PODCAST

The Upside Newsletter

Julien Blin

Data, insights, and stories from the world of sports, business, and technology. www.theupside.us

All Episodes

19:06

🎙️ Upside Video Chat with Tyler Harris, Director of...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/11/24

Today we have the honor of interviewing Tyler Harris, the director of sports medicine at St Louis CITY SC, an MLS team.Tyler Harris is the Director of Sports Medicine for St. Louis CITY SC of Major League Soccer, where he oversees athlete care, rehabilitation, return-to-play processes, and the medical departments across the first team, second team, and academy. A lifelong soccer enthusiast, Harris began his career with a strong passion for the human body and its performance in elite environments

25:39

⭐Upside VC Profile: Scrum Ventures & Chat with Mike...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/11/20

Here is below the logos of some of the Scrum Ventures’ portfolio startups:Source: Scrum Ventures Scrum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm with offices in San Francisco and Tokyo. Founded by Tak Miyata, it operates at the intersection of Silicon Valley innovation and Japanese corporate networks, helping founders connect with global customers, strategic partners, and capital. Through its “thematic” investing model, Scrum targets emerging trends in technology and culture, and supports

20:09

🎙️ Upside Chat with Brandon Epstein, a UFC Mental...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/11/18

Today we have the honor of interviewing Brandon Epstein, a mental performance coach that works with athletes and ceos, entrepreneurs, and high achievers. Brandon Epstein is a leading mental performance coach known for his work with top athletes in the UFC and other professional sports leagues. He has worked closely with high-level fighters such as UFC welterweight contender Sean Brady and former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, helping them strengthen the psychological side of their

25:12

🔥Upside Chat: Dr Ron Dick, Duquesne University, Ex...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/11/15

This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then five years in the NCAA.You can watch the video interview below or you can listen to the audio interview above:📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on:* Gambling Scandals in NBA and MLB* NBA teams and standings* MLB: World Series TV

52:42

🔥Upside Chat with Mike Messer (Nashville SC), Jason...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/11/13

This week we have the honor to interview again a group of sports performance executives to talk about the latest trends in the world of sports performance and rehabilitation.* Jason Han, Former Head of Rehabilitation, LAFC (MLS). Jason is also the head of business development in North America at OneBase health.* Michael Messer, Head of Rehabilitation, Nashville SC (MLS).* Darcy Norman, Director of Performance, Chicago Fire FC (MLS). * Gavin Benjafield, Performance Director, LAFC (MLS).You can watch

24:08

🔥Upside Chat with Female Sports Experts: Allison...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/11/10

Today as part of our continued effort to bring more awareness on female athletes, teams and associated trends related to female athletes, we have the honor to interview a group of female sports performance experts:* Allison Schmitt, a 10 time Olympic medalist and multiple world champion in swimming (Team USA), and consultant with Orreco a leading sports data company.* Ciara Burgi, Director of health and performance, Las Vegas Aces (WNBA). * Byrnadeen Farraye, assistant sports scientist, Miami

21:34

🔥Upside BFR Group Chat with John Griffin...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/11/06

This week we have the honor to interview a group of NFL sports performance executives to talk about the latest trends in the world of BFR in the NFL. * John Griffin, Director of player Performance, Atlanta Falcons (NFL). * Dr Josh Nelson (Nelly), Director of Performance Science, Atlanta Falcons (NFL). * Dr Warren Bradley, Founder, Hytro. 📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on the best practices related to:* BFR Best Practices & Customization* BFR Trends in Application: Performance vs

24:31

🎙️ 🏀 Upside Chat with Mark Strickland, former NBA...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/11/03

Today we have the honor of interviewing Mark Strickland, a former NBA player who played for the Miami Heat, Brooklyn nets and now is a coach and founder of Pogoman’s Pop-Up Clinics. Mark Strickland, known as “Pogoman,” is a former American professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the NBA, most notably with the Miami Heat, and also played for the Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, and Dallas Mavericks. Following his NBA career, Strickland

50:00

🔥Upside F1/NASCAR Group Chat with Clayton Green (Ex...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/30

This week we have the honor to interview a group of F1/Nascar sports innovation and performance experts.* Clayton Green, an experienced human performance coach that worked in F1. He was at McLaren for 12 years with multiple times F1 champion Lewis Hamilton* Kevin Kidd, a top motor sports executive in NASCAR (Ex RFK Racing). He now works as the North American motorsports competition director for Stellantis.* Simon Reynolds ASCC, an F1 performance trainer He is the director at Formula 1 perform LTD

19:42

🎙️ 🏀 Upside Chat with Jeff Ruiz, the Sr Director of...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/28

Today we have the honor of interviewing Jeff Ruiz, the Sr Director of rehab and athletic performance for the Miami Heat (NBA). Jeff Ruiz is the Senior Director of Rehab and Athletic Performance for the Miami Heat (NBA), where he leads player rehabilitation, sports science integration, and performance optimization across departments including strength and conditioning, athletic training, and nutrition. Before joining the Heat in 2023, Ruiz built a strong foundation at the University of Miami, where

14:03

🎙️ Upside Video Chat with Raphaël Ravet, Chief...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/20

Today we have the honor of interviewing Raphaël Ravet, the Chief Cmmercial Officer of Myocene, a leading Belgian based sports tech company.Myocene is a Belgium based sports technology company revolutionizing how muscle fatigue is measured and managed. Recognizing the need for objective and precise monitoring in athletic performance, Myocene has developed an innovative device that combines a sensor, stimulator, and proprietary algorithm to assess the loss of force and speed linked to muscle fatigue

28:55

🔥Upside Chat: Dr Ron Dick, Duquesne University, Ex...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/17

This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then five years in the NCAA.You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Ron located at the top of this blog post.You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by

39:04

🎙️ Upside Video Chat with Shaun Jayachandran, Product...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/17

Today we have the honor of interviewing Shaun Jayachandran, AI product advisor at GameRun.ai a leading AI powered athlete analysis tool.GameRun.ai is a New York-based company that provides AI-driven solutions for youth sports management, including a platform for event information and performance analytics. The app works by having users upload a video for AI-based analysis to level up their skills. The AI analyzes game scores and provides personalized feedback to help athletes improve. Additionally,

50:23

🎙️ Upside Chat with Rick Cost, Director of High...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/16

Today we have the honor of interviewing Rick Cost the director of high performance at Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1), a leading European soccer team.Here is a picture of the Olympique Lyonnais squad:You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:📝Show Notes: During the interview with Rick Cost, we discussed his professional journey and the key experiences that shaped his path into high

15:49

🎙️ ⚾ Upside Video Chat with Dave Lewanda, Director of...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/13

Today we have the honor of interviewing Dave Lewanda, the Director of Baseball Applications at the Miami Marlins, an MLB team.You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:Here is a picture of Dave on the field:📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on Dave’s professional journey and what led him to become Director of Baseball Applications at the Miami Marlins, including the

45:57

🔥Upside ATP Group Video Chat with Al Murphy, Dirk...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/09

This week we had the honor to interview a group of ATP sports performance experts in pro tennis.* Al Murphy, senior S&C coach at Tennis Australia. Al works with tennis players such as Rinky Hijikata, Emerson Jones and Aleks Vukic. He is also the head of sports science at Tennis Australia.* Zack Evenden, an experienced performance coach. Zack has worked with top tennis players like Frances Tiafoe, and Michael Mmoh.* Dirk Spits, the National Physical Performance Manager at Tennis Australia. Dirk works

27:53

🔥Upside NCAA Group Chat with Paul Silvestri (Florida...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/06

This week we had the honor to interview a group of NCAA sports performance experts.* Dr. John DeWitt, Director of applied sports science in the athletic department and a faculty member, Rice University (NCAA team).* Paul Silvestri, Sr director of sports health and performance, University of Florida football (NCAA team). * Drew Lukes, Senior PT at Duke University and the head of sports science, Duke university’s women soccer team (NCAA team).You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the

25:35

🎙️ Upside Video Chat with Ted Munson, Sports...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/10/02

Today we have the honor of interviewing Ted Munson, the sports nutritionist of Brentford fc, a Premier League club. You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:Here is a picture of Ted on the field:📝Show Notes: During the interview we discussed Ted’s journey into performance nutrition, where he focuses on player personalization, health, and rehab. He explained his approach of

25:45

🎙️ 🏎️ Upside Video Chat with Clayton Green,...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/09/29

Today we have the honor of interviewing Clayton Green an experience human performance coach that worked in F1. He was at McLaren for 12 years with multiple times F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. Clayton is a health, wellness, and performance specialist who spent over a decade with McLaren’s Formula One team, serving as their Human Performance Manager from about 2008 to 2020. During that time he was responsible for integrating mind, body, technology, and data to develop performance systems for both

15:03

🎙️ Upside Video Chat with Matt Eller, CEO of Aris...

The Upside Newsletter ·

2025/09/25

Today we have the honor of interviewing Matt Eller, CEO of Aris Training, a leading platform in sports technology. Aris Training is a next-generation resistance training system designed to help athletes build strength, speed, and power through controlled, variable resistance. Unlike traditional weight-based methods, Arise leverages advanced technology to adjust resistance in real time, allowing practitioners to fine-tune load, monitor performance, and reduce injury risk. It’s used across elite

300 results