As in previous eras, the winners in the era of AI, Automation & Integrated Tech will use technology to deliver amazing experiences for customers. Business models calibrated to the expectations of modern consumers will outperform and put competitive pressure on legacy players to evolve. Legacy operators risk obsolescence if they fail to align with shifting consumer expectations—much like Blockbuster in the Netflix era.
May 14, 2025
Learn how to start a profitable pickleball club – from business planning and location to membership and pricing to programming and marketing, and a whole lot more – in this comprehensive guide.
Mar 31, 2025
PodPlay is making DUPR Coach and Coach-Assigned DUPR Ratings available to guide pickleball players on the path of continuous improvement. By integrating Coach-Assigned DUPR Ratings with PodPlay’s innovative features—including integrated digital scoreboards, video replays, and DUPR Challenge Matches—clubs now have a powerful framework to enhance player participation, optimize programming, and drive sustained revenue growth.
Mar 20, 2025
The world of atoms is less flexible than the world of bits. As a consequence, building digital tools for managing physical spaces requires deep empathy for both end customers and staff.
Feb 24, 2025
The best Vertical SaaS companies earn the right to compete based on return-on-investment (ROI) not price. They win business by becoming an essential driver of profitability for the businesses they serve.
Feb 19, 2025
AI tools makes sales an order of magnitude more efficient, just not in the way people think.
Feb 10, 2025
Read about DUPR Challenge Matches for clubs with PodPlay Pro Monitors. Just choose “Submit Results” at the beginning of a match and results are automatically reported to DUPR at the end of the match.
Jan 24, 2025
By eliminating the need for onsite personnel, the autonomous operating model powered by PodPlay allows venues to simultaneously increase capacity (stay open more hours) and decrease labor costs. As of the beginning of 2025, PodPlay will be supporting five different autonomous experience verticals in New York City: table tennis, pool, pickleball, golf simulators, and a dog wash.
Dec 30, 2024
Learn how PodPlay leverages Kisi for seamless access control, fully integrated with PodPlay’s white-label apps, to support venues operating autonomously across table tennis, pool, pickleball, golf simulators, and even dog washes.
Nov 26, 2024
If you are building digital tools to manage physical spaces there is no better way to learn what to build than to manage physical spaces with technology. There is another, less obvious, strategic advantage: highly efficient distribution.
Nov 11, 2024
The "cool" factor differentiates a club with PodPlay Pro courts from competitors that just offer courts. This blog describes how clubs turn the cool factor into a return on the investment required to install PodPlay Pro courts.
Sep 26, 2024
Alfie is an AI Agent seamlessly integrated into the PodPlay Admin Dashboard. It functions like a Customer Success Manager (CSM), answering client questions by tapping into over 300 articles from our Knowledge Base.
Sep 11, 2024
The archetype of the visionary founder seen through the lens of Apple and Stripe. A relentless focus on craft and quality by each of these company’s founders is the key to turning an ambitious vision into a reality.
Sep 3, 2024
The visionary founder archetype as seen through the lens of The Great Gatsby. Vision divorced from reality as a tragic flaw for founders. Sam Bankman-Fried as a cautionary example of a modern day Gatsby–a visionary founder who failed to turn vision into reality.
Aug 26, 2024
As the digital front door to your club, a modern, branded, intuitive reservation management app is essential to creating an elevated customer experience.
Aug 19, 2024
If word-of-mouth is the cheat code for SaaS businesses then "build something you are proud of" may be the golden rule of product design that aligns product roadmaps with word-of-mouth.
Aug 12, 2024
Court utilization and average hourly rate are the essential inputs to your pickleball club’s revenue equation. Small increases in these inputs can lead to large increases in revenue.
Jun 20, 2024
Learn how PodPlay transforms the way players capture and share authentic moments in racquet sports clubs with seamlessly integrated user-generated replays.
Mar 25, 2024
PingPod’s acquisition of Sharks Pool Club resulted in increased profitability after implementing PodPlay’s technology to power reservations, replays and autonomous mode.
Feb 13, 2024
Transform the playing experience at your Pickleball club with PodPlay's digital scoreboards and DUPR integration. These features work seamlessly with the core PodPlay reservation management system.
Jan 23, 2024
By minimizing variable labor costs, the autonomous model allows a venue to stay open more hours, while adding very little marginal cost.
Oct 30, 2023
PodPlay’s integrated replay functionality gives customers the ability to capture and share great moments and turn them into shareable content.
Oct 17, 2023
The PodPlay Coach Connect feature makes it simple for customers to find the right coach for them. They can simultaneously book a court and a lesson with just a few taps.
Oct 9, 2023
At PodPlay, we are focused on helping our customers manage time-bound inventory (such as courts, tables, or appointments) in order to maximize utilization.
Oct 2, 2023
By substituting technology for labor, the PingPod model could simultaneously keep costs low and allow the Pods to stay open more hours than a traditional club.
Sep 25, 2023