Pat Flynn is the VP of Business Development at Varsity Partners, where he is a part of building fan strategy, revenue generation, and current efforts to elevate organization's or campus'.
Pat has a wide-range of leadership experience in both the sports industry and Silicon Valley, having worked at Under Armour for over seven years, Learfield IMG College, Lime and currently Varsity Partners.
Sports Industry Journey:
Education
Bachelor's Degree | Business/Corporate Comm. | University of Arizona - 2009
Career
Customer Service Representative | Under Armour
Global Sports Marketing Manager, Collegiate | Under Armour
Senior Manager of Global Sports Marketing, Collegiate | Under Armour
Executive Director of Business Development, University Partnership Group | Learfield IMG
Director of Business Development, University Partnerships | Lime
Vice President of Business Development | Varsity Partners
Twitter: @PatFlynn_
LinkedIn: Patrick Flynn
What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?
A recent ‘favorite failure’ of mine was being laid off from Lime earlier in 2020. It was the first time I was asked to leave a company and that is something that will make you evaluate a lot about yourself, your past, and your future.
Sometimes a restart like this is crucial to figuring out your path forward. It forces you to look in the mirror and determine the next chapter in your story. I am grateful that I now have this badge of experience that I can carry with me to learn from in future experiences for myself and others.
If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere in the world with anything on it – and you could get a message out to millions or billions – what would it say and why?
Wow, heavy question! If I had this opportunity I would have it say whatever the person or organization (that I sell that ad space to) wants it to say.
What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.)
Spending time with interns and entry-level employees at some of my past companies. I think it is essential to spend time with the youngest generation at any company to get perspective from future consumers, partners, or clients. Excited to see names like Lauren DeCarlo, Kevin Reese, Michael Cunningham, Rachel Skolaski, Jake Bocianski, and many others flourish in their respective careers after spending time with them during their first internships or roles at former companies.
This was a lesson a former boss, Mike McBride (now Sr. Assoc AD, University of Houston) showed me. When he, and others along my path, took the time to invest in me and believe in me, I felt it was my obligation to not let them down and make each place better than I found it.
What are your morning rituals? What do the first 60 minutes of your day look like?
Quarantine has obviously changed things. Right now the three most consistent rituals are Zoom, coffee and oatmeal. Being on the West Coast, I try to catch up with my East Coast friends, partners, and family as much as possible to jump start my mornings when I need a boost.
Is there an idea, belief, or trend in the sports industry that you feel strongly about, that others may not agree with and think you're crazy for thinking/saying it?
Leaving an organization early or being at too many organizations is a bad look for your career. Obviously my track record over the past 3 years proves I believe this :) Although I never intended to leave Learfield IMG within a year of being there, I made a decision to leave because of an opportunity that I could not pass up. In life, we never know when these opportunities will be available and despite whatever long term plans you have for yourself or your career; the bigger the risk typically leads to the bigger the reward.
Being offered the opportunity to build the college strategy for one of the fastest-growing companies ever formed, that had just received $777M investment from Uber was one of those opportunities. Although I was eventually laid off from that job, it is a decision I do not regret because of my belief that moving out of that comfort zone and change will create growth.
What are some tips you have for building and maintaining relationships in the sports industry? (It could be with a mentor, client, donor, co-worker, etc.)
Keep the conversation going and keep it real.
This means that you should constantly be thinking of ways to enhance your relationships by adding relevant items to the conversation that can help others achieve their goals. All of this is meaningless if you are not trustworthy or speak honestly about your thoughts and opinions. The more you can leave your pride at the door and be honest with people, despite how tough it can be, the stronger your relationships will become.
This is something that drew me to come to Varsity Partners during our initial discussions. It is really impressive to see their approach to the college sports industry and the name they are building for themselves without the luxury of being a household brand name (for now...).
Was there a specific point in your career where you started handling tasks/projects that were outside of your comfort zone? If so, what was that specific point and how did you handle feeling overwhelmed?
Yes – taking a chance in moving to San Francisco and accepting a role with Lime, the global tech mobility company. Lime had people coming over from Uber, Google, Amazon, Apple, and held the highest standard of work ethic in every capacity. As the person tasked with building the college strategy from the ground up, it presented many challenges that I did not foresee. All of this was happening in a new industry growing at hyper-speed, bringing revolutionary change to transportation in cities. There is obvious pressure when you are a major contributor on a team tasked with building something from the ground up, with close to a billion dollars invested. I did not know it at the time, but that pressure provided invaluable experience I carry with me today and set a high standard for how I operate.
The way I handled feeling overwhelmed was playing to my strengths and leaning on those that knew better than me in their respective areas. I have always tried to do this internally and externally, as it is equally important for organizations to succeed. Internally, this meant letting the experts do what they do; externally, it meant leaning on my current network. One of my favorite examples of using my connections in college athletics to elevate the campus scooter programs was at Texas Tech. Seeing Coach Chris Beard showing off-campus to recruits while they were riding Lime scooters was definitely a shining moment of my scooter career. Gotta love those Red Raiders!
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to your 20-something year old self?
Hey, 20-something is only a short couple of years ago for me! I would tell that guy to hang on for the ride. Do not overlook any situation you are in because there is value in all experiences. Continue to look at photos and discuss old memories, as this will reaffirm some of the hard times you've been through and get you through the hard times ahead. In less than three years I have accepted 3 different positions at 3 different companies, moved to 3 different cities, been laid off, met new friends, lost old friends, missed on big deals, signed some big deals - and that was only three years! I feel like I have learned a lot from the ups and downs of these various experiences so far with a lot to learn ahead.
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