Pinned straw:
Will Lopes providing results overview and Catapult future
I only caught up with this podcast episode today. Thanks to @Wakem for posting and @mikebrisy the reminder on the other thread.
There are a lot of things that are quite interesting. A key point is that the company sees Vector 8 as a hardware platform that they’ll build on over time - specific sport algorithms, software, and integration. It also caters for much bigger teams, such as having 120 athletes at once - which is something that happens during NFL training camps. Also, better reception, live game-day processing, and processing that happens on the CAT dock itself rather than needing a separate laptop. A lot there.
The most interesting thing that I picked up was integration with other sensor hardware. The example was given that an athlete would be wearing sensors in their shoe insoles, which can integrate with the CAT ecosystem by providing additional data - power, velocity, cadence, etc. with each foot. Another example spoke to startups in the concussion space - perhaps sensors in NFL helmets that detect whether a player received a forceful head knock and should enter concussion protocols. Essentially, Vector 8 becomes a hub for other devices to pass relevant data into the CAT pro sports ecosystem. Sounds a bit like a Wahoo bike computer (and Strava!) for prosumer bike enthusiasts.
Should a team adopt some other sensors to integrate with Vector 8, CAT suddenly becomes super sticky and difficult to churn off. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some M&A of startups in this space either.
Thanks @Wakem for the link to the podcast. Really good to hear directly from the VP at the coal face of CAT innovation. The AI-generated notes are pretty accurate, content-wise, but it was still worth the time actually listening to Jacques speak directly and understand what presses his technical buttons ...
I took away the following points from an investment perspective:
CAT is very much focused on the LIVE GAME, not post game ... exactly what AI Media is focused on, so the parallels were quite interesting.
The aim in the next year is to completely blur the lines between post analysis reporting to real-time analysis to the point that they are no longer 2 separate things, where “reporting” is actually running while you are running the training session and compare with performance in past periods - can walk off the pitch with “this is what happened and I have already compared it to before” - the analysis was done while the session was occurring, get better insights as it happens, able to give more confident recommendations.
Vector 8 is a further and probably a still-underrated expansion of the CAT technology moat - it is essentially the backbone infrastructure /hardware/data pipeline platform on which the core wearable/video platform operates on.
Directionally, it appears that CAT is heading down the path of making it technically easier for 3rd party niche sports management software to integrate into the CAT platform, LIVE - allowing 3rd party integration is a very smart move to (1) enable the customer to leverage the technologies of niche 3rd party software but via the CAT platform (2) entrenches CAT’s technology dominance in the team (3) “puts the 3rd party software in its place”, and (4) gives CAT full technical control over how the customers use these niche software inside the broader CAT Platform - another dimension of the moat which will actually strengthen the moat - this is very XRO-like
Allays any concern of CAT being technically complacent.
Very happy with the technical mindset and direction!
Discl: Held IRL and in SM
Good find @Wakem
I used AI to extract the key points from the discussion:
Here are the key business- and competition-relevant insights from the interview with Jack Greenwald, Catapult’s VP of Engineering, about the new Vector 8 system: