In a recent episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast, Ben Borton sat down to discuss the remarkable journey of PodPlay, a specialized software and hardware company that evolved directly from the operational challenges of managing modern sports venues. What began as an internal toolkit for PingPod—a network of autonomous table tennis clubs—has transformed into a comprehensive platform currently serving 290 locations and more than 1.8 million end customers. The conversation highlights how solving real-world, localized operational problems can lay the groundwork for a scalable, highly efficient SaaS business.
Turning an Operating Problem Into a Software Company
Ben Borton’s entrepreneurial path spans roughly two decades, beginning with a venture capital pool that seeded startup hedge funds. He later transitioned into a partner role at one of those firms, helping scale its assets to several hundred million dollars. Eventually, Ben and his longtime business partner, Max Kogler, sought ventures where they could feel a more direct connection to the physical, end-use product. Max went on to found PingPod, an innovative network of autonomous table tennis clubs, while Ben came on board as the company’s first outside investor.
PingPod launched its inaugural New York City venue in February 2020, only to be forced to shut its doors just one month later due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the club’s underlying business model possessed unique structural advantages that unexpectedly positioned it for a rapid recovery. Featuring contactless access, zero on-site employees, naturally socially distanced layouts, and detailed tracking of every visitor, PingPod was able to safely reopen its doors by May 2020, well ahead of many traditional recreational and fitness businesses.
As the PingPod network expanded, its internal technology grew increasingly sophisticated, managing everything from automated door access and court reservations to video streaming and venue payments. Soon, operators of pickleball facilities and other racket sports began inquiring whether they could license the exact same technology stack for their own venues.
These mounting market demands prompted the team to spin off the technology into a separate enterprise. Ben joined as a co-founder in 2022, and PodPlay officially launched as a wholly owned subsidiary of PingPod in the summer of 2023.
Expanding the Product Beyond Court Reservations
Today, PodPlay operates as an all-in-one platform designed to manage the complexities of modern sports venues. Its software suite handles foundational tasks that facility operators rely on daily, including court scheduling, membership management, event coordination, payment processing, and coaching programs. Across its 290 signed locations, the platform now coordinates activities for more than 1.8 million end users.
What truly sets PodPlay apart in the crowded venue management market is its heavy integration with physical hardware. Over 60% of PodPlay customers utilize hardware-enabled subscription tiers, which can include court monitors, interactive iPads, replay cameras, and automated facility access control systems. Currently, more than 60 locations operate with fully autonomous features, spanning a diverse array of activities such as pickleball, billiards, and golf simulators.
Ben views venue automation as much more than a simple cost-cutting measure aimed at reducing payroll expenses. Instead, automation allows club owners to reallocate valuable resources toward community-building events, customer relationships, and specialized programming rather than chaining a staff member to a front desk during every single hour of operation. Furthermore, automation makes traditionally low-traffic periods economically viable. Clubs can remain open and accessible to members early in the morning or late at night without incurring the full labor costs that typically render those off-peak hours unprofitable.
Using Founder-Led Sales to Build Early Trust
When PodPlay formally entered the market, it faced formidable competition from established software companies that had held a seven-to-eight-year head start. This created an immediate credibility gap that a polished marketing website or a newly hired sales representative could not easily bridge.
To overcome this hurdle, Ben relied heavily on founder-led sales. Prospective venue operators evaluating a young software provider naturally harbor concerns regarding system reliability, technical support, long-term feature roadmaps, and overall company stability. Engaging directly with a founder who has personally operated 20 sports venues immediately shifts the dynamic, turning a scripted sales pitch into a peer-to-peer strategic discussion.
Securing the first ten customers proved especially critical because sports venue software heavily relies on geographic social proof. An entrepreneur launching a new pickleball facility will naturally investigate the technology choices made by successful clubs operating nearby. CityPickle emerged as one of PodPlay’s earliest and most prominent reference customers, operating highly visible pickleball locations throughout New York City—including courts in Central Park—which provided PodPlay with undeniable market validation.
Direct founder involvement also granted Ben immediate, unfiltered exposure to client objections and feature requests. This feedback loop allowed product development to iterate much faster than it would have in an organization separated by traditional corporate layers.
Measuring Growth Through Sales Efficiency
PodPlay maintained a deliberate financial strategy, investing heavily in research and development while keeping sales and marketing expenditures lean. Ben tracks this capital efficiency by measuring the amount of recurring revenue generated for every dollar spent on sales and marketing.
At various stages of its growth, PodPlay generated as much as four dollars in recurring revenue for every single dollar allocated to sales and marketing, eventually settling closer to a target of two-to-one as the company expanded. By comparison, many public software-as-a-service companies operate closer to fifty cents of recurring revenue per dollar spent. While Ben does not suggest every startup should mimic PodPlay’s exact spending allocations, he emphasizes that low-cost customer acquisition channels left the company with greater capital to reinvest directly into product quality.
Turning Customer Video Into a Distribution System
A cornerstone of PodPlay’s growth strategy lies in the intersection of its core product and its marketing distribution: customer video. Athletes naturally want to capture and save memorable points, athletic highlights, and humorous moments during their matches. Historically, doing so required propping up a smartphone, asking a bystander to record, or dealing with cumbersome tripods.
PodPlay eliminated this friction by integrating recording capabilities directly into the venue infrastructure. Because the system already recognizes which players reserved the court and the cameras are continuously rolling, athletes can effortlessly save match replays without downloading separate applications or disrupting their game.
Recognizing the value of this asset, PodPlay began transforming individual player clips into recurring media series, developing a "Best of Pickleball" format and supplying professional-grade footage to larger sports media brands with massive pre-existing distribution networks. These strategic media relationships have yielded extraordinary reach, generating more than 24 million views for replay-related content, with millions of views accumulating quarter after quarter.
To manage the massive influx of video data—having already served over two million replays—PodPlay introduced a "Go Viral" feature directly into the user interface. Players can submit their personal match clips for social distribution, input their social media handles, grant publishing consent, and even suggest engaging video captions. This seamless workflow provides external media publishers with a steady, automated stream of authentic amateur sports content that would otherwise be nearly impossible to aggregate independently.
Building Search Content and Pre-Selling Prospects
Beyond video, PodPlay has invested significantly in authoritative written content tailored to entrepreneurs researching how to build and operate sports facilities. Rather than publishing generic business advice, the team drew directly from its hands-on experience managing 20 physical locations to create detailed, numbers-driven guides on launching a pickleball enterprise.
According to Ben, PodPlay has never spent a single dollar on paid search advertising, relying entirely on organic visibility earned through genuine expertise. This foundational bet has paid off handsomely in the era of AI-driven search engines, with PodPlay’s comprehensive guides frequently appearing in Google’s AI Overviews for queries related to pickleball business planning.
This robust content ecosystem directly supports the company’s sales pipeline by pre-selling prospective clients. PodPlay boasts an exceptionally high demo conversion rate, converting roughly 40% of booked product demonstrations into paying customers. Ben attributes this success to the "rabbit hole test"—the idea that deeply interested prospects can spend hours exploring the company’s articles, videos, and customer case studies before ever speaking with a sales representative. Consequently, sales calls frequently begin with educated prospects who already understand the platform’s value proposition, transforming the conversation from a basic introduction into a targeted strategic discussion.
Scaling Beyond Founder-Led Sales and Future Outlook
While founder-led sales successfully carried PodPlay through its early stages, Ben eventually encountered a natural operational ceiling: the limits of his own calendar. Prior to securing a Series A funding round, the company operated entirely without outbound sales teams or heavy conference presences, relying instead on inbound interest, content marketing, and word-of-mouth referrals.
Following the funding round, Ben transitioned sales responsibilities to industry veterans like Ryan Weinbach, whose deep connections within the pickleball community helped preserve the authentic, peer-to-peer ethos established during the company’s early days. This transition has allowed Ben to dedicate more time to content creation and product strategy, aided by advanced tools like Claude to streamline research and writing workflows.
PodPlay’s trajectory demonstrates how a specialized niche business can successfully scale from a localized operational headache into a thriving enterprise technology provider. By prioritizing product quality, leveraging authentic industry expertise, and building seamless organic distribution channels, PodPlay has established a durable foundation for long-term growth in the modern sports venue landscape.
