Episode
#292: Thomas Shields – Building Pickleball's Biggest Media Company
58:54
Published: Fri Dec 23 2022
Description
Thomas Shields is the creator of The Dink – the biggest pickleball media company in the world. In this conversation, we spoke about why pickleball is everywhere, how he got his first 1,000 subscribers, his biggest mistake, and the most exciting moments of building his company. (0:00) Intro (2:31) Starting A Pickleball Media Company (4:14) Why Has Pickleball Taken Over? (5:34) Gary V, Tom Brady, & Kevin Durant Buying Pickleball Teams (7:02) Going Into Other Sports? (9:41) Getting First 1,000 Subscribers (13:54) Life Before Starting The Dink (21:15) What Are You Optimizing For? (22:23) Getting MBA & Entrepreneur (25:45) The Dink Taking Off (27:50) What To Do On Bad Days (29:50) Most Exciting Moments (31:45 )Process For Making Money (33:34) Microacquire (36:13) Reasons Why The Dink Is Successful (39:23) Expanding On Pickleball (40:13) Why? (43:07) Training For Austin Marathon (46:01) Ideal Scenario In 1 Year (50:31) Biggest Mistake (53:03) Creator vs. Business (56:41) Challenge - Thomas’ Links Twitter: https://twitter.com/readmynewslettr Website: https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/ + https://upswingsports.com/ - SPONSOR: This episode is brought to you by My First Million. This is the podcast that I listen to and recommend whenever I want to learn more about business, technology, or the future. Sam Parr and Shaan Puri are hilarious, informative, and interesting. Check it out: https://link.chtbl.com/MFM?sid=Danny-Miranda - My Links ✉️ Newsletter: https://dannymiranda.substack.com 🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/dannymiranda 🎥 YouTube: https://youtube.com/dannymiranda 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/heydannymiranda 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/heydannymiranda 🕺 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@heydannymiranda
Chapters
Thomas Shields, the creator of the dink, a pickleball media company, shares how he started the business and the passion for the sport that fueled its growth.
00:00 - 03:35 (03:35)
Summary
Thomas Shields, the creator of the dink, a pickleball media company, shares how he started the business and the passion for the sport that fueled its growth.
Episode#292: Thomas Shields – Building Pickleball's Biggest Media Company
PodcastThe Danny Miranda Podcast
The speaker discusses the rise of pickleball and how it is being portrayed almost like propaganda in the mainstream media.
03:35 - 11:32 (07:57)
Summary
The speaker discusses the rise of pickleball and how it is being portrayed almost like propaganda in the mainstream media. He also mentions the low barrier to entry and receiving DMs promoting pickleball-related content.
Episode#292: Thomas Shields – Building Pickleball's Biggest Media Company
PodcastThe Danny Miranda Podcast
The guest reminisces about his early entrepreneurial ventures, including selling hockey cards and creating community-focused products in college that gave back to the community while helping people rep their city.
11:32 - 21:17 (09:45)
Summary
The guest reminisces about his early entrepreneurial ventures, including selling hockey cards and creating community-focused products in college that gave back to the community while helping people rep their city.
Episode#292: Thomas Shields – Building Pickleball's Biggest Media Company
PodcastThe Danny Miranda Podcast
The hosts discuss working full-time, putting in extra hours at night and realizing when their business was taking off.
21:18 - 33:01 (11:43)
Summary
The hosts discuss working full-time, putting in extra hours at night and realizing when their business was taking off. They also explore the concept of autopilot and how it can be both productive and unproductive.
Episode#292: Thomas Shields – Building Pickleball's Biggest Media Company
PodcastThe Danny Miranda Podcast
In this episode, the host talks about how he remains unhappy when he is not constantly busy and how finding purpose in life is important for him.
33:01 - 44:02 (11:00)
Summary
In this episode, the host talks about how he remains unhappy when he is not constantly busy and how finding purpose in life is important for him. He suggests the option of buying a small business to give one's life purpose besides explaining that a deeper reason for pursuing a goal is very important.
Episode#292: Thomas Shields – Building Pickleball's Biggest Media Company
PodcastThe Danny Miranda Podcast
The speaker finds it challenging to balance the guilt of taking breaks and the need to progress the business.
44:02 - 58:09 (14:07)
Summary
The speaker finds it challenging to balance the guilt of taking breaks and the need to progress the business. However, focusing on creating enjoyable content is what motivates them to continue building the business.
Episode#292: Thomas Shields – Building Pickleball's Biggest Media Company
PodcastThe Danny Miranda Podcast
Visit thedinkpickleball.com to learn about the fast-growing sport of pickleball.
58:09 - 58:50 (00:40)
Summary
Visit thedinkpickleball.com to learn about the fast-growing sport of pickleball.