The First Customer - Shark Tank Series: The Smash Hit Success of Co-Founder Tim Swindle

The First Customer

In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Tim Swindle, co-founder of PaddleSmash.
Tim shares his journey from growing up in Chicago and being inspired by his entrepreneur father to his early ventures, including a golf teaching business at age 12 and a successful software company called PointDrive, which was later acquired by LinkedIn. He also discusses his passion project, a board game called Utter Nonsense, which eventually led to the creation and success of PaddleSmash, a hybrid game combining elements of pickleball and spikeball. Tim emphasizes the importance of learning from early business experiences, finding the right partners, and the iterative process of product development.
Tim highlights his entrepreneurial spirit and resilience, detailing how PaddleSmash was born from a collaboration with his business partner, Scott Brown, and the ingenuity of a father of six, Joe Bingham, who created the initial prototype. Tim explains the challenges of transforming a heavy prototype into a market-ready product, the strategic steps taken to manufacture it, and their successful marketing efforts, including a viral presence on social media and an appearance on Shark Tank. Despite not finalizing a deal on Shark Tank, Tim remains optimistic about PaddleSmash's future, aiming for continued growth and international expansion.
Step into the realm of game-making genius with Tim Swindle's inspiring tale of creating PaddleSmash, only on this episode of The First Customer!
Guest Info:
PaddleSmash
https://paddlesmash.com
Tim Swindle's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/timswindle/
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayaigner/
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https://www.youtube.com/@thefirstcustomerpodcast
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