Hershberg: Amateur Golf Society doubled membership and tripled engagement in pilot
Dan Hershberg · #119 Amateur Golf Society: Venture Capital vs. Private Equity · Mar 4, 2025 · at 3:04
Dan Hershberg, founder of the Amateur Golf Society, pitches investors on The Pitch to raise $1 million to scale the tournament business nationally.
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“After two years of proof of concept, we saw membership double and we saw engagement nearly triple.”
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More from Dan Hershberg
PE firm forgave $2M in brewery debt for AGS equity
“What they did, so they basically forgave two million dollars worth of debt that was owed to the, to them from the brewery to set the valuation, and then that's how we kind of got things started. So they didn't put any new money into it for this particular roun…”
Amateur Golf Society founding team retains only 25% equity
“Ah, 25%. So it's 20 for myself and then five percent for my COO.”
Hershberg: Private equity controls three of five Amateur Golf Society board seats
“So there's five board seats. There's three for the private equity guys, one for myself and one for the group of fellow Cornellians.”
Hershberg: PE backer gained stake by forgiving $2M in brewery debt
“What they did, so they basically forgave two million dollars worth of debt that was owed to the to them from the brewery to set the valuation. And then that's how we kind of got things started. So they didn't put any new money into it for this particular round…”
Hershberg: Private equity controls three of Amateur Golf Society's five board seats
“So there's five board seats. There's three for the private equity guys, one for myself and one for the group of fellow Cornellians.”
Hershberg: US golf participation grew nearly 20% following the pandemic
“Well, I think when you look at the amount of golfers across this country, golf has really experienced, I think, a renaissance as a result of the pandemic, so the growth in the game is nearly 20% from what it was prior to the pandemic”