By Lisa Zimmerman, Player Engagement Insider
Donald Strickland knew his football career had a shelf life. So, from the start, the cornerback, who played in the NFL for nine seasons, made sure to keep an eye on the future. And when he finally launched his company, Visionary Moments, in 2007, it was after years of planning.
With a life-long penchant for drawing and design, Strickland majored in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado to give himself an educational foundation and potential career path if football either didn’t work out or once his playing years were over. A self-described loner, he also knew that he eventually wanted to build a business of his own.
In 2003, Strickland’s NFL dreams were realized when the Indianapolis Colts drafted the San Francisco native in the third round of the NFL Draft. He became an immediate starter until 2005 when an injury sidelined him. Strickland moved on from the Colts, eventually landing with his hometown San Francisco 49ers in 2006.
After playing his final three years in the NFL for the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers, Strickland retired from football following the 2011 season and turned his full attention to his new career path. In the interim, Strickland’s design interest had shifted slightly to incorporate new technology.
Strickland’s father, also named Donald, was a photojournalist who spent the bulk of his career as a cameraman with KRON-TV in San Francisco. Over the years, Donald had compiled numerous videos of his son playing football, which Strickland used to show everybody from family members to potential recruiters and to this day, he still has as mementos. He realized that this type of product would be desirable on both a consumer and corporate level to preserve special events. And that was how Visionary Moments came to be.
All along Strickland knew he would need to compile both knowledge and resources to build his new brand. With that in mind, he took advantage of the NFL’s player development education programs participating in its MBA courses at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Harvard Business School and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He found the programs invaluable.
“It’s a waste that more players aren’t utilizing these classes,” he said. “They were instrumental for me. It gave me the initial push to be interactive in a one-one-one environment with top professors at prestigious universities. The networking was key. It opens doors. I’ve kept in contact with some of the professors. You can’t get better programs that cater to that.”
One of the products that Visionary Moments produces is a mobile device, called Timeless Memories, on which video and photo memories are compiled and become a living scrap book. The media player, a ‘v-card,’ is custom packaged and branded for the client. Much of Visionary Moments’ business handles bulk orders from companies looking to commemorate corporate events for their employees. On the consumer side, offer a way to encapsulate memories from significant life events such as graduations and weddings.
“I can produce whatever brand or event you want into a package and you can upload pictures to a device that will play automatically,” Strickland said. “There is no length limit like there is with some social media like Instagram.”
Initially the product was sports-focused, with Strickland producing projects for organizations like the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, but he quickly realized that was limiting.
“The product wasn’t mass appealing,” he said. “In business you have to adjust with what’s going on. Most entrepreneurs fail, so you have to pivot and find a new way to sell your product. The last few years I’ve been redesigning my business to be more mass appealing so it’s not limited to sports.”
Strickland, who has settled back in his hometown, is also taking advantage of the upcoming Super Bowl 50 being played in San Francisco and is going to offer the opportunity for those attending the game to create personalized v-cards to commemorate their own individual Super Bowl week experiences. Once they buy the v-card, they will be able to upload their own videos and photos and create a unique and special memento.
Strickland acknowledged that the company is still in its early stages and there have been bumps along the way, but he feels confident that everything is now heading in the right direction.
“It’s been a learning experience,” he said. “Entrepreneurship is multiple failures leading to one great victory. All these things were part of the journey.”
Lisa Zimmerman is a long-time NFL writer and reporter. She was the Jets correspondent for CBSSports.com, SportsNet New York’s TheJetsBlog.com and Sirius NFL Radio. She has also written for NFL.com.