Eric DeWalt | Satchel Fantasy Football
After two and a half years of development, the Satchel app has launched in the app store, marking a milestone for entrepreneur Eric DeWalt .
Eric’s entrepreneurial journey started with his love of fantasy football and his identification of a gap in the market. He noticed the poor user experience, overly complex interface, and lacking social engagement side of other fantasy football programs. This led to the creation of Satchel, a fantasy football app designed with the user in mind.
Satchel has messaging and posting capabilities integrated into the program to create banter between users. “The goal is to create more interaction within the league than what you would normally have,” Eric said. “What most people fall in love with when it comes to fantasy football is their league, their community, the trash talking, the banter, and the camaraderie that comes from that.”
Creating an app that delivered the user experience Eric envisioned while still maintaining an intuitive interface was a big challenge. One of the most important things for Eric was that he just kept going. He said that there were points where he could’ve taken shortcuts, but what he was creating wouldn’t have fit his vision.
Eric also learned to manage the intersection of personal and business relationships. Over the course of the development process, he began to better understand the dynamics of running a business and interacting with people as a businessman.
Eric discovered that this was a common struggle for other entrepreneurs through The Boost Pad. He received encouragement from mentors and fellow entrepreneurs there – in addition to the business knowledge they equipped him with.
He hopes to someday be able to give back in a similar way.
“Being Black in the tech space is sort of uncommon, and we’re hoping that we can inspire others and at some point mentor others and help them reach their goals,” Eric said.
But for now, it’s time to celebrate this milestone.
Satchel is ready for the 2022 football season. Users can download the app and start their leagues.
“We’re right on the cusp, timing-wise, for a lot of people,” Eric said. “I have a few hundred people prepared to help us test and provide consistent feedback through this season. But with all that said, we are hitting right at the right spot.”
Between this year and next, Eric plans on traveling to different events to build brand awareness. He will also grow Satchel’s social media presence. He especially plans on using YouTube to his advantage by creating tutorials to help new players start their leagues and join in the fun.
Eric is already looking to the future. For next year, Satchel will grow its fantasy football subscriber base. In the future, Satchel will also include other sports such as baseball, and possibly even extend to foreign sports leagues.
To support that growth, Eric is looking for investors who share his vision and see the potential in the large and growing fantasy football market.
If you are interested in learning more about investing in Satchel, contact Eric at SatchelFFapp@gmail.com.
You can find Satchel on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @satchelff. If you would like to download Satchel, you can search “Satchel FF” wherever your apps are found.
Founder Stories & Startup Wins — The Boost Pad
