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Pulse Play: Exclusive interview with founder Andy Ram

By Geoff Nichols

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Pulse Play: Exclusive interview with founder Andy Ram

Having already shared our excitement for the latest in wearable technology for racquet sport players, the Pulse Play, we were able to talk to CEO Andy Ram about his thoughts on the new device. Interest has been growing since the unveiling and it is clear that Andy and the team are pulling out all the stops to make it a success.

Andy is looking to transition into the world of start-ups, coming from a hugely rewarding professional career where he lifted three major titles, including a Wimbledon triumph in 2006 in the mixed doubles. Using his vast experience in the sport he has co-founded the Pulse Play company, who recently started fundraising on Indiegogo for their first major project.

We have covered the main features of the Pulse Play device in detail here, but essentially innovation is at the core of this wearable technology. It can track scores, monitor rankings and find new opponents for you, whilst integrating all this data onto a racquet sport specific mobile app and social network.

Here is what Andy had to say about the Pulse Play when we got a chance to speak to him:

Hi Andy, how did your life after tennis lead to this new adventure where you are about to bring out such an innovative product?

It’s been one year since I made the official announcement of my retirement. For the first six months I was talking to family and friends and sitting in coffee shops listening to a lot of investors and business people who wanted me to invest in their projects. I’m talking sticker businesses, doll businesses, clothing stores, restaurants, promotional item businesses, everything.

But the craziest person I met was a genius named Enon Landenberg [Pulse Play CO-founder]. He had come up with an idea to solve a problem for squash players. I thought about it and I realized this was a problem that wasn’t exclusive to squash and happened in every racket sport. And it was something at the intersection of technology, fashion, sports, social community, and innovation, exactly where I wanted to be. So I joined him and together we developed the idea for Pulse Play.

We love the design. Our personal favorite color is the Ice Blue. What’s your favorite color Pulse Play?

Sunshine Yellow is my favorite Pulse Play color because my favorite soccer team’s colors are black and yellow. We made Pulse Play in a lot of unique colors to make it different from the other wearables out there.

We all know about your amazing achievements on a tennis court, but everyone wants to know; out of badminton, table tennis and squash, which is your favorite and what are you best at?

I’m pretty sure I’ve played almost every racket sport. I played a little bit of badminton, a lot of ping pong on tour in the players’ lounges, and some squash. They’re all really fun sports to play. Ping pong was easiest for me to play because the tables in the players’ lounges were always available for us and we competed like crazy.

One of the things that I’m really excited to see with Pulse Play is whether it finally settles who is the best ping pong player among all the professional tennis players. They’re always arguing about it and Pulse Play will tell them the answer.

How excited are you and the Pulse Play team at being only a few months from the launch?

We had the idea in August, in November we established the team, and in December we started working on the product, the design, the functionality, the hardware, and the software. In 6 months we’ve managed to get a first generation prototype built and launch a crowdfunding campaign to get the final product on shelves and on courts all over the world.

It’s a long process that we’ve compacted into a short time. We’ve been working very hard and we’re very excited to see the results of our work this fall and winter.

It’s a process that in some ways has been very surprising and in other ways I feel my career as a professional tennis player has prepared me for it. Professional athletes know how important it is to enjoy the process and not just the title.

You have to enjoy the hard work, the practices, the tight matches that may or may not lead you to the title. I’ll be very excited when I see Pulse Play being used by racket sport players all over the world. That for me will be the equivalent of holding the trophy. Right now, I’m fighting the tough matches, but enjoying that too.

Were there times in your 16 year career where you could have used the Pulse Play to settle a score dispute?

I definitely could’ve used Pulse Play for the times I played ping pong on tour or the times I played badminton and squash with my friends. In tennis I didn’t ever need it because I always had announcers and scorekeepers and knew my match history and rank. Those are the things I’m bringing to the amateur world.

Then again, my long-time partner Jonathan Erlich was always trying to cheat me in friendly matches, so it would’ve been useful with him.

Do you think we are going to see technology and tennis evolve together in the coming years with the likes of the Pulse Play and other products like the Babolat Play?

Technology in tennis is a must. It’s one of the few sports that still has a long way to go in adopting technology. I really believe that tennis needs to be interactive in order to be attractive. We need to add fun and easy technology to motivate people to play more tennis.

The community aspect and mobile app are fantastic ideas. What are your favorite features of the social network you have created for racquet players?

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First of all, Pulse Play is going to be great for groups of friends who are playing a lot together and arguing over the score. We’re going to give them a system to ramp up their friendly competition and take their games to a new level. I already see it in my own tennis groups. They’re constantly making fun of each other and boasting who’s the best player. Pulse Play will fit right into that.

Second, we’re going to have lots of gamification badges that I think will make playing regularly a lot more fun. You’ll have the obvious badges like winning 5 matches in a row or jumping 1000 spots in your global ranking, but you’ll also have silly badges like beating your mother-in-law or finally besting your nemesis.

Finally, the ranking system will be very sophisticated and unique. Players will get different rankings among their different tennis groups, within their club or camp, the city, the state, and the world. I think it will be very popular all around, with the serious amateurs, the data geeks, the casual players, everybody.

It will help you know how you stand with your regular set of opponents, but you’ll also be able to see your rankings shift as you play opponents outside your normal circles. I believe it will motivate people to challenge new and different opponents just because they’ll be curious to see their rank shift.

What is the future for Pulse Play? Is there anything exciting in the works that we could get a sneak preview on?

We just launched a crowdfunding campaign with a goal of raising $75,000 that will help us bring the product to market. Everything is underway. We’ll have our first working prototype in just a couple months and the final product will be on shelves this fall. We’re very excited about the whole process.

Thanks for all you time Andy and the rest of the Pulse Play team.

The commitment and passion that Andy and the team have for Pulse Play going forward is extremely exciting. Through their expertise in a variety of areas they really do seem to have created something very unique that serves a fantastic purpose for racquet sport players across the globe.

We at Lob and Smash love the idea of being able to track your match history and match up with new players with the social aspect of the Pulse Play. It really should add to the experience of getting out on court and that is always a positive thing.

Be sure to keep any eye out on Lob and Smash for more information about Pulse Play in the coming months. We will be sure to put the device through it’s paces on all four courts; tennis, badminton, squash and table tennis, with our verdict posted here.

Also let us know what your impressions of the Pulse Play are? Will you be getting your hands on one?

Next: Pulse Play - Wearable technology hits the tennis court

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