NBA HeroVillain Turned Corporate Athlete. Why Kobe Bryant Will Succeed as a Venture Capitalist.
- Emeka Nwadibia
- Aug 25, 2016
- 4 min read
If you know me, you know I’m a big fan of the Corporate Athlete. You probably also know that I’m a big fan of Kobe Bryant. In his 20 year career, Kobe proliferated a higher standard of play and solidified himself as one of the greatest players in NBA history. The list of Kobe’s accomplishments would give even the most tenured historian or analyst arthritis if they tried to track it all.
5 NBA championships
7 finals appearances
2 NBA Finals MVPs
NBA MVP
2 scoring championships
18 NBA All-Star appearances
4 NBA All-Star MVPs,
25 career points per game
...and many more. I was winded just typing this.
Most people that followed his career would to attribute his success to his sheer determination, passion, hustle, and grit. His ability to channel his inner energy made him the NBA’s ultimate HeroVillain on the court and will make him a noteworthy Corporate Athlete off the court.
The HeroVillain
Kobe is a self-proclaimed HeroVillain. As he describes it, a HeroVillain channels fear, rejection, anger, and doubt and turns them into strength, courage, power, and determination. His website illustrates many examples of this gift, beginning with his 1996 draft and same-day trade by the Charlotte Hornets. According the Kobe, the Hornets said they had no use for him. This marked a critical turning point for him.That was the first time rejection fueled his determination to succeed. Kobe built a reputation for himself as not only one of the best to ever play the game, but also as a teammate shrewd about achieving excellence, expecting nothing less from those around him. Some described it as passion and dedication, others saw it as brash and arrogant. Kobe would probably embrace them all.
Look at Nike’s 2012 Kobe System campaign. The Kobe System commercials depict Kobe before an audience of pupils including Kanye West, NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, US Men's soccer player Landon Donovan, billionaire Richard Branson, comedian Aziz Ansari, and others. Kobe demands from his pupils the same level of greatness, hustle, and grit in business and life that he commanded from his teammates in the locker room. His messages were about achieving success, and going farther to achieve success at success and beyond
"The Kobe System is about adaptation: attacking fast and strong," Bryant says. "How do you know when you're in the Kobe System? Look at your feet. How do you use the system? Listen to me."
The Corporate Athlete
Ask any prominent, high caliber athlete what it takes to be successful and they'll tell you that you must operate with a certain level of passion, hustle, and grit. That you must push yourself to the limit, over and above all obstacles. And that you mustn't quit, even when times are hard and the odds are against you. Ask the same question to a successful business person and they're likely to echo the same sentiment. Both seek to create longevity and success for themselves and their brands. This is why successful athletes and successful business people often possess a strong affinity for each other — they share the same traits that empower success.
It’s no secret that Kobe was dabbling in the business world while dominating his NBA career. He mentioned it on Twitter in 2014 after attending a marketing class at Boston College.
He’s also made some notable business deals, ranging from his corporate endorsements with Nike to his creation of Kobe, Inc., from investing in BodyArmor sports drink to his recent $100 million venture fund with Jeff Stibel. Now that Kobe is retired from the NBA and apparently going full-time into the business world, he has the opportunity to excel once more. Only this time he’ll be a Corporate Athlete, with his newly minted title of VC (Venture Capitalist).
As a VC, Kobe will be tasked with finding promising young companies that can grow to be the next Google, Uber, or Facebook. He’ll have to be ahead of the game when it comes to finding and closing deals, just like he found and sunk shots on the court. He’ll have to strategize for the firm and execute on that strategy, just as he did during his NBA career. He'll have to be a shark in the room when coaching the budding Entrepreneurs through their pitch decks, just as he was in the Kobe System commercials. Perhaps that campaign was a bit of foreshadowing. To the CEOs that get the opportunity to work with him, he'll be both their Hero and Villain as he provides the coaching, star power, and capital necessary to launch the next phase of their growth, while also acting as the critical board member, as expected of a VC.
When an athlete as dedicated and decorated as Kobe Bryant decides to enter the corporate world, you ought believe he'll attack fast and strong, early and late, with the same passion, hustle, and grit as his did while in the NBA. We should all expect that his transition from pro athlete to Corporate Athlete will be a seamless one.
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