NFL All-Pro Richard Sherman Joins Decibel Team

We are excited to announce that Richard Sherman, San Francisco 49er and Super Bowl Champion, has joined Decibel as an advisor. As captain of San Francisco’s elite defensive unit and now 5-time Pro Bowl leader, Richard is known for leading the most formidable defensive teams in the NFL throughout his career. In his new role with Decibel, he will advise founders and executives on how to build championship teams and how to push the boundaries of conventional thinking in the tech industry.  

Tell us about how you originally gained interest in tech.

I grew up in Compton, California. It was an underprivileged neighborhood and we didn’t have much exposure to technology. Most of my friends were just trying to avoid violence and gangs. Honestly, I was fortunate to attend college at Stanford and the experience led to making friends who were some of the smartest people I’ve ever met. Those friends introduced me to computer science, went on to work at companies like Google, and showed me what was possible with the Internet and software. In school, I also studied marketing and communications when Facebook was taking off and Apple launched the iPhone. Then as an athlete, it became hard not to notice the power of social media and mobile phones in professional sports and beyond. It has a huge impact on our game and how fans and players now interact.

You have built a reputation for being an outspoken player on Twitter. When did you start using social media as a part of your profession?  

Twitter just started growing in popularity when I joined the NFL and I happened to be one of the earliest users among athletes. Quickly, I learned that I needed to have a strong voice and opinion or else nobody would pay attention to what I had to say. In the early days, I said a lot of things that made me popular with some fans, but not so popular with others. As I started to progress in my career, became a team leader, and had my own kids, it became more obvious that having a large audience and a voice came with a great responsibility. Now, I try to use it to fight for the things that matter. In the NFL, that means helping raise awareness of player safety and the overlooked rights of players in the game.    

When did you first get involved in startups as an investor and advisor?

Even early in my career, I’ve started thinking about life after football. I have always enjoyed working with entrepreneurs and creating new and disruptive companies and if you’ve followed my career, you know I care a lot about the athletes in professional sports. At times, it feels that the business of sports is more important than the players in the game and my passion is to change that balance. It’s one of the reasons I was one of the founding athletes at The Players’ Tribune, which is a digital media company that gives players a platform to create content and tell their stories. I was also an early investor and advisor in Body Armor, which is a performance drink designed for athletes by athletes. And I’m also involved in VICIS, the new helmet you see many of us using designed by a team of engineers and neurosurgeons to reduce head trauma in the game.

When did you decide to get involved in software investing?  

I couldn’t help but notice that every company is now a software company. Nobody really walks into banks to get money anymore, they use apps. You don’t print tickets to attend football games now, you use apps. Today, you can order food, transportation, and pretty much anything you want using software. I also think data is everywhere and I understand its power first hand–we use it religiously on our team to make sure we are studying ourselves and our opponents. The more time I spend in the business world, the more I see that every other industry is doing the same thing. Investing in startups helps me learn more about this world faster than I could on my own.

Why did you choose to work with Decibel Partners?  

When I moved back to Silicon Valley to play for the San Francisco 49ers, I bought a house in San Jose right in Cisco’s neighborhood. I knew Jon Sakoda and the Decibel team for years and had a chance to meet the CEO of Cisco, Chuck Robbins, and the CFO, Kelly Kramer. They explained Decibel’s vision and I could tell that they wanted to do something different in the VC world to give founders an unfair advantage. Perhaps, just as importantly, they also had a passion for giving back to the community. We shared a similar commitment for social justice, equality, and creating affordable housing right here in San Jose. It was clear to me that this was an all-star team and I was excited to be a part of it.

What advice do you have for early stage founders?

I’ve already had a chance to work with a few of the Decibel companies and I’m humbly learning as much from them as they are from me. I’ve found that there are a lot of commonalities in how early founding teams have to learn how to adapt, compete, and win. I know there are a lot of ups and downs in a startup and you have to figure out how to overcome adversity. I relate to this. Trust me, I am someone who has had to overcome a lot of doubt and criticism through the years and I think every founder feels that way. I also think a team that is constantly trying to learn and improve even in tough times builds a resiliency that is hard to break. I am always trying to teach what I’ve learned, but I am also trying to learn from everybody in the locker room too.    



For more information on Richard Sherman’s bets in software and startups, read the in-depth profile in Fortune!

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