GET INSTRUCTIONS
START BUILDING
Your founder plan
who & where
entrepreneurial athletes
Ranging from elite athletes with short-lived careers to those with full professional careers. The only requirement: a strong interest in entrepreneurship over a 9-to-5 job, and a preference for a hands-on approach to getting started
A private DIGITAL TEAM
An online group for discussions between teammates and head coach, channels to share weekly work and receive feedback, and key resources including how to use the latest AI tools to support you
Types of business ideas you can explore
What businesses are relevant for this program? All of them. Below are 6 examples from my database, but the list is not exhaustive. With 1,000+ athlete founders across 30+ business types, I can guide you on almost any business type through hands-on insights into how other athlete founders got started
keynotes & workshops
Athletes looking to monetize their experience as an athlete through keynotes and workshops
Coaching & performance
Athletes looking to monetize their expertise in their sport to help other athletes
Financial advise
Athletes looking to launch a service helping other athletes manage their finances
Nurtition & health
Athletes looking to launch their own nutrition or broader health products and services
Activewear & sport equipment
Athletes looking to launch their own activewear or sports equipment brand
Mental health
Athletes looking to address mental health challenges through their own products or services
*Don't know yet what you want to do? I've built a fun and easy tool based on the database to help you find business ideas that fit you.
How the team and head coach work together each month
Set a goal for your business project, at own pace
Keep weekly momentum through hands-on tasks & feedback
Monday . receive task
Every Monday, each athlete founder receives a hands-on task with clear instructions from the head coach tied to their weekly quick win and monthly big win
The Week . do
During the week, each athlete founder completes their task to the best of their ability, and can receive support from the head coach or teammates whenever they get stuck
Sunday . Share
On Sunday, athlete founders share their progress with the team and head coach to receive feedback. Every athlete can share on the mistakes they made and what worked.
weekly hands-on tasks to achieve monthly goal
Your sports career is ending. You see business possibilities, but the real questions hit: What do I actually want to do vs. what just seems realistic? Is this even possible for someone like me? Does it fit my life? Where do I even start?
1-on-1 coaching sessions to close both gaps together. We start with what truly drives you, then identify problems you actually want to solve.
From there, we explore real Athlete Founders who built similar businesses—showing it's possible, how they went from athlete to founder, and what they needed to succeed.
You don't need a business idea to start. We can build from scratch or explore ideas you already have in mind.
Testimonial:
former nhl player
"I had an incredible experience working with Andres. In our conversations, he showed a deep understanding of the challenges I was facing and gave me clear, practical advice. He made complicated things easier to understand and helped me find solutions that actually made a difference.
I can’t recommend Andres enough. He’s professional, insightful, and genuinely committed to helping people succeed." - Tim Wallace
YOUR HEAD COACH
I've been through the transition from a stable job to entrepreneur:
I hold an MBA from two business schools, worked at a top consultancy, and completed multiple short programs in entrepreneurship. Yet nothing fully prepared me for the entrepreneurial roles I experienced at an early-stage startup, my own consulting company, and now Athlete Founders.
The thing with entrepreneurship is: you just have to get started. Take that first step, then ten more. What helped me most were mentors who gave me clear, hands-on guidance that I could immediately put into practice and get feedback on. Alongside that, having friends who were also starting out as entrepreneurs made a real difference. It was this combination that significantly increased my chances.
Over the past year and a half, I have studied more than 1,000 athlete founders and through podcasts learned very concretely how they got started.
That's why I created Athlete Founders Team: so you have a head coach who can give clear, hands-on tasks drawn from personal experience and insights from hundreds of hours of podcasts tied to 1,000+ athlete founders, and teammates who are in the exact same position.
Frequently asked questions
No, Athlete Founders Team is for every elite athlete, retired or still active, with a short-lived or long career, who wants to get started as an entrepreneur. It could be that you have no idea yet; that's fine, this is your starting point. Or maybe you already have a business idea or have built a prototype using an AI tool. Either way, this is your starting point to move forward.
The beauty of this program is that experience does not matter. The head coach will tailor tasks and resources to your level, ensuring you apply the kind of theory normally taught at top business schools. Andres learned much of this on the job himself, despite holding an MBA, which is why anyone can get started and learn along the way.
Together with head coach Andres, you will define your monthly goal based on your availability and pace. Your weekly tasks will be aligned with what is realistic for you. The program adapts to everyone's schedule while ensuring a monthly goal is achieved.
Athlete Founders Team is a monthly subscription you can keep for as long as you want, with the flexibility to cancel month-to-month when you feel ready to go out there on your own.
Andres Vanryckeghem is the head coach and main point of contact for the team. As the program also covers digital and physical products, Andres can bring in web developers and physical product specialists from his network whenever needed.
Each participant signs an NDA ensuring that ideas developed by other athletes during the program cannot be used or taken. This creates a safe environment where you can share openly about your business journey without holding back.
It can happen that you have a busy week and are unable to complete your tasks. In that case, the following week your tasks will be adjusted to account for what you missed, while the head coach ensures you still reach your monthly big win.
Yes, what makes this program unique is that we actively use the latest AI tools to support your entrepreneurial journey. We dive deep into experiments and test new ways of working, and you will be surprised by how much you can do yourself.
This program is mainly digital, though every month we aim to meet in person with participants concentrated in the same country. Additionally, members of Athlete Founders Team get access to Athlete Founders Game at a discounted price in which they can meet each other during a physical event.