Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Brown.
Hi Jason, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was raised in the Bay Area in a multicultural family and community. Black American, Salvadoran, and Palestinian are all cultures I was immersed in at a young age. Both of my parents are very hard-working people from humble beginnings, one from a military background and the other of an immigrant background. My grandfather is a successful entrepreneur and is the main source of my entrepreneurial spirit. I was fortunate enough to have some good examples to look up to growing up. I am thankful to have grown up around savvy, diligent people. They instilled good values in me, and I foremost would like to thank them and the Bay Area community for influencing my foundation.
I started my journey as an athlete, and like many young athletes, my goal was to play in the professional leagues. From the first grade on, I have been infatuated with the game of basketball. My junior year in high school at Bishop O’Dowd High School is when things changed, I met the final days of my basketball playing career. I can remember the day in the November when Head Coach Lou Richie informed me that I wouldn’t make the team. Though it broke my heart at the time, it is probably one of the greatest things that happened to me.
The timing was perfect. I was approached by a new non-profit organization in Oakland, TEAM Inc., as they were recruiting for their first program cohort. Noticing that it was related to sports and analytics, both things I like, I decided to take the jump and try something different. I am forever grateful to the TEAM Founders, Anwar McQueen and Alexis Musante, for showering me with experiences in the sports industry and a loving community. Through TEAM’s core program, I found my passion for both sports analytics and community service – the core principles that Game OVA stands on.
Through my junior and senior years of high school, I began offering freelance data analysis services to local high school basketball teams in the Bay Area. After seeing that this was needed and useful after two seasons, the idea of a company began to get more realistic. I was a freshman in college by this time, City College of San Francisco, and I was working with their basketball program. I developed a lot as a person over my three years at a junior college – one in particular that changed my life.
We traveled to Stockton for a basketball tournament. A few players on the team at the time were from Stockton, and a few of us decided to go out to a house party the night we arrived. After a series of odd and unfortunate events, I had my first real encounter with death. Surviving this was like a rebirth for me in how I thought about life, I devoted to living to the fullest.
The following Spring is when the name Game OVA was born. I remember it like yesterday, I was in my weekly probability and statistics class. This was also the Spring that began what would be a two-year pandemic in COVID-19. Though it shifted the dynamic of my, and everyone’s, life at the time, I was quickly dedicated to using the time as an opportunity to form my idea into an actual company. Game OVA was born on October 15, 2020 – and from then on it has been my mission to manage and grow it.
In the Fall of 2021, I transferred to the University of San Francisco to complete my undergraduate degree in Business Management. All the while managing Game OVA and working with TEAM as a program instructor. After almost three years of incorporation, Game OVA has grown to serve over 40 athletes in four states and is establishing its brand identity steadily. Now graduated, I plan to put even more time and energy into managing and growing the company.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The first obstacle I had to overcome was myself. Growing up, I lacked self-confidence due to reasons I still have yet to discover. Naturally, I would say I am more of an introverted and reserved person, so starting the company required an adaptation as I had to be willing to express myself to the world in the form of Game OVA. The entrepreneurial journey continues to push the boundaries of my comfort zone, and in the beginning, I was uncomfortable with what managing a company demands of me. Like every human, I am not perfect and I experience self-doubt. I have good days and bad days, so creating a balance that works for me was something that took me a while to find.
Professionally, I run into obstacles as a young entrepreneur with little corporate experience. I find folks questioning my capability to manage and grow a company. These times test my confidence in myself as a leader and Game OVA as a service provider. At first, the doubts would get to me, some of them still do. I have learned to take them with a grain of salt. I conduct business with folks who have many years of experience over me, so at times I am unfamiliar with certain languages or practices in business, I am learning continuously as I climb.
The road has been everything but smooth. I think any entrepreneur would compare the journey to a rollercoaster – ups, downs, flips, and all. In my short years as an entrepreneur, I have learned that the challenges and obstacles are a part of the process, and I have come to appreciate them.
As you know, we’re big fans of Game OVA. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Game OVA provides data analysis services to athletes. Our family of visionaries shares the love for sports analytics and use them to help athletes realize their competitive advantages. Our mission is to revolutionize how athletes manage and analyze their data, with the vision of a sports world using data analysis methods influenced at Game OVA. Our services are designed to offer a personalized experience between an athlete and their data. Through our services, we aim to help athletes to maximize their competitive advantages and minimize their limitations. We believe that data is valuable and useful if managed correctly.
Our primary service is data analysis for athletes. We work together with athletes to manage and analyze their performance data. We provide both video and analytics reports, as well as consultation. We also provide analysis for teams and tournament/league directors, but our primary focus is on athletes.
We know that every player is uniquely different. Our goal at Game OVA is to embrace these differences and use data to reveal to athletes their competitive advantages. Where many sports analytics companies are focused on serving teams, we are focused on serving athletes. We take a very personal approach in our relationship with our clients, we deeply care about their development, and it is reflected in our services. We take a very systemic approach to data management and analysis and have developed our own unique systems and processes which we tailor to each of our clients. We understand that data can be confusing, especially when working with athletes, so we aim to make it as easy to comprehend as possible.
Game OVA is promoting a lifestyle encouraging everyone, not just athletes, to study and utilize their personal data. Data is collected on all of us every single day and used at the benefit of others. At Game OVA, we want our clients to use their data for their own benefit. Our tagline – Own Your Data – is exactly what we want for people. Game OVA is here to prove to athletes that managing and utilizing data is not only important, but also essential.
What makes you happy?
The best way I can describe what happiness means to me is the feeling of freedom – physical, emotional, mental, financial, and spiritual. Nina Simone said it best in an interview that freedom is “no fear”. As we grow older, naturally, we develop a sense of fear and doubt which is conflicting to our happiness. In my opinion, happiness isn’t really something you discover, it’s something you must create for yourself.
With that said, what makes me happy are the things that I have found to bring me the feeling of freedom. One would be the company, Game OVA. Working there allows me to express myself and my passion while also providing a service in the world. Not to mention I cherish the people that I work with like family. Tied to that, I would say that the sport of basketball is something that makes me happy. It was an outlet for me as a child and I still get lost in the game for the peace of mind it brings me. Teaching is something that makes me happy as well. After teaching a few classes at TEAM Inc., I realize that I enjoy spreading knowledge. To me, knowledge is freedom, and it gives me the opportunity to learn more also. A very honorable mention would be my two dogs, Akela and Koda. They have no idea what is going on in the world, they just want to be with me, and I appreciate the unconditional love.
Contact Info:
- Website: gameovaofficial.com
- Instagram: @gameovaofficial // @jayybeckham
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbrown001
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gameova9502
Image Credits
Clutch Clips Hoops Warriors Community Foundation USA Basketball
