April 1, 2013 was my first day working at Red Square Agency as an interactive producer. April 1, 2015 was my first day working full-time on SidePrize. Red Square was tremendously good to me. However, the time had come for me to leave.
The agency was an entertaining place to work. I moved to Mobile knowing virtually nobody and left with a wealth of great friends. I’ll miss shooting pool at lunch and after work. I’ll miss my early morning banter with Mr. Sullivan, the agency’s lovable founder. If there’s one thing that sticks out in my mind about the agency, it’s the wonderful, diverse group of people that make it tick.
In my 2014 end-of-year post I mentioned that there might be an opportunity in fantasy sports. SidePrize is that opportunity. The goal is to bring daily-fantasy-style challenges to traditional fantasy leagues. So far there’s been a ton of interest from channel partners and consumers alike—enough for me to take the jump.
My role will be to lead design and front-end development efforts into the near future. Products are incredibly complicated to design. Unlike marketing and content websites, products have a financial stake that is directly tied to the user’s experience. SidePrize is an even more challenging product, because there is nothing comparable on the market. It’s going to be difficult, but it’s the challenge I’ve been seeking.
Many have asked my why I’d leave my job. The answer is that you don’t get far being a big fish in a small pond like Mobile. Some might perceive a dramatic reduction in pay a serious risk. To me a pay reduction doesn’t outweigh the risk of maintaining the status quo. Even if the product fails, it will get me farther in my career than if I stayed.
It’s been a good time. To my friends at Red Square—so long and thanks for all the job jackets.
Want to work with me on the future of fantasy sports? If you’re a Ruby on Rails developer in Atlanta, shoot me an email at sam@sideprize.com.
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