Choosly Pitch Deck Teardown: Solving the E-commerce Athlete

Executive Summary: The Digital Athlete Endorsement Gap

Choosly's pitch deck addresses a specific inefficiency in the sports marketing and e-commerce sectors. While brands invest tens of billions of dollars in athlete sponsorships, that investment often fails to reach the final 'buy' button on a retail website. Choosly proposes a widget-based or API-driven solution to inject professional athlete content into the e-commerce flow. The deck is highly visual, relying on 'before and after' mockups to prove its point, but it leaves significant questions regarding technical implementation and unit economics unanswered.

Slide 1: Title Slide

The deck opens with a simple, high-contrast logo and the tagline: "RE-INTRODUCING Powerful Content for E-commerce." The use of "Re-introducing" suggests a pivot or a significant update to a previous iteration of the product. The branding is clean, using a teal and orange palette against a black background.

Slide 2: The Hook - What makes it sell?

This slide uses the classic George Foreman Grill as a case study. It shows the product alone versus the product with George Foreman. It establishes the foundational thesis of the company: products sell better when associated with a recognizable, trusted face. This is a standard marketing principle applied as a 'Why Now' or 'Problem' hook.

Slide 3: Market Context - Brand Spending

Choosly quantifies the opportunity by citing that $51.1bn was spent on sports sponsorship rights in 2012 (citing Meenaghan 2013). By featuring a stylized image of Tiger Woods, the deck emphasizes that brands are already spending the money; Choosly is simply proposing a way to make that spend more effective at the point of sale.

Slide 4: Traditional Retail Methods

This slide illustrates how physical retail uses "Cut-Outs, Posters, Graphics, and Pamphlets" to leverage athlete endorsements. It shows a NASCAR driver cutout in a Home Depot, reminding the investor that this strategy is proven in the physical world but lacks a digital equivalent.

Slide 5: The Problem - What's Missing Online?

Choosly shows a screenshot of a standard e-commerce page for a "Blades Wild Thing Cyber Senior Football Boot" on a site called Sportsmans Warehouse. The page is functional but sterile, lacking any of the 'Brand Power' mentioned in previous slides. This sets the stage for the Choosly solution.

Slides 6, 7, and 8: The Solution - Pro Images, Reviews, and Video

These three slides demonstrate the Choosly product in action via mockups. Slide 6 shows a row of "Professional players who use the Wild Thing." Slide 7 introduces an "Adrian Peterson Product Review" with specific stats for Comfort, Performance, Speed, and Support. Slide 8 adds a video component. The Choosly logo is pointed toward these new elements, clearly defining their contribution to the page layout.

Slide 9: The Value Proposition - Conversion Uplift

This is the 'money slide.' It claims a 100% conversion uplift (indicated by a large upward arrow) and references a $278bn market size citing IBIS World. It also mentions an 11.6% figure, though the specific context for that percentage is not explicitly labeled on the slide, presumably referring to a specific segment of e-commerce growth or current conversion rates.

Slides 10 and 11: Dynamic Content - Brand Power!

These slides show how Choosly can dynamically change content across multiple retailers (Sports Authority, Rebel, Dick's) simultaneously. Slide 10 shows Stuart Appleby "winning today," while Slide 11 shows Phil Mickelson "winning tomorrow." This highlights the platform's ability to keep retail content fresh and relevant based on real-world sports results, a significant pain point for manual web management.

Slide 12: The Ecosystem - Content + Licensing + Product = $$

Choosly outlines its partners and revenue components. It features logos for Adidas, Nike, Callaway, and Spartan, alongside Getty Images and VBM (Velocity Brand Management). This suggests that Choosly acts as the technical bridge between content owners (Getty), brand managers (VBM), and the retailers.

Slides 13 and 14: Distribution and Business Model

Slide 13 introduces the "CPM MODEL" and shows a 55% penetration or target for Australia, with empty bars for the US, Europe, and Asia. Slide 14 expands this to show 100% across all regions, powered by integrations with Shopify and Bigcommerce . This indicates a platform-play strategy where Choosly scales by being an app in a larger ecosystem.

Slide 15: The Team

The team is split into Founders and Advisors. Rory Houston and Lucas T are both former Air Force, bringing operational discipline. David Boyd provides the technical backbone with IBM experience. The advisors are the highlight here, specifically Andrew Bogut (#1 NBA Draft Pick), which gives the company immediate credibility in the sports world they are targeting.

Slide 16: The Ask

Choosly is seeking $600,000 . The slide provides a simple bar chart showing the allocation: the majority goes to Development , followed by Design and Ops . There are no specific dollar amounts for each category, only relative bar sizes.

Slide 17: Contact Slide

The deck concludes with the logo and links to their AngelList (angel.co/choosly) and Gust profiles. No direct email or phone number is provided on the slide.

What Works in the Choosly Deck

Clear Visual Proof: The 'before and after' mockups of the Sportsmans Warehouse site make the product's value immediately obvious to anyone who has shopped online. · Strong Advisor Bench: Having a high-profile athlete like Andrew Bogut as an advisor is a major signal for a sports-tech startup. It suggests the founders have the necessary connections to navigate complex licensing deals. · Specific Niche: Instead of trying to be a general e-commerce tool, Choosly focuses entirely on the 'Athlete-to-Retail' gap, which is a well-defined and lucrative problem.

What is Missing from the Choosly Deck

Unit Economics: While a 'CPM Model' is mentioned, there is no detail on what the CPM is, how much Getty or the athletes take as a cut, or what the margin is for Choosly. · Competitive Landscape: The deck assumes no one else is doing this. In reality, companies like Bazaarvoice or various 'shoppable content' platforms offer similar features. Choosly needs to explain why their sports-specific focus is a moat. · Traction Data: The 100% conversion uplift is a bold claim. Investors would want to see if this was from a live pilot or a theoretical projection. The deck lacks any mention of current revenue or active pilot users. · Technical Implementation: There is no mention of how the data is actually delivered. Is it an iframe? A JS snippet? An API? For a technical product, these details matter for retail adoption.

Founder Takeaways: What to Copy

The 'Side-by-Side' Comparison: If your product improves an existing interface, show them side-by-side. Slides 5 through 8 are the strongest part of the deck because they require zero explanation. · Leverage Industry Icons: If you are in a niche like sports, fashion, or music, your advisor slide is as important as your founder slide. Choosly does this well by highlighting Andrew Bogut's status. · Quantify the 'Lost Opportunity': By citing the $51bn sponsorship spend, Choosly isn't just asking for money; they are pointing out a massive pile of cash that is currently being wasted. This creates urgency.