Episode 10: The Business Cataylst

Sports, Technology, and Purpose: The Gametime Story with Marcus Robinson

In this episode of The Business Catalyst Podcast, host Sadaf Abbas speaks with Marcus Robinson, a Chicago native, military veteran, and social entrepreneur. As the founder of Gametime Sports Holdings LLC, Marcus is on a mission to transform youth development through sports, technology, and community-focused initiatives. From free baseball and softball programs to an innovative time-management app and the development of a multi-sports complex, Marcus shares how his journey and vision are creating real impact in underserved communities.

About Our Guest

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What You’ll Learn:

• How Marcus Robinson is transforming youth development through sports and technology.
• The vision behind Gametime Sports Holdings and its community impact.
• Why the Gametime Sports App is a game-changer for student athletes’ time management.
• The role of AI in supporting youth productivity, training, and personal growth.
• Insights into building a multi-sports complex to serve underserved communities.
• How Oak Business Consultant supported Gametime in developing a strong business plan and fundraising strategy.
• The type of investors Marcus seeks and why mission alignment matters for long-term success.
• Lessons in leadership, social entrepreneurship, and inspiring the next generation.

Transcript

Sadaf Abbas: Welcome, everyone, to The Business Catalyst Podcast, powered by Oak Business Consultant – your weekly dose of insights and inspiration from the minds shaping the future of business. I’m your host, Sadaf Abbas, and today, we have a truly exceptional guest who is not just building a business, but building a better future for youth through the power of sports and innovation.

Sadaf Abbas: Joining us today is Marcus Robinson, a proud Chicago native, military veteran, and the visionary behind Gametime Sports Holdings LLC. Marcus is a social entrepreneur dedicated to transforming youth development through a comprehensive, vertically integrated enterprise. His journey from specializing in licensed sports merchandise to now creating cutting-edge technology and infrastructure is genuinely inspiring. Marcus, welcome to the show! So is there anything else you would like to share about yourself, Marcus?

Marcus Robinson: No, I think you did a pretty good job of making the introduction to me. I’ve done a lot of things in life, and I try to keep the conversation going, really kind of focused these days. I find myself… I could go on and on and on, and talk about all the exciting things that I’m doing around the Youth Development Space. But that was a great introduction. Nice to meet you, and I’m very delighted to be here today.

Sadaf Abbas: Thank you so much, Marcus. So can you introduce Gametime Sports Holdings and its core mission?

Marcus Robinson: Yeah. So Gametime Sports Holdings is an innovative youth development company. We are a vertically integrated business model. We provide so many different services for young people in underserved communities and across the Chicago and Illinois communities. You know, one of the things that I’m most proud of, is the work that we’ve done around sports in the last 10 years. In addition to providing free baseball and softball lessons to girls and boys ages 5-18. We’ve also supported young people with youth development in terms of jobs and you know other enrichment programs. So we are doing a lot in this space, we’re 100% focused on youth and I’m just, you know, very excited to be able to give back to the communities that we serve. Many of these young people they’re going through, you know, sports, you know, as part of their journey, something that really resonates with me, because, sports really helped me catapult my life and become a successful person, so I’m very delighted to be able to get back in this way.

Sadaf Abbas: Perfect. So how has your collaboration with Oak Business Consultant supported your journey?

Marcus Robinson: Yeah. So the collaboration with Oak Business Consultants has been amazing and that’s an understatement. To be honest with you, I have had just a great time working with Wardah (Senior Financial Analyst at Oak Business Consultant) and all of you know, team members, and developing our business plan, our pitch deck, and we’ve gone back multiple times. And you know, really, I had a chance to create something that I think is best. You know best describes who we are and our mission and the things that we want to to get accomplished. And you know Oak has been very instrumental in helping us to tell that story. So it’s been a great journey so far.

Sadaf Abbas: So, can you tell us more about the Gametime Sports App.

Marcus Robinson: Yes. So we’re working on developing a platform. It’s called live Gametime. It’s basically a platform that’s kind of sent around the idea that everyone can, you know, achieve, you know, great things with the right support and guidance. And you know, this app is, initially kind of focused on student athletes, because in my experience and talking to parents and student athletes that have been associated with our various programs, we find that there’s just a lot going on in any given day, and it’s very challenging for young people to be able to manage their time right. Really, time management is so important. and many of them don’t really understand. You know what time management is in terms of. You’ve got to prepare for school, right? You’ve got to prepare for your athletics. You’ve got to make sure that you’re getting the right nutrition, sufficient amount of sleep, and all these different things that just kind of go into the journey for a non-student athlete. And then when you add the student and athlete component together. It’s a lot of work to manage. And so this app was designed, and with keeping all of that in mind. And we wanted to make it a a place where you know youth could, you know, not only manage their time, but to gamify their their training and just everyday task, and receive rewards as a way to incentivize their participation in keeping up and managing their their schedule, you know, on this platform. So it’s been it’s been, you know, just really awesome to see it all come together to be able to provide such a robust set of tools to not only help with, you know, scheduling, you know, day to day tasks, but also once again, to, you know, to help youth to learn life skills. And you know so many other different things that will support them in their success.

Sadaf Abbas: So I really would love to know more about your application. Okay, the target market is young Netflix. and this application is helping out to make time management, which is very important. I totally get it. So tell me more. How many users do you have already? How many partners you have for your venture, Marcus.

Marcus Robinson: Yeah. So the app is currently on test flight on the Apple Ios system. We’re pretty much done with it. We’re ready to launch a beta rollout with youth that are in our various different programs. So probably a couple of 100 youth and parents and coaches, you know, will be on the platform and you know, beginning in a couple of weeks, and we’ll probably test it for anywhere from 60 to 90 days and then afterwards. Then we’re, gonna you know, go to a nationwide rollout. Currently, there’s about 8 million high school student athletes across the country. Various cities, you know rural communities, large cities who once again are just in need of something to help support them in their academic journey as well as athletics, and you know, the other. An important aspect of this app is that it provides job opportunities in the way of, you know, Ambassador reps supporting the platform and representing brand partners that are going to basically be on the platform. And so we’re really looking forward to, kinda you know, developing all of that over the next several months.

Sadaf Abbas: Hmm, so it means the application in the Beta version. But still, you have a very good target audience. We can easily utilize this application within 3-6 weeks, right?

Marcus Robinson: Yes, yes, absolutely. And then ultimately, perhaps you know, we’ll take the app international, you know, and you know, translate in various different languages. You know, there have been, you know, great discussions about that. We’ve talked to fortune. 100 companies about the value that something like this would add to their reach out to young people, and the feedback has just been tremendous.

Sadaf Abbas: Perfect, perfect. If we already touched the market, you already have a go to strategy before the Beta version of the application right.

Marcus Robinson: Yes, yeah, I mean, we currently have about 300 kids in our local community that participate in our baseball and softball programs. And so we initially roll it out with that group 1st and their parents and and the coaches that are in the network so that we can. you know, refine any anything that needs to to be polished up, so to speak, and make it more valuable to the demographics. The target audience that we’re going after. And ultimately, you know, we wanna put out a great product, you know, that’s gonna be useful for young people for a very long time.

Sadaf Abbas: Tell me about your team, Marcus, because if there’s any ventures having a good success rate. all because of the team, so I would like to know more about your management team, and currently how many number members you are having for your venture.

Marcus Robinson: Yeah, sure. So we hired a dev team offshore. You know, developed a pretty good relationship with the CTO that helped us to put together our devops team. And you know he’s been, you know, pretty much kind of managing that as somewhat as a favor to me. I mean, he works on, you know, many other projects, and you know you’ve made some time for me to do kind of help out with this, you know particular project. And then, ultimately, you know, we’re looking for our own CTO. That’s gonna come aboard full time. We have had meetings with several candidates. We’ve got some really really good talented people lined up. We’re gonna have some final meetings with. And so we’re looking forward to getting our CTO. On board here in the next month and then, you know, we’ll work with the CTO. To, you know, to develop our technical team. And hopefully, you know, we’ll have some really talented people that will wanna join our journey and help young people to pursue excellence. Right? And that’s what that’s what it’s all about. You know my partner, Earl Caldwell. He’s a professor of sports law. and you know he teaches in Il, and he’s been very involved with helping us to develop our Youth Development program for a number of years. And so, you know, we bring some very unique perspectives, you know, around helping youth to pursue excellence. And we’re serious about it, and it’s and you know it’s great to have you know, people on the team who are committed to young people and wanting to give back. So again. I’m just so appreciative of, you know, all the support that I’ve been receiving and just trying to, you know, do what I can to help young people to, you know, figure things out in life, and put all the pieces together and become successful individuals in the future.

Sadaf Abbas: So I would like to add one more thing here regarding your venture. Game. Time is sports. Are you going to have a project with the government entities, or are you more specific for the young generation? What type of partnerships you are looking forward to, Marcus.

Marcus Robinson: Well, I think that there’s just so many different directions that we can go in. And you know our focus now is just on where the most need is right? I think we kind of work from, you know, that standpoint in everything that we do. Because there are a lot of young people out there that’s getting tremendous support. They have great parents. They’ve got great structure. and they don’t need a lot of help right? And so we wanted to specifically hone in on kids from, you know, underserved communities, kids that are participating in programs where they don’t have, you know, elite athletic training. They don’t have a nutritionist. They don’t have, you know, the kind of basic equipment to even participate, you know, in some of these sports. Right? And you know I myself, when I was a young person, I, you know, kind of struggled with that, you know, being the oldest of 6, I can understand it. Yeah. Yeah. And so you know. So it means a lot to me to be able to address the needs of young people that just want to, you know, participate in sports and be kids and be happy. Right? And I think that, you know, brings a lot of joy to me to be able to give back in this way. And I’m just, you know, so thrilled to be working with so many individuals who really share this mission and vision.

Sadaf Abbas: You don’t have the, you didn’t see the problem. You can’t solve the problem, basically. And if you see the problem, it’s mean, it’s that problem is facing you and you face the problem. And that’s why you are going to have to solve that problem in society. So I believe that the mindset that mission vision is linked with the game sports application. I hope it will be resolved as soon as possible . I would like to add one more thing, what type of investor you would like to see in your venture for a long term, because an investment relationship with the venture founder is not just a 1 time investment. It’s a long journey like a marriage. So what type of investor do you think you would like to see?

Marcus Robinson: Yeah, I think that you know, obviously investors, as you said, come in, you know, many different perspectives and and you know. So for me, I just want to continue to follow the fundamentals of business, and that, you know, it’s very important that you know shareholders get a return on their investment, you know. Kind of want to start there, always making sure that we have a you know, a viable business. You know that investors can participate in and receive. You know, roi. And then from there it’s You know, to me, anyone who’s interested in helping young people pursue. Excellence is a good investor, right? We don’t have to have a whole lot of other requirements to be honest with you, because I’m  I’m the captain of the ship, and I’m gonna be the one to really, kinda you know. Lead the way, but you know, generally speaking, I mean, it’s great to work with people who are mission aligned. and you know, and really cared very deeply about human capital, you know, like young people, and I certainly do, and it’d be great to work with investors who share that vision and commitment to helping young people to pursue excellence.

Sadaf Abbas: Okay? And you are specified for any type. Okay, what is the type of industry for the region? Okay, the investor should be from this region? Or now, what are you open for ?

Marcus Robinson: I’m open. It’s always great to, you know. Have a conversation with with different people and like-minded people, and I feel like that’s where all my creative. you know, inspiration comes from right like meeting different people. And you know, interacting and getting great feedback. Right? Yeah, just kinda allows us to  to do something very special, you know, when we’re open to working with other folks. Okay, perfect. So how these AI tools enhance productivity and future readiness for young individuals. Yeah. So we have integrated GPT, in this particular app. And as you know, it’s a pretty robust tool that has evolved over the last year. Quite fast. and you know, oftentimes, you know, you know, young people, they have a lot of questions right? And they don’t always have someone available immediately to be able to respond to. You know, some of their curiosity. And this Gpt integration solves for that right? And I think it’s so important to to make it a part of the application, because, as you well know, young people are on their phones. Probably 24/7, right?  And so our goal was to meet them where they’re at and and to, and to help them to understand the power of technology, right? And how it can help to bridge the gap from not being too sure about certain things to having more knowledge right? And we want it to be immersive right? And GPT helps us to be able to deliver. You know that gateway where young people can learn more and, you know, completely take advantage of technology to help guide them in their development.

Sadaf Abbas: Perfect. So what is your vision for this multi support complex within.

Marcus Robinson: Oh, yes, so, the multi sports complex is another big bold project.

Sadaf Abbas: Yes.

Marcus Robinson: Though, and we’ve been working on it for a number just the last several years. We’ve done a feasibility study, and we, you know, certainly can demonstrate. You know, there’s high demand, for you know, for sports tourism, youth, sports tourism in particular. And so once again, we’re working from you know, problem solution right? And there’s a place here in the Midwest where we currently live in the Chicagoland area. Young people who play turf sports. For example, 6 months out of the year. You’re unable to go outdoors and play turf sports because of the weather, right? And so it just seems to me that. You know, we just lose so much traction, right? So much momentum in the development that’s gone into helping young people to develop. You know their skills. Right? They’re kinda not continuing to get that, you know, all year round is, you know, it’s a problem. And we wanted to solve for that by creating an indoor facility where youth could at the very minimum participate in, you know, elite athletic development year round. And so we found a couple locations in our nearby community we’ve met with. The municipality local stakeholders we’ve just had. We’ve gotten a lot of people involved in this, and really found out just how much it’s needed and how much is desired. And so we’re continuing that process. Now, we recently completed our architectural drawings, and you know, just a phenomenal facility indoors and outdoors spaces. And we feel like it really is going to be the next big thing in this community, because nobody really can offer anything like this.

Marcus Robinson: And you know there’s a tremendous need, and a lot of young people who would, you know, want to participate and be served by this complex.

Sadaf Abbas: So if I say, this venture is not resolving just a soft core activities problem of ethics. But the hard work activities as well. So not just applications. But a problem is resolved by the proper places to give the guidance, to give the time management application just in case for the app. So I think this is a good venture. You are not resolving one problem. But you’re resolving 2 problems at the same time. Okay, so how will AI integrate it into the physical sport complex? Marcus.

Marcus Robinson: Yeah. So AI will be utilized in all of our training equipment. And so you know, when you think about professional athletes, right? And their training regimen. A lot of it involves technology, right? And AI is driving. You know, this space. And so our plan is to have AI enabled equipment, you know, to be available for young people to to utilize AI coaches. Right? You know, AI technology to help coaches and parents as well. Right? And so there’s just a lot of innovation around AI and fitness and athletic training that we intend to converge into this complex, you know, once it’s completed.

Sadaf Abbas:  So my question is, how will gametime sport’s holdings impact underserved communities.

Marcus Robinson: Yeah. So you know, the main emphasis for us is that we invest in human capital. Right? Young people young people obviously are the future. But we have to make that investment now. And our focus is to you know, to really kind of help them to grow right. And you know, our model is, you know, a learn work play kind of strategy where we focus on those 3 pillars of youth development, and to ensure that young people can be successful in the future. And so, you know, once we pour into young people at a very early age, those very early stages of development in life. The idea and and the hope and the goal is that you know, they’ll come back to their communities and continue to help those communities to thrive. And so that’s where we get the most social impact from is when you know someone such as myself, who’s grown up in an underserved community. You know, experience, you know. The struggles got support, came back and was ever able to do the things that I’m doing right now, quite frankly, you know. So hopefully, my goal is to continue to inspire young people and to maybe, perhaps, create a hundred 1,000 Marcus Robinson stories, you know, across this city.

Sadaf Abbas: So I hope so. This mission, this vision, just from this venture and this venture, literally impacts under reserve. I really hope so. It will. What message do you have? For other social entrepreneurs? Marcus.

Marcus Robinson: Yeah, well, I think that. You know again, the most important focus for me has been helping young people to pursue excellence right? And I think that when you kind of take that on as a call to action. Whoever you are, there is someone, whether that’s your own kids or neighbor’s kid, or just a young kid who you come across, you know, at the grocery store. I think that we have to be intentional with letting them know that we see them and we support them. And I think that’s so important, because, you know, there are many young people today that don’t feel supported. They feel like, you know, their parents are too overwhelmed. There’s a lot of, you know, priorities that are happening every single day to try to keep up with. You know, with the things that you have to maintain in order to continue to provide a healthy environment, you know, for your young person to grow and develop. But then I think that you know the community at large right can also support this effort. And that’s my goal, I mean, I don’t have any children of my own, but I feel like every kid that I come in contact with. You know I I would treat them as if they were my own child, in terms of being able to pour into them. So that’s just been my you know my mission, and you know I know it’s worked for me. There have been so many people along my journey that share the things that I needed to get me to the next phases of my development. And so I know it works. You know I’m speaking from, you know, personal history, right? That I know it works. And so my goal is to continue to give back and try to inspire others to do the same.

Sadaf Abbas: So this is basically Marcus, a leadership skills. If you inspire a single person, you are basically training the whole one generation. So if in the team. If I’m telling you my personal space, if you are just inspired by the whole team members, one single person. one single person, you have no idea that you are building the whole one generation and one generation means 100 years. If you want to see success, plant a tree. If you want to feed us access as a leader. So one single agent, that’s it. The whole game. Is that the problem? I’m not saying that this is a problem. But this is the impact of leadership skills. So I believe that, Marcus, you will have. You are not just building the venture, you are building the generation as well. If the one single kid is going through your venture and he will be a 3, he will give more inspiration to the other 100, to 1,000 children and kids who are not having that facility that they are having due to this venture. So believe me. I have a very good vision with you as a long term relationship, not just a business, but as a social entrepreneur as well. So what fuels you everyday? 

Marcus Robinson: Well, I think that my inspiration just comes from people that came before me that struggled in their journey during their time. And made you know, a lot of sacrifices right? And paying it forward so that the next generation, the Marcus Robinson generation, could pick up the baton and the 3rd leg of the race and just walk across the finish line. And so I wanna be able to give the next generation a good jump start right in life, and that they can keep it going and pave the way for those that come after them. And I think that that’s the you know. That’s, you know, kind of my basic philosophy. You know, life is a race, but it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon. And you know. I like to add to it that you know in many ways. You know, it’s a marathon that has a relay race in it, and it’s our job to help the next generation to succeed. And you know, we’ve got to lay that foundation. And that’s what I’m doing here at game time.

Sadaf Abbas: Perfect. So, Marcus, your insights into leveraging technology and integrated development for you are truly groundbreaking. We have covered so much in this very short podcast from the foundational sports app to the ambition, multi support complex. And it’s clear game time, support holdings are such to make an immense impact. Thank you so much for joining on the business categories podcast today and sharing your aspiring vision. Marcus.

Marcus Robinson: Thank you for having me. And once again. Thanks to everyone at oak business consultants. You all have done an amazing, amazing job, and it’s been I don’t know. We’ve been working together now for about 7 or 8 months, and it’s just been awesome to be honest with you right to.

Sadaf Abbas: Thank you. So you have to.

Marcus Robinson: To be a part of the team. It’s been. It’s been amazing. I really appreciate you. Thank you very much. And thanks for having me, and hope to chat with you again soon.

Sadaf Abbas: Yeah, sure, of course. We are. You can say, fundraiser consultant with you, and I’m telling you I will bother you every single time, and your quick response is very important for me and my whole team, and I believe that you are very responsive. You are very prompt every single day, and you are very clear with your vision. You are very clear with your numbers. You’re very. You have a very clear instruction, the whole team. So it’s really helped us to build the whole very complex financial model for you. It’s not an easy task without your son and that’s the rest of another inspiring episode, the business categories podcast powered by Opsys. Consultant. If you have been fascinated as I have, please visit game time sport holding online to learn more about Marcus sport. Join next for another company. Conversation with a leader who is truly categorizing. Change in the business world. Hats off to you. Thank you so much, Marcus, and I really would love to work on a long term basis with you, Inshallah, and see you again. Okay, Marcus.

Marcus Robinson: Thank you very much. And we look forward to continuing to collaborate with you.

Sadaf Abbas: Thank you. Thank you so much.

Marcus Robinson: Have a good day.