Q&A with Patrick Furlotti of You Rip

Virtual competitions are a wide-ranging and well established
facet of modern social and brand interaction.
From TikTok dance challenges to online poker to
coming up with new chip flavors for a major snack
company, virtual competitions are frequently entered by
competitors (and consumed by fans) to win social or
literal currency. Online Fantasy Sports, for example, are a
$7.8B industry, while 2.3 million players would tune into
live trivia on HQ Trivia during its peak in 2018. The game
show Jeopardy has been produced for 54 years and still
draws millions of viewers per episode. This permanence
and prevalence indicates a strong, ongoing demand
to participate in and watch these online and televised
competitions.

You Rip is launching with a focus on action sports
(surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding) and will expand their
footprint into all skill-based competition from there.

Regarding Athletes;
Opportunities to compete in, and generate revenue
from, action sports are monopolized by a small group
of heavily sponsored events and athletes that dominate
media exposure and control locations and schedules.
For aspiring athletes there is a barrier to entering higher
levels of competition for these sports and garnering the
recognition they deserve.

On a larger scale, You Rip’s expansion into skill-based
competition across any activity will allow for “athletes” in
any capacity (gymnastics, music, hula-hooping, etc.) to
find each other, build a community, and feel the rush of
competition and recognition.

Using technology, there is an opportunity to give more
people access to skill-based competitions. This direction
eliminates the expenses and risk associated with the
typical event format, reducing barriers to entry. It provides
athletes a space to share content, be discovered, and to
compete, while creating new opportunities to generate
revenue from their skills.

Regarding Fans;
Most platforms where action sports fans consume their
content are not specifically geared towards these sports,
and they need to wade through irrelevant content to get
to the tricks and competitions they are most interested
in. By curating this content, You Rip can become this
audience’s go-to platform for consistently consuming all
things action sports.

Additionally, traditional content streaming platforms put
fans in a passive role when it comes to watching action
sports or any other competitions. You Rip offers fans and
enthusiasts an unparalleled way to follow, engage with,
and influence the success of the athletes they admire:
with the ability to sponsor them financially, become the
judges in their competitions, share their content, and
immerse themselves in the athlete or videographer’s
curated profile.

The first version of the mobile app (v.1.0) was released
in the Apple App Store (iOS) and Google Play Store
(Android) in the spring of 2019. Throughout 2020,
incremental improvements were validated by user testing
and then implemented.

Version 2.0 of the mobile app (on iOS and Android) was
released in the fall of 2020 with improved look, feel, user
experience, and performance. The You Rip web app was
also released in the fall of 2020. The You Rip Apple TV
app will be released in the winter of 2020 to round out the
multiple ways fans and athletes can access the platform.