether it be volunteering at a local soup kitchen or being a Big Brother in the “Big Brother and Big Sisters” organization. When you’re leading multiple companies, it can become overwhelming at times but you always need to set aside time to help out your community.
Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about the sports technologies that most excite you at the moment? Can you explain why you are passionate about it?
There is so much great sports technology in the world right now. From AI Visual data tracking technology to wearable performance technology to cognitive/ concussion technology. Sports technology is in a great place and consistently innovating. The most interesting technology to me is around pain and injury management. Whether it be from long-term pain due to extensive wear and tear to managing cognitive injury. Many athletes especially in football and other high-impact sports have to deal with long-term pain due to extensive wear and tear. Unfortunately, many of these athletes are prescribed opiates and other harmful addictive pain remedies. I believe wholeheartedly that cannabis and hemp-derived products are a much better short-term and long-term solution for pain management. They don’t have the same addictive qualities and in many cases can relieve the pain more effectively.
How do you think this might change the world of sports?
You’re already seeing the landscape of sports being changed when it comes to load management, injury prevention, and pain management. I believe that teams are building smarter and more aware athletes who are putting less stress on their bodies than in the past, all due to data collected with the technologies mentioned above. In the cannabis industry, similar technology is out there that can detect which cannabinoids interact with your body the best. For an athlete, if you learn your endocannabinoid makeup, then you can understand which cannabis products will work best to manage your specific pain or ailment. There is still a long way to go but I do believe cannabis will be the wave of the future for athlete pain management.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Like anything technology-driven, the biggest concern is around data integrity and security. This is always a threat with technology but I do believe that security companies are doing a great job to keep individual health data private. As sports technology and athlete health technology continue to enhance, so will the security data to ensure that this data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the sports industry today? Can you explain? What can be done to address or correct those concerns?
Pain Management — Too many team doctors and athletes are prescribing and using harmful pain medication that will have long-lasting harmful effects on athletes. I believe that alternatives like cannabis need to become more consistent alternatives to prevent long term harm to athletes.
Old School Mentality — Too many coaches in professional, collegiate, and youth sports are not utilizing the technology and knowledge around them to improve performance and longevity with athletes. It can be difficult to implement a new way of doing things but coaches need to take time to adopt new technologies and education to improve the health and safety of athletes.
Individual Sport Focus in Youth Sports — If you look at many of the most prominent athletes in professional sports, they grew up playing multiple sports. This enabled them to become more well-rounded athletes, improving their performance and athletic ability. Many youth athletes are being pressured to choose 1 sport to focus on and play that sport year round. My concern is that athletes will not be as well rounded and will ultimately decrease the level of performance at the professional level.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Be Patient. This is the same with any new business but especially when you’re breaking into an industry with little experience. You have to build respect and trust with those you do business with and that takes time. We have been lucky enough to build strong fruitful relationships but that took a lot of effort and patience to get to the point we are today.
- Not Every Opportunity is the Right Opportunity. I, much like many entrepreneurs, don’t want to have wasted opportunities and don’t want to miss out on opportunities. This can sometimes lead down a path of wasting time on the wrong opportunity while you could’ve spent that time and effort improving another facet of your business.
- Listen to Your Customer. Rather than only looking at your internal team for answers, ask the customer what they want, what are new trends in the market, what kind of products would they like to see… You can get so bogged down by your day-to-day that you forget to go out and seek what customers are looking for.
- Be Innovative. Consistently research and be looking at ways to improve your business with new products. Look outside of your core business group and seek out what consumers are craving. Many businesses succeed but to stay successful, you have to set and stay ahead of trends in the market.
- Never Stop Grinding. Starting a business and maintaining a successful business is hard work. If you aren’t willing to put in the work and set the tone for your business, no one else will work hard to make your business a success. It’s up to you and your leadership team to set the tone!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
In this industry, there are still so many unknowns. Will Marijuana be federally legal, what will happen to cannabinoids like Delta8, will more states continue to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana. What I would like to start, is the movement of to legalize all cannabinoids and educate the masses on the benefits and values associated to Cannabinoids. I heard a story today of a little girl who was going through a tough battle with terminal cancer. She was in constant pain and was unable to be comfortable through normal pharmaceutics, which is a story that you hear way too often. Her family was devastated that she couldn’t get comfortable during her final days. They took matters into their own hands and provided her with RSO during her final days, to be more comfortable. This should not be a taboo method to handle pain and should be available to those that need it. My movement would include the ability for this type of treatment to be readily available and cannabinoids to be a normal part of society.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)
I would most like to sit down with Charlie Bachtell from Cresco Labs. He has built an amazing business in the cannabis industry despite the many hurdles that the cannabis industry faces. I would love to sit down with Charlie and learn more about his journey building an industry leading business.
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
