Where the Magic Happens: Sports, Media, and Culture | Geoffrey Cheng

Geoffrey Cheng is the Investment Manager for Comcast SportsTech. Before working at Comcast SportsTech, he was lucky enough to work alongside entrepreneurs and management teams from seed stage to growth stage. He's been one of the first employees at a startup, worked at a media investment advisory firm (where he worked on deals impacting over $750M in total assets), and spent time with dozens of startups as investor, advisor, and ad-hoc fundraising guru.

During our conversation, he discusses:

• The transition from computational biology to investment management

• Building key partnerships and strategy at Comcast SportsTech

• The essence of impact in his career approach

• Differentiating factors in sports and media investments

• Importance of establishing key partnerships in the sports industry

• Current trends like the intersection of gaming and sports

• Advice for angel investors in sports-related deals

• The cultural influence of sports and media

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

What We Cover:

• 01:07 Geoffrey's Career Journey

• 07:20 Impact in Sports and Media

• 11:20 Evaluating Sports Startups

• 15:34 Global Ambitions and Importance of Localization

• 26:18 Trends in Gaming and Sports

• 32:06 Final Thoughts and Advice for Investors

Connect with Geoffrey

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreyacheng/

• Website: https://www.comcastsportstech.com/

Connect with Andrew

• Newsletter: https://thediligentobserver.substack.com

• X: https://twitter.com/AKazlow

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkazlow/

• Book: https://angelops.pitchfact.com/

• Website: https://pitchfact.com/

Stuff We Reference

• Triller: https://triller.co/

• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/

• Comcast: https://corporate.comcast.com/company

• Premier League: https://www.premierleague.com/

• PGA Tour: https://www.pgatour.com/

• NASCAR: https://www.nascar.com/

• University of Notre Dame: https://www.nd.edu/

• NFL: https://www.nfl.com/

• NBA: https://www.nba.com/

• FIFA: https://www.fifa.com/en

• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/

• Azure: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us

• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/

• Arsenal: https://www.arsenal.com/

• Chelsea: https://www.chelseafc.com/en

• Sky: https://www.sky.com/

• Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/

• Call of Duty: https://www.callofduty.com/hub

• Fortnite: https://www.fortnite.com/?lang=en-US

• Roblox: https://www.roblox.com/

• Minecraft: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us

• Shrek: https://www.dreamworks.com/movies/shrek

• Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/

• Pokemon: https://www.pokemon.com/us

• Zelda: https://zelda.nintendo.com/

• Mario: https://mario.nintendo.com/

• Discord: https://discord.com/

• Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/

• Comic Con: https://www.comic-con.org/

• Greenbay Packers: https://www.packers.com/

• Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/

• Bleacher Report: https://bleacherreport.com/

• Ryan Reynolds buys Wrexham: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/feb/09/ryan-reynolds-and-rob-mcelhenney-complete-takeover-of-wrexham

• Welcome to Wrexham: https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/welcome-to-wrexham

• Ferguson | Michael Brown: https://apnews.com/article/ferguson-protests-michael-brown-10-years-blm-88a3dd50044c89800f5bd0e300c27351

• Get Out by Jordan Peele: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/

• Chicago Bears: https://www.chicagobears.com/

• Minnesota Vikings: https://www.vikings.com/

• Detroit Lions: https://www.detroitlions.com/

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All opinions expressed are personal and may not reflect the views of the individual’s organization or of The Diligent Observer. Not investment advice.