Trak Software's Origin Story: How I survived my first GM role in Bozeman Montana

Hi, I'm Cameron Oliver. CEO at Trak Software

This is my crazy family. All 5 of us watching our favorite players and team in Seattle.

A few years ago is where the Trak story starts.....

At the ripe age of 25, I had the pleasure of getting a job where the boots were much bigger than my feet.

I screwed up a ton of things in my first few months, which is actually where the idea for Trak.io was born.

The story kicks off in Bozeman, Montana, a cozy little mountain town up in the northern Rockies. This was way before everyone went gaga over the Duttons and cowboy life in that Yellowstone show.

I was lucky enough to become the GM of Bobcat Sports Properties. I was told at the time, I was the youngest GM in Learfield history.

Before Bozeman, I was grinding away in Bowling Green, Ohio, at Falcon Sports Properties while wrapping up my MBA at BGSU.

Selling and managing my simple list of 25 partners as an AE.

Then, out of the blue, I get a call about becoming the GM at Montana State University. Packed my bags and hustled to Plano for the interview.

Luckily, they took a gamble on me.

I drove my butt 1,800 miles from Bowling Green to Bozeman in just two days over the 4th of July holiday. Just in time to start my new gig just 45 days before football season kicked off.

But man, I had no clue what I was getting myself into.

The people before me at Bobcat Sports Properties were coming off their best 18 months ever. More deals, more revenue, just like they were supposed to.

But.....

We were totally caught off guard by a whopping 35% spike in sponsorship assets sold that summer.

Chaos ensued.

Those three weeks before the first home game were pure madness. What was left to sell, who had signed contracts,  who bought what, where the heck the signs were supposed to go, who was in charge of what, you name it.

End result? We only managed to execute 80% of what we promised, which was a major blow after such a killer sales season.

But hey, we owned up to our mess-ups and promised to do better next year. We apologized to each and every client. (Montana people are great, luckily!)

Worst walk of shame of my career. I felt like a complete failure.

Bowling Green was soooo much easier and I only had to worry about my 25 partners.

But luckily, we did we learn from that hot mess.

I came up with a system, armed with PDFs and Excel files, to keep things in check.

Scored an additional intern crew who were more than just a pair of extra hands on game day.

Eventually, I was speaking at Learfield events showing other GM's across the country 'my' system.

And guess what? It paid off big time for me at BSP.

In just three seasons, we shot up a whopping 278% in revenue, pushing Bobcat Sports Properties past the $2 million mark in yearly sponsorship revenue.

Attrition rates? Plummeted from 27% to a mere 8%. Plus, I managed to hook up four of my part-time team members with full-time gigs at Learfield.

That old-school system I whipped up?

That laid the groundwork for what's now Trak Software's Sponsorship Management Platform.

I understand the struggles of sponsorship management.

Been there, felt it, hate it and love it all at the same time.

Trak is tailor-made for sales leaders, activation managers, brand coordinators, and sponsorship bigwigs to work smarter, not harder, and get the most bang for their buck.

A lot has changed since this story. I have a family now and I still get to support the industry I love.

Best job in the world.