Side Line Swap

Brendan Candon played sports in college and knew the pain point firsthand. After graduating, he wanted to buy a lacrosse stick at retail for $250, but found one in great condition from a friend for just $50. That moment crystallized the opportunity: there was massive demand for used, affordable sports gear, but no easy online marketplace to buy and sell it. eBay was focused on power sellers and retailers. Craigslist was fragmented and offline. Athletes—especially kids—were left without a good option.

Brendan launched an early version of Side Line Swap in 2012 while working full-time at an insurance company. He treated it as a weekend project, grinding away to build the product and grow a social following, but struggling to get traction. In early 2015, he raised about $120,000 in friends and family funding—described as a "princess family round" without venture capital structures. That capital gave him the runway to rebuild the entire platform and launch a new version in June 2015. By early 2015, Brendan quit his job to go full-time.

In 2015, the site generated virtually no revenue because the transaction infrastructure wasn't built out. But after the June 2015 relaunch with the payment system in place, things took off. The year ended with $400,000 in gross sales, which meant $40,000 in revenue (12% commission from sellers). By May 2016—less than a year into operating a real marketplace—the company had over 2 million in gross sales, 6,000 buyers, 3,000 sellers, and 12,000 monthly active users.

Social media became the dominant growth channel. Brendan's team created a content strategy around user-submitted highlight videos, trick shots, and gear showcases—not high-production content, but authentic clips that resonated with teenage and college athletes. They grew to 150,000 Instagram followers across six sport-specific accounts (hockey, lacrosse, baseball, etc.) by tripling their following in just six months. They also leveraged athlete influencers: when two-time player of the year Miles Jones auctioned off his lacrosse gear, Side Line Swap promoted it heavily, creating aspirational content that drove new users.

The marketplace model itself worked because athletes understood it. Average order value was $75, and the typical buyer was a high school or college kid who wanted premium gear at 50% off retail. Parents wouldn't buy a $500+ hockey equipment set, but kids could buy secondhand for half that. Parents were comfortable because the gear was durable—hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks, helmets, gloves. Apparel and footwear also sold, though the conversation volume showed kids asking about condition and cleanliness, which normalized the used-goods aspect.

By mid-2016, Side Line Swap was growing 15% month-over-month baseline, with a spike to 50% growth in May after joining 500 Startups and implementing new strategies. Run rate revenue was $240,000 annually (20,000 MRR), with over 2 million in transaction volume and 1,500 monthly buyers and 1,000 monthly sellers. Brendan was 28, single, and focused on the long game—he believed success wouldn't come overnight and committed to a five-year horizon. The company was closing a $1.5 million seed round and positioning itself to become "the Poshmark for sports," capturing a $60 billion secondhand sports gear market that no one had properly verticalized yet.