- 1. Description of The ProXR Venture3/3/14What Is ProXR ProXR is
a new baseball bat founded in ergonomics, enablinggreaterplate
coverage, more precise bat control and improved power transfer from
the hands to the ball.It is the only bat that frees a batters hands
allowing them to achieve their ultimate swing ProXR makes batters
better hitters. ProXR Facts - ProXR is patented for both wood and
metal, US Pat # 7,744,497, approved June 29, 2010 - The ProXR
design has been approved for use in play by both MLB and the NCAA -
The last MLB approved bat design change occurred around 1972 when
the first cupped bats were introduced by Louisville Slugger, which
was not patented and now account for roughly 40% of all wood bats
sold. - ProXR has been used in regular season MLB games by Prince
Fielder and Mike Hessman - ProXR has been accepted into the
National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as the first angled
knob bat ever used in baseball - ProXR was awarded Best of Show at
the 2011 American Baseball Coaches Convention - ProXR has been
tested at Washington University School of Medicine and shown to
reduce compression forces in batters hands by up to 25% The Bat
Market In 2011, the NCAA (and in 2012 high school) initiated a new
performance regulation for metal bats called BBCOR. In simplest
terms, BBCOR means that all metal bats must return the same amount
of energy to a baseball that a wood bat does at contact.
Essentially, this means that all metal bats used in NCAA and in
high school perform the same as wood. Today, the only real
difference in metal bats is the paint job. The bat market is a
roughly $200M/yr. market with 92% of the bat market in metal and 7%
in wood & composites. It is a stagnant, commoditized market
with very little innovation or discernible product differentiation.
It is a market primed to be turned upside-down by a patented,
proven performance innovation. ProXR Now ProXRs efforts over the
past five years have been focused on testing, validation and
acceptance at the highest levels of baseball. Because of this, we
have not focused on sales to consumers yet have still sold a few
hundred wood bats with an average 44% margin. Cost per wood bat is
$39.50, $70 wholesale, $109.99 MSRP ProXR is now ready for
commercialization in both wood and metal. A wood bat manufacturer
anda raw goods supplierare in place for producing wood bats. The
first production-ready, BBCOR certified, ProXR metal bat prototypes
are being developed with a certified Ohio-based bat manufacturer
now. ProXR needs guidance in navigating financial and investment
opportunities to acquire the necessary funding to develop
strategies for production, planning, forecasting and distribution.
This ProXR design may very well permanently change the baseball bat
as we know it. Collegiate Baseball Magazine, January 28, 2011Grady
PhelanGiant Project, Inc.ProXR,
[email protected]
2. My Background I am a right-brain, serial-creative, idea guy.
I see things others miss, love competition and thrive on
collaboration. - Graduated Webster Groves High School in 1979 -
Attended Tulsa University for two years majoring in business before
transferring to The University of Kansas to major in graphic
design, graduated in 1985 - Maritz was the first in a series of
design jobs where I learned, excelled and then moved on to expand
into other areas of creative development: promotion, advertising
and packaging - My creative passion lead me to product development
at American Express Incentive Services creating incentive debit
card products, Ive been hooked on product development ever since -
Jumped ship from Amex to join a broad-band internet company to make
millions only to have the tech bubble burst in my face three months
later - Since then Ive realized I need to have more control over my
time and creative product, thus giving me more freedom to develop
my own products and ideas - Over the past ten years, through my
company Giant Project, Inc., Ive been supporting clients with
creative, marketing and communications services to help pay the
bills on the home front and fund the ongoing development of ProXR -
The ProXR product is born out of observation, curiosity, research,
testing, crafting, demoing, presenting and having some of the most
prominent brands in the bat business say No., Never., Cant. and
Wont. - Every negative and discouraging thing told to me by the
baseball business experts about ProXR has resulted in forward
progress, increased momentum and further confirmation that this is
the big idea. What Keeps Me Awake - Where will I find my source of
funding? - How much of the company will I have to give up to get
funded? - When (not if) will I land investors and an agreement? -
How much longer can I afford to keep working/funding this on my
own? - When will I get off this multi-point of focus, client
supporting, development treadmill and start building the actual bat
business full time?Grady PhelanGiant Project, Inc.ProXR,
[email protected]