Field to Front Office: Yael Averbuch West’s Founder Mindset
Yael Averbuch West built a soccer training app from her bed and on planes while still playing pro. Now she’s president of soccer operations at Gotham Football Club, running the club with the same “always building, never finished” mindset.
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Episode Description
Yael Averbuch West was running private training sessions in the heat, then playing a pro game the next day. She realized the kids didn’t need her standing there; they needed her methodology. That idea became the Techne app, which she built while bouncing between pro teams overseas. Ten years later, hundreds of thousands of players have trained with it, and Yael runs soccer operations for NJ/NY Gotham Football Club.
Yael and Everett get into why she had to ask NWSL players to pay union dues before the players association had a single win to show for it, why winning Angel City’s small business grant mattered more for visibility than for the money, and why she tells athletes to start a newsletter or a blog to figure out which skills carry over off the field.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why Yael says training 10 minutes a day with nothing but a ball and a wall beats three-hour sessions nobody can sustain
- How she convinced players to fund a union that hadn’t delivered anything yet, and what that taught her about selling a vision
- Why the people who funded her business mattered more than the dollars they put in
Yael’s Highlights
“My work is my life. My life is my work.”
“Anyone can make a great plan or strategy. Human beings have to execute it. That’s hard, and it’s complicated.”
“Just start things and try them. There’s no better way to learn than to start something.”
Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction
(0:42) Quality of Life as a Career Priority
(1:42) Soccer Journey & the Nomad Years
(4:02) Bringing the Athlete Mindset to Business
(5:06) Building the Techne App
(6:41) Scaling Training With Habits
(9:15) Stress, Health & Remote Work
(10:47) Starting the NWSL Players Association
(13:17) Winning Buy-In & Dues From Players
(14:27) Leadership Lessons From the Field
(15:52) What a GM Actually Does
(17:39) President Scope & Vision
(19:30) How Angel City Won the Grant
(22:27) Network Over Know-How
(24:19) Finding Your Off-Field Strengths
(26:36) Team Building & League Parity
(28:28) Final Advice & Takeaways
(0:42) Quality of Life as a Career Priority
(1:42) Soccer Journey & the Nomad Years
(4:02) Bringing the Athlete Mindset to Business
(5:06) Building the Techne App
(6:41) Scaling Training With Habits
(9:15) Stress, Health & Remote Work
(10:47) Starting the NWSL Players Association
(13:17) Winning Buy-In & Dues From Players
(14:27) Leadership Lessons From the Field
(15:52) What a GM Actually Does
(17:39) President Scope & Vision
(19:30) How Angel City Won the Grant
(22:27) Network Over Know-How
(24:19) Finding Your Off-Field Strengths
(26:36) Team Building & League Parity
(28:28) Final Advice & Takeaways
Links
Connect with Everett: linkedin.com/in/everettksands
Connect with Yael: linkedin.com/in/yael-averbuch-west-b89a1a133/
Connect with Yael: linkedin.com/in/yael-averbuch-west-b89a1a133/
Resources
Learn more about Lendistry: lendistry.com