Dustin Heise 0:00

Awesome. Well, today I've got a good friend and guest, Victor Bergenzoli. Today's guest is the CEO of Sports Ed TV, Emmy Award winner, and co-founder of the International Sports Technology Association. For more than 30 years, Victor has helped shape the future of sport through technology, education, media, making world-class coaching accessible to athletes, coaches, and parents across the globe. Thanks so much for taking some time today, Victor, and welcome.

Victor Bergonzoli 0:28

Thank you for having me, Dustin. It's a real pleasure. And I'm glad to be back in Vancouver, even if it's virtual.

Dustin Heise 0:34

Absolutely. Well, we're good to have you. And it's a beautiful place. And I know you hail from some beautiful places on the planet. And, you know, as we got some time ahead, you know, you know, Switzerland, I love going there every fall and as often as I can get there. And then now in Miami. And I love being able to meet with guests with so much, you know, breadth of experience. And I feel blessed to get this time with you today. And thanks for taking the time. I know how fast the world moves around us and it's tough to create that space. But I know that people are going to learn so much from you in our chat today. So thanks again. Thank you. I know you know sport has the power to unite people across all sorts of cultures. You know, when was it that you first realized, you know, it could be so much bigger than just competition?

Victor Bergonzoli 1:17

Yes. So as you know, I was the co-founder of Dartfish. And last Olympics, Dartfish helped 70% of the medals winners. Absolutely. And uh when I was at Dartfish, I'm like, you know, we are helping all these people, but sports unite the world. And the last World Cup organized by Canada, the US, and Mexico is one more proof. You see these fans coming together and cheering and you know, being friends. And I was like, you know, we can do more than just helping the top of the top. We have to help everybody. And I had a personal experience. My son wanted to play lacrosse. And I'm from Switzerland. He was born in the US. I'm like, why lacrosse? Why don't you want to play soccer? Something I know. And he's like, no, no, dad. So what did I do? I tried to find things I can do with him on the internet. Back then there was only YouTube, no TikTok, no Instagram. But it was very tough to find the right videos. That gave us and me the, you know, the mission saying, you know, we need to do something, a platform where people can go safely and it's completely dedicated to sports education. That's what gave me the spark to start Sports Ed TV.

Dustin Heise 2:34

You know, as you've talked about that, like your son being that that impetus and that spark for the need or just the obvious need, what made it so convincing and the conviction to make sure that education should never be limited to geography or cost?

Victor Bergonzoli 2:51

Yeah. Well, I lived in India for two years. And when when I lived in India, I was lucky because I was an expat living in a very nice mansion, but I was surrounded by poverty. And I was in New Delhi. What you saw is on the street, these little kids playing cricket. So I was always asking my driver, tell me this rule, tell me this. And you realize when you travel a lot, you know, I travel to Morocco, I travel to Egypt, you realize that there's one thing in common is kids want to play. And it's too sad yet in many countries where you see a lot of little boys playing, but less little girls. So they all need one thing, they all need to have access to this education. And in the US, it's the same. You have neighborhoods where kids don't have the means to go to soccer camps or basketball camps, or they play on the street, yet they are extremely good. And you know, if we can help these kids get better, unite them. Sports has no, you know, no color. Sports is once you're on the pit, it's everybody together.

Dustin Heise 4:02

I don't think there's a better medium to bring humans together. There's lots of great mediums, but nothing en masse like this. We saw that, like you just mentioned with firsthand with the World Cup. You know, and as you're looking back at your journey, what felt risky at the time, but ended up, you know, changing the trajectory of your career. And I know you've had a lot of different entrepreneurial experiences and success. Just share maybe one moment that was very obvious of, you know, it seemed overwhelmingly challenging or risky, but you ultimately look back now and you see the blessings that it's produced.

Victor Bergonzoli 4:35

When you're an entrepreneur, the the thing you always tell yourself, if I could go back, would I do it again? And a lot of people would say, I'm not sure about that. I was having a great job in India with the country manager for a big telecommunication company making good money. Sure. And at that time I said, you know what, I'm gonna leave that and we are going to create Dartfish. And we're going to raise money. I left without even having enough money for one year of salary. So to take the risk, you're like, I need to dive in. Yeah. And my main partner, he had four kids when he did that. Four kids, young kids. And I was always amazed that he would do it. And you know, once you go, you row, and there is no turning back. And we changed the lives of so many people. And you're in Vancouver. I remember being in the Canada house when John Montgomery won the gold medal.

Dustin Heise 5:33

Absolutely.

Victor Bergonzoli 5:34

And he sees me with a I had a Dartfish logo on my shirt. He says, Hey, are you with Dartfish? And he had this gold medal. And I'm like, Yes. Because I didn't tell him who I was. And he's like, Oh, shoot my hand. He's like, I need to shake your hand. Without you, I wouldn't have this gold medal. So that was 10 years later, after creating Dartfish. That moment, I'm like, I know why I did it. Yeah. You know, I I know why I knew why I took that risk. That's one of the best moments I still remember, and I will remember forever.

Dustin Heise 6:03

That's such a goosebump moment. Thanks for sharing that, Victor. I mean, I know that you've taken lots of risk over the years to make sure that you can succeed. And I know that so many people see the success now. And when you look back and you've worked across business, technology, and sport, what would you say is the leadership lesson out of that experience that you know has helped you most in the boardroom per se, you know, when you're dealing with, you know, raising funds or making sure that the board can see the vision and is willing to take on that risk and that challenge with you.

Victor Bergonzoli 6:38

Yes. The one word is resilience.

Dustin Heise 6:40

Yeah.

Victor Bergonzoli 6:41

I was I was a competitive weightlifter growing up from the age of 12. I had to take the train by myself to the main city of Lausanne, to the small city, but for us it's a good city in Switzerland. Absolutely. Then take a bus, go for training for a few hours, and take the bus back and the train back. And that was, you know, four times a week at the age of 12 to 16. I was in the top ten in Switzerland in the in weightlifting. It's a small country, it was not too many of us. So it was not too competitive. Still, it's it's pretty awesome. That's resilience. You know, it's like you do it and you do it and you do it and you don't stop. And that's a life lesson. Everybody who has done sport at a young age, and if it's a team sport, I would say it adds even more to it because you you can work with teams. If it's a sports like weightlifting, you have to learn how to be tough and you know you fight against yourself, nobody else.

Dustin Heise 7:41

That's it.

Victor Bergonzoli 7:42

And uh that always you know stayed with me. Later on, when I went to college, I worked four nights a week to pay for my college. Then, you know, I went to the army, I became a Swiss Army captain. Every time that stayed with me. When I, you know, then worked in the bank and worked in India and that that stayed, and it's still with me. And I'm still very, very active, and sport is part of my life. I I start my day, I wake up at 4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning, and I start with a long walk. I do five miles or eight kilometers. Yep, you bet. And so I start.

Dustin Heise 8:15

And that resilience, of course, the physical component of it is so important as it's so imperative to the mental component of it. What was some of that self-talk as you just continue to maybe stay down the dartfish path for a second? Like as you were continuing to build the company in those earlier days, what was that self-talk that you would use when there was a little bit less certainty? Or what would be the evidence that you would, you know, use to tell yourself and your business partner, like, no, we got this?

Victor Bergonzoli 8:43

Clan's feedback and clan success. That's what motivates you. You know, when you can change lives, you know, one of my first steps, and first of all, the team around was amazing. So nobody develops anything by themselves. So the team, but I went to the US Olympic Committee and then the Canadian Olympic Committee because I was, you know, first in charge of the North American market and sitting with them and you know, learning the journey of so many Olympians. Not these people don't make money. I mean, as you know, you know, if they win a gold medal and they get sponsorship, but as compared to NBA athletes or NFL and even NFL players in 1999 were not making the money that they make now. So it was, but Olympians, I saw Olympians sleeping judo people sleeping in the car. And when you do that and and you see that, you're like, my life is easier.

Dustin Heise 9:41

Yeah.

Victor Bergonzoli 9:41

I'm developing technology, but I'm helping these people. So the the joy you can bring, it's very much like uh a therapist helping their clients, or when you are helping somebody in need, it brings you so much joy that it's it's dopamine for me. That's the same concept as we do for sports at TV, you know, when we can help and it brings.

Dustin Heise 10:03

I love that. You know, you've you've solved so many problems. You know, what do you see for youth sport today? And where would you see the future of youth sport if you could continue to make the biggest difference in that? What are some of the unlocks that you see as as most imperative?

Victor Bergonzoli 10:20

I think the main issue I see today is cost.

Dustin Heise 10:26

Yeah.

Victor Bergonzoli 10:26

It's becoming impossible for many, many families to get in the system of you know pay-to-play as an example. So you, you know, you have to pay more and more and more and more. And in the US, it's different, even because they all hope for a scholarship, and they're like, oh, I'm gonna invest so much money, but I'm gonna get a return. When you count everything you're spending in youth sports and then you know, high school years and going to camps and clinics, and it's like it's impossible to get a good return when you look at the number of people who get a scholarship. And that that makes them spend too much, and you have a lot of people who don't have access to that. Sports should be a right for everyone with yeah. Accessibility. So when we developed sports at TV, one of the points we made, we said it has to be free. Education should be free. Yes. Chicago public school, to give you an example, that's the third largest school districts in the US. And they're using, we develop a curriculum, they approached us and they say, Hey, we love your content. We have been looking around and you have basketball and volleyball, really we love it. Do you have a curriculum? And we didn't have any specific curriculum, but we developed one for them based on their needs, and they started using it, and now we have 35% of the teachers signed up on Sportslet TV and started using it. That's fantastic. And some of these school programs, you don't have money to buy basketballs. That's to tell you, you know, how hard it is. And we speak about one of those richest countries on earth. So accessibility for me is is key. And we need that worldwide.

Dustin Heise 12:09

And you're building a legacy, but what do you hope is the legacy through sports ed TV for the next generation of athletes and coaches?

Victor Bergonzoli 12:18

I hope that they change their lives. I don't want necessarily people to become a professional player. I mean, it's so rare. If that's a byproduct, great. But exactly great. But I know that women who are C-level position in the world, 95% of them played sports as a young person. And I'm the the father of a daughter who played who played sport. Sports help you, shapes you, makes you a different person, a better human being. And I believe that if we can help more people access good coaching, parenting advice like we have on Sports Head TV, then I'm happy. And if one day in 15 years somebody sees me on, you know, crossing the road when I'm doing one of my walks and sees a Sports Ed TV logo on my shirts and says, Oh, are you with Sportset TV, like John Montgomery did when he saw my Dartfish logo? I'm gonna be happy. That means that, you know, we we did something good for them.

Dustin Heise 13:21

We've no doubt that you're going to have that kind of impact because your intent is there and you've got the the tools that are creating the access to evictor. You know, we're really grateful for people and leaders like yourself because at the end of the day, you know, very similar intent on my side. It's about the impact that we get to have in people's lives. Sport is the medium and the way that we collaborate and contribute together and the role that you and Sports Ed TV are playing in that, it's just going to continue to help unlock so much for young people, people that support and help guide young people. And we're on the same page as far as the power of sport. Just a couple quick questions here. In one year's time, what do you hope would be a defining moment that you've experienced through sports ed TV or the next phase of your career? I'm going to ask that on kind of a similar, kind of a five-year time horizon as well. Where do you hope that you've been able to make that next phase of impact?

Victor Bergonzoli 14:21

Yes, we are putting a lot of emphasis on schools and education. So we just signed an agreement with Shape America. That's 200,000 members, most of all the physical education teachers in the US. I hope that we can really get them to embrace what we are bringing them, and that in one year I can see a large percentage of them saying, you know, we are using the platform and we really like it a lot. That's in the short term, that's very important for me. And in in five years is being able to at least triple the size of the videos and you know what we have as blogs. We have today 800 plus videos, almost 900 videos that we film, produce, and they are all cinema quality. And then we have 1800 articles with more than 400 contributors. So, you know, I really want to triple that size of you know every sport, including snowboard, by the way. Yeah, absolutely. Is on the platform.

Dustin Heise 15:23

Absolutely. Well, we can't thank you enough, Victor, for the you know, the intent around the good work that you're doing and leading. I look forward to many more years of collaborating and making sure that we can perpetuate the good work that you are doing and look forward to to having you here in Vancouver, getting on snow with you and uh and seeing what we can do together as we continue to lead in sport and you know hope that people can continue to to grow together and in you know in a in a good way and a healthy way through uh through this incredible medium sport. Thanks so much, my friend.

Victor Bergonzoli 15:54

Great. Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed our conversation. Likewise.