All The Angles Padel Business Podcast S2 E9: Focus on Building a Winning Pro Franchise

On the 2nd February 2025, in its freshman season of the Hexagon Cup, the Kru Padel by Taktika team took the trophy after the NextGen women's pair clinched the third match decider.

This was a team that picked up some of the non-franchise players from the other existing franchises, sprinkled on some celebrity stardust in the form of Sergio Aguerro and Leo Messi and came through to make history.

But not much is known about how this team franchise project started, who came to who and who convinced who, how did the consortium behind the brand come together.

In this week's episode, Alex Ponseti of Padel World Summit and Gabriel Perez Krieb of Taktika Equity talk about how a mixed group of padel lovers and business entrepreneurs came together to assemble, build, launch and ultimately succeed as a winning professional franchise team.

Transcript

Introduction

Alex 0:05

Ladies and gentlemen, Damas Caballeros. Thank you for joining us for another episode of All the Angles, the Business of padel podcast worldwide powered by the Hexagon Cup. This week, our objective is to give you our audience a unique insight into how to build a winning Pro padel franchise. I'm joined this episode by Gabriel Perez Krieb and Alex Ponseti, who are the real experts in building the Kru brand and team that won this year's edition. just a little bit of background. Gabriel Perez Krieb is the founder and CEO of multiple businesses in North America since 1994. He's the co-founder and chairman of Taktika padel since 2021. He's the co-founder and chairman of San Diego Stingrays that he's representing since 2023. the vice president of the US padel Association. He's the executive chairman of Chosen Foods. And he's also the founder of Taktika Equity, which was launched earlier this year. Alex Ponseti, joins us, he's the first person who's come to our episodes for the second time. He's the managing director of padel World Summit, which will be in Barcelona, this coming May, and is committed to Barcelona for the next five years. He's the founder of Chiquita padel Management and has been in and around clubs and businesses around padel since around 2003. thank you both for joining us. Before we get started, if you enjoy this episode or have benefited from previous ones, please like, share, subscribe. It really does help. So, without further ado, let's get started; and Alex, I'm gonna start with you, returning guest. So when did you really hear about the opportunity to join the ranks of the Hexagon Cub franchisees, alongside the sixth that competed in Madrid in 2024? And I guess why did you feel that this opportunity was one that really couldn't be missed?

Ponseti 2:02

Well first of all, Alex, thanks for inviting me. This is only the second time. But not the last, uh, that I'm here. So, in reality, it's a funny story. The first time that I heard it, I cannot explain everything, but what I can explain that the first time when I heard about the opportunity, I was on holidays. I was in Bali saying, Hey, I don't wanna do anything. I just wanna rest. I don't want to think in businesses. So a friend of me called me and said, Hey, Alex, this opportunity is live. Do you want to join? Do you want part of it? So we need your support. And that's why it all started. And it was Edu Conde from Business Padel Tour. He called me and said about this opportunity that they had the chance to create a new franchise in Hexagon Cup. And, I was not sure at the very beginning because I was not understanding the model. But as soon as I understood, it was, uh, a no brainer. Hexagon Cup: they did a great job of the first edition. For the first edition of every business or every experience or exhibition like this. They did so, so, so good. So, that's why I decided to join. I did my best to contribute and add all the value possible. And yeah, and we enjoyed a lot. Finally, of course, we won and this is even better, but it was, uh, it was a great journey. We enjoyed a lot on the process of creating the team. Then, inviting the players and finding with a draft, it was super funny. And then during the event was crazy. And that's how it already started.

Alex 3:37

Well, we'll get into the detail of that, but, you were at the 2024 event itself?

Ponseti 3:41

I was there, but I just not in deep..

Alex 3:44

And so when you were at the 2024 event, what was your take on the event when you were sitting there, unrelated to the business? Really as a fan almost. So what was your take on it as an experience? And then as you said, you got the chance to look under the bonnet, when you received the deck and you saw the business case behind it. How did your view change once you saw the business case?

Ponseti 4:06

That's difficult. Because how it started and how it end, it changed a lot. But I think that the business model makes all the sense because we have seen it in another sports, we have seen it in Kings League. We have seen it in Formula E. So there are lot of other success cases that says that this business is somehow the future. We all know that what's happening with padel, that we need more players from other countries because during the tour, there are a lot of matches that looks like the same and Hexagon Cup has something unique that as a team sport. And we have teams, players, we know from them they love to play like this. Because they're not used to. And that engagement not only with players, but also with the fans, makes this business unique. And yeah, I think that's one of the most amazing business models that I have seen in padel, at least for the last years, that I think that have one of the potential better successes possible.

Alex 5:14

And before we come to Gabriel, so when you were putting the consortium together, Alex, what were your parameters and your priorities? Were you looking for one or multiple parties to join you from the start? Were you being quite clear about what you wanted or quite reactive to who came out of the woodwork?

Ponseti 5:32

Well as, as I told you, I was on holidays, so I was thinking, Hey, should I do this or should I just have fun in holidays with families? So decided, okay, let's do it because that's the opportunity. I don't wanna miss the opportunity. But, when we spoke with Edu from Business Padel Tour about the need of having a team that's supporting, with an investment, but it's not only an investment. It's not only money, but we were needing a team or a group that was supporting us with experience, with knowhow, with more values, not only economic values. So that's why we make a really short list of who should be the best partner on that. And in reality, and I can say that a hundred percent sure, that the first person that I called was Ryan, the CEO of Taktika padel. Of course, I contact more people, you know, Alex, that I contact more people. But the first person was him and I didn't know that he was able, maybe not him, but the team behind him, was able to do that. And really, that's when I met Gabriel. Now it seems that I know Gabriel for a lot of years, but that's not like this. It has been so funny that, a fast relation, but yeah, that's more or less what we did. So it was a first date and it went amazing.

Alex 6:52

Which brings us neatly onto to you, Gabriel. So before we dive into this whole Kru project, talk us through everything else that padel has brought to your life. How did it start? How did the Taktika Club brand and locations come about? How did your involvement with the San Diego Stingrays come about, right through to Taktika Equity, which is obviously the new vehicle that you've created in the last few months, or consolidated in the last few months. Talk us through all of those aspects and how you've kind of really diversified and grown your relationship with padel and professional padel.

Gabriel 7:27

So first of all, thank you, Alex, for giving us this space. We really appreciate it. And I don't think we have enough time to go through the whole story. I'm very passionate about our path and what we've been able to achieve and what we still have to achieve. so it, it could take me hours to go through it, but I would try to do a very summarized version. I've been playing padel basically all my life. I was born in Mexico. I'm a proud Mexican, uh, learned the sport and saw the sport very early on because we went three, four times a year to Acapulco and we were able to be exposed to it very early on. Loved the sport. I played a lot of tennis when I was growing up. And then had a car accident. Was never able to play tennis at a competitive level anymore. And padel was just incredible to learn and to enjoy. It had a very big social component, which I really liked. and then while I grew up, went into business, I have been in family businesses all my life, whether it's from my own family, my father was a very successful mexican businessman, CEO of Honeywell, Buell in Mexico and Latin America. I ran several technology companies from that side of the family. And about 20 years ago, I became the trade commissioner of Mexico in the us. Uh, moved to the US to live. And there was no padel to be played here. so when I relocated to San Diego, I started to look for padel. There was none. I put the first court on my house, and then the city shut it down. So I had nowhere to play. This was during Covid. And the opportunity to invest in three courts alongside Ryan Redondo, who was running the Barnes Tennis Center, a 25 tennis court facility that is the most special location and the development center for tennis youth in Southern California. So I started working with him. We set up three courts and the idea there was just to play padel among friends. There was no business model, there was nothing. It was just, let's put three courts so that the family can play, the friends can play. My two boys were in the National padel team for the US, representing the us. So I wanted somewhere for them to train. one thing led to another, this was four years ago. And now we're very proud to say that we are probably one of the biggest investors in padel in the USA. The Pro padel League came to our doorstep. We decided to invest in it. We were investor number two in the Pro padel League. and then we started increasing the number of clubs: more than clubs is joint ventures. So our business model is first and foremost, through joint ventures with existing venues. So right now we're testing different formats: whether it's universities, sports complexes, racket centers, resorts. We're testing every single variety of the JV versions we want to have. And that's the phase that we're in. We have many, many more plans around developing the infrastructure of padel. But When everything started to come into play, it was critical for us to find a vehicle that could structure and organize absolutely everything. And we didn't have this offshoot investments: the JVs, installing infrastructure and running padel facilities, the professional teams. By that time we were already evaluating padel MBA, which for us was a no brainer. We had the exclusive rights for the west coast of Padel Galis. We had the distribution of, Padel Nuestro, so there were already a lot of elements that we needed to find a vehicle to create the structure needed to support them. And, we have a lot of experience running private equity funds. We have, uh, several of them that have been extremely successful. So we had the team of general partners to run them. We have over 35 people that are doing all of the back office from analysis, compliance, accounting, reporting, everything that needs to be done to be successful running a private equity fund. And that's how it all got started.

Takitka hear about Kru

Alex 12:10

And now let's focus a little bit back onto Kru. So, how did Kru reach your desk, Gabriel, and what was your first reaction?

Gabriel 12:20

Uh, first of all, it's one of those things that are God sent. Uh, we were not out there looking for it. We were already invested in the PPL. Our focus was with the PPL. We had been approached by Hexagon teams to invest in the minority stake in some of the teams. So we already knew a little bit about it. we already knew how it worked, the structure, the players, the stakeholders. So it was not new to us when it came to our desk, but when Ryan came to me and said, look, I went to the World padel Summit, met this amazing guy who's running it. Uh, he's bringing a couple of projects to our table, and let's explore them. Alex brought several of them that we've already materialized. But one of them was the Kru team. for me, when I knew who was behind it, which was Eduardo Conde who runs the Business padel tour in Spain and Kun Aguero, it was a no brainer. I mean, it was, yeah, let's do it. Whatever it takes. We knew we were not the only one. So we had meetings with Kun. I flew to Miami to have an in-person meeting with him. It was gonna be a couple of hours and it turned to almost a whole day. So we truly connected there. We met with all of the hexagon founders and shareholders. We met with Edu and Alex. So I think we, we interviewed and, it felt like almost a job interview that we were vying for the project. And I truly believe that we had the more strategic fit for them. It was not about the money. There's a lot of money right now available. And I don't think businesses get done just because you have access to money. It's precisely what Alex said. It was the connectivity, it was the relationship, and it was the strategic vision of what we could do together.

Alex 14:25

And as you said, it wasn't a surprise when the deck came to you because you had been looking at the fundamentals already. Was there anything about the Hexagon Cup fundamentals and the proposition that really caught your eye? That felt like this is absolutely, we want to be involved in it and was there a reason why you didn't take the previous opportunities and took this one?

Gabriel 14:47

Well, there were several factors. The first of them was that we would be at the top of the the cap table here. So that was important to us. Most of the investments we do, we wanna have majority control. That was one of them. The second is the meeting that I took with Kun Aguero. that was probably one of the most impressive meetings I've had with, let's say, an ambassador, celebrity. icon of the sport. Just his dedication, the time he gave us, and there was one factor that truly changed it for me. We were at his house in Miami for over four hours going through all the specifics. He did not once took a look at his phone. And in a connectivity age where everybody's looking constantly at their phones and checking and getting distracted, his dedication and his focus and his commitment to what we were presenting him was very, very palpable. So it was like, this guy gets it. He wants to be engaged, he wants to be involved, he wants to lead the project, which was critical for us. And it was by far one of the best decisions we've made in this space.

Alex 16:13

And again, before I open it to a bit more of a broader focus; from your point of view, how did the experience that you had with PPL and the Stingrays, how did that prepare you for this opportunity? How do you think it helped from being accepted by this consortium, but how do you think it also helped you from your point of view about feeling confident about what you were getting yourself into?

Gabriel 16:35

We didn't have that much of an experience with PPL because we were in the middle of what we really call season one. Because the first season was more of a trial. so we were just in the middle of season one when we met. We already had the experience of running the PPL in San Diego in our own club. So we knew what it took to develop competition of this magnitude. We knew how important the celebrity based involvement and engagement was for a competition like this. We knew how critical it was to have an operating team, which Eduardo and Alex brought to the table. They brought the operations in Spain, which we had zero experience with. They had all of the experience in the world, so we, it was like all the elements that we believed that were needed to be successful at a competition like this were there. So it was a very low risk opportunity for us.

Alex 17:45

And now let's turn to the rest of the consortium. So let's talk about, let's touch on Business padel tour first. So Alex, they brought you into the table in the first place. What do they bring to the mix, for people who are listening to this podcast who may not be familiar with them? Can you give us a little bit of an insight into who business padel Tour are, and how come they got the opportunity and how come they reached out to the rest of you?

Ponseti 18:10

Sure. Well, business Padel Tour, I think that they have one of the best names possible. Because if you heard Business Padel Tour, it's obvious what they have and what they do. So I love that name. They started not a lot of years ago, but they're doing a great job. So they join companies to play padel and have fun with their employees. So I think it's a great idea because that supports the employees playing a sport, an amazing sport like padel. They can connect. So, we know what has padel and what brings padel to our bodies and our minds. And if you connect this amazing sport with colleagues, it creates that feeling, that connection with the others. That then when you have to be eight hours a day with the same person, once you are off the office playing and enjoying and competing together, it's something that helps a lot then on your productivity. And that's why I think that business padel tour is an amazing project. They're growing so fast now. They are expanding to the rest of the world. And I met them before, but I really met them during the summit as well, because they were an exhibitors. They will be an exhibitors as well this year. And they will support us a lot. We are gonna do some amazing things during the summit with business padel tour this year. We'll explain you soon. And once Edward called me and reality, it was like the first movement for Edward was, Hey Alex, this is the opportunity we have. We have Kun and we are needing some investment to create this team. Can you support us finding the investor. That was the first approach. But as soon as we start speaking and we felt the personal connection. It was not about business, it was about connection with persons. So once we felt that, it was as Gabriel say, it was no brainer. It was, Hey, there is something happening here. So that's why the first time he asked me, Hey Alex, do you want to join, not only helping us, but only joining this project? And EDU knows that it was not an immediately yes, because it was on holidays and all that I explained before. But it was not difficult to decide. So that's the first approach that they had. And now I cannot be happier with the decision that I took, because if I said no, now I was not able to wear this amazing jacket that I am wearing..

Gabriel 20:37

And we won. How better is that?

Ponseti 20:39

Exactly. That's even better.

Alex 20:41

Don't, don't rub it in Alex.'cause I know we spoke at one point about whether I should join and I, ummed and ahhed and decided not to, and now I'm kicking myself. I could have been the interviewer and interviewee on this podcast had I been a little bit faster and a little bit smarter, but there we go.

Ponseti 20:57

Sure.

Alex 20:57

Let's go to Sergio. So Sergio, Aguero came in with his Kru brand and I know Kru from their eSports team, organization. Um, so, why did Sergio come into this? And do you know why he decided to do it through the Kru vehicle and brand?

Gabriel 21:16

First, of all, they had a very good marketing structure around the Kru brand already. He had just announced his partnership with Leo Messi. Although Leo Messi is a minority, silent partner in Kru esports. He's not actively involved as much as Kun is, but as roommates, best friends, he really supported Kun Aguero. And I don't know if you saw this week, Leo Messi posted a picture with all of the Kru esports team. so when he brought the idea to us of the different vehicles he had to be able to structure this, the Kru brand was just amazing. I think it has a lot of extensibility way beyond eSports. He wanted to strengthen that brand. He had the team behind it to do all the marketing that was needed to get the brand out there. So for us it was a no-brainer as well. I mean, when he explained the mission, the vision, the objectives behind Kru eSports, and then translated it Kru Padel, joining both worlds made a lot of sense. So, that was the main reason behind going with that brand.

Alex 22:38

And you touched on Messi. He was kind of sprinkled into the original, press release, I think. I know there was almost a soft launch when Sergio and Messi were filmed playing padel together, but does Messi get involved at all in any of this? Or is there plans to involve him more? Or can you speak a little bit to the extent that he's going to be involved in the project?

Gabriel 23:00

Yeah, I cannot speak much of him because I haven't met with him. So I don't have the firsthand relationship there. But what I can tell you is at this stage, the focus of Messi is first and foremost on his soccer career. Everything that is not related to that is second in priority. And this is Kun Aguero's project. Leo is supporting him, and I am sure he will be involved at some point when he retires from soccer. He's very passionate about padel as you've been able to see in multiple posts, interviews that he's had. So we don't have any expectation for him to be actively involved. Kun Aguero brings more than enough to the table and for what we need. He's just a beast. What he showed us and everybody and the padel world in Madrid. So it would be great to have, but it's not a need to have. And I think that's what makes this very, very special. That although he will be in the ecosystem and for instance, for the final, he taped a message to all of our players before we played the final, thanking them and encouraging them and giving them the best wishes for the final, which we were able to play, for all of our team. And they came out very excited because of that, right. But I would say the heart of this team is Kun Aguero. He's the heart.

Alex 24:38

That was pretty evident if you were there in Madrid because not only was he there on the sidelines, leading the cheering as loudly as anyone. He was court side at every match, but also even backstage when his team weren't playing, he was constantly on site. He was constantly accessible to a huge amount of people. He wasn't sequestered in some green room where no one could touch him or see him. He was available. He was having conversations, he was having photos with fans. He was much more accessible than I expected him to be, if I'm honest. Having seen how certain other, advocates and ambassadors of brands, you don't get that. I know Eva Longoria is also in that same type of ambassador, but one of the things I would love to see Hexagon Cup do more is try to get the rest of the owners to give the same level of commitment and excitement and passion that, that the likes of Eva and Kun showcased in Madrid this year.

Gabriel 25:31

And I would say for us it was not a surprise. I think Kun throughout the whole process had shown a huge level of involvement already. But what you say, I mean, it could have easily been him being present just at the matches. Which is what everybody expected. but he really dedicated the time and, his skillset, his knowledge of sport to our team as well. And I think that's what made a huge difference in why we won the championship. It was not just about the skill of play. It was about the level of involvement that he personally had with every single player in the team. And that was just unbelievable, right? If you saw, if you see the tape of that week for us, after a day and a half of competition, Betaway put us next to last in terms of betting order to win the championship. That was the biggest mistake we made. We should have put the whole money we were gonna get into that bet because it paid 17 to one. But it was his heart that turned the team around. It was him being there for them. It was the event we did for the players, which he was there leading. It was the dinner we had with all of the players after day one of competition, where we had lost all the matches, and just cheering them on and being by their side and being with them, right? It was committing to having a celebratory dinner before we started the final. No matter what happened, we were gonna go out and celebrate. So there were a lot of little things that happened along the way where he was an integral part of that.

Alex 27:28

Let's now turn to the player portion of the conversation. So can you talk us through a little bit about the player recruiting piece? So first you've got the franchise names, right? Chingotto, he had been part of the ElevenEleven roster last year, or when he came in as a replacement for Bela, who couldn't play in 2024. And on the female side, you had Claudia Jensen, who I think was in R9 last year. So you effectively had to borrow or transfer or acquire or convince two players who were already technically with other franchises to come and become your faces. How did that happen? Was it a transfer deal? I'm curious to know how you landed on those two names and how you got them to join.

Gabriel 28:12

So, that's a very good one. The first decision we made was our two franchise players and our main coach were going to be Argentinian. Period. End of story. There was no discussion around that. We wanted our two franchise players and our head coach to be Argentinian born nationals. So when we went through the available players, Chingotto was not a franchise player for 11, 11. And Claudia was not a franchise player for R9. So we spoke to them. That's where I say, Kun Aguero and his brother, Maori, they were integral in this. They took it upon themselves to talk to every single Argentinian born padel player. They reached out to everybody. They, obviously approached, both Maxi Sanchez, who we had chosen as to be our head coach and Ramiro Choya. So they approached them to see their playing style, their fit with the values of the team. And that's how it came to be. Since they were not franchise players, they were available for us to have a direct negotiation with.

Alex 29:34

And was there like a transfer fee or cost that was required or it was just would you like to come? Yes. Great.

Gabriel 29:40

not franchise

Alex 29:41

Okay.

Gabriel 29:41

they were open to be picked as franchise players by any other team.

Alex 29:48

Got it. And Momo, who obviously paired with Chingotto; and Veronica, who paired with Claudia: who decided that those two were the right fit for your franchise players? Was that the two coaches?

Gabriel 30:00

Yeah. So all of us, I would say. All of us, we all got together before the draft. We saw all of the list of players that were available. We had our picks of who we were gonna draft, depending the order that we had and,

Ponseti 30:15

even the players asked us who were the players that they were feeling more comfortable in terms of connection and playing style. I think that.

Gabriel 30:26

The players had to a say on it. first and foremost it was the players saying, yes, from this list, these are the ones that I could really see myself playing with. the coaches had a very important say in it. Us as owners had a say in it. And when the order came, we knew exactly who we were picking of the ones that were available to us.

The NextGen Pair

Ponseti 30:50

Yeah.

Alex 30:51

Got it. And finally, the final two members were Marina Lobo and Agueda Perez. So what was the thinking, with bringing those two on board?

Ponseti 31:02

We, we had really good insights from the coaches and from people around us because, uh, well, we know top 10, top 20 players. But maybe only people that is really, really involved in the tournaments knows the next gen players. Male or female. So for us was at the beginning a bit difficult to decide who were the best ones. So we had the support from the coaches, even for the players and from people around us deciding who were the best choices for us for our team. And that's why we were really lucky that we could choose, marina and Agueda because both played, maybe not the first day, but they played better and better every day. And they gave us an amazing match in the final. It was amazing.

The Outlook Going into Day 1

Alex 31:51

We'll get to that in a second. So let's now go to the beginning of the event. Actually before the first ball was even hit, how confident did you feel about the team that we've just talked about, how you assembled? And did that evolve over the course of the event how confident you felt? I'm assuming the first day was a little chastening. but, just talk us through how you went into the event.

Ponseti 32:19

I think it, it's an individual feeling. Because each of us were feeling something different. In my case, I was feeling very confident because I knew that it was a long path. And it was not just a match. It was, uh league. And I was confident because I was trusting the team we were having: not only the players, but also the whole team, the coaches, and the team supporting. So I was feeling confident the first days. I don't know about Gabriel, but I was sure that at least we were going to the final.

Gabriel 32:51

Yeah, I knew we had a great team. We had great chemistry on the team. We structure a WhatsApp group after the draft. And the interaction and the dynamics in the chat were just amazing. I mean, the attitude of everybody was extremely positive. So we knew we had a great team. We knew we had one of the top male teams in the competition. That we knew for a fact. The style of Momo and Fede really complimented each other very, very well. We knew we had a strong women's team. The next gen, as Alex said, I personally had never seen them play, so I was not that aware of how they were playing. When the competition started, nerves took the best of the next gen. It was not about their capability at all. It was about the nerves and the stage and the style of play. When you're playing as a team and you have the whole team in the stands, looking at you and being there for you. For kids, it could get a lot of pressure. So I think the. nerves got the best of us day one. And we surely turned it around: led by our captains, our coaches, Kun and Maori and the rest of the bench that, I mean, we were fighting to get those seats on the bench because everybody wanted to be there. So the outflow was all in the stands. We had a lot of people there involved in the project that truly were passionate about what we were doing.

The Franchise Picks Up Momentum Off Court: the Launch Event, the Sponsors, and the Support

Ponseti 34:35

Yep.

Alex 34:36

That brings me on to my next question, which was I wanted to talk a little bit about some of the key milestones for the team, and you've touched on some of'em already. So one the launch event that you were part of, which kind of really cemented, I'm sure your brand, your entrance, but also your relationships. Then there was the relationship with palair around the apparel, which was quite iconic in a situation where there wasn't really a lot of merchandise available or a lot of branding, team branding visible and you guys, through palair, through the Kru logo became incredibly high visibility. And that also then tied in with the, as you just mentioned, the incredible passion on the bench, but also in the stands. So I'd like to talk through that, the launch event, the palair relationship. And the passion on the bench and in the stands. How did those kind of all come together and how important were they for the evolution of the team over that week?

Gabriel 35:32

So I'll talk a little bit about the event. Originally, the event was gonna be the launch of the Taktika equity fund. so we wanted to do a very curated, very small, 50 people targeted to potential investors with the players to launch Taktika equity. and our Taktika equity GPS general partners, with Eduardo Conde started. Eduardo Conde very graciously said, I'll help you structure it. We started to run ideas. 50 people event turned to 75, turned to a hundred, 150. We closed it at 200 people. And that's when we decided this has to be a celebration of the team. Taktika equity we will have a lot of opportunities to launch it down the road. It's a fund that is focused for the American market. So let's shift and do the launch in the United States and let's do this event about the players first and foremost. This was a celebration of the players and it was a celebration of us coming into Hexagon. We didn't know that none of the teams really do this. And there was a Hexagon gala that was gonna take place during the event as well. But the level of or attention to detail that Eduardo and the rest of the team, Ugo Bloom put to this event was par none. Everything was taken care of, everything was curated. It was truly a magical night. Everybody felt taken care of. The players were extremely happy. They were there with their families. So, Claudia was there with their parents. Vero was there with her family. Momo was there with his girlfriend. Maxie was there with his wife. Ramiro Choya was there with his wife. Alex came with his wife as well. So it was a more like a family event with friends.

Ponseti 37:39

That's a

Gabriel 37:39

was

Ponseti 37:40

word I was going to say.

Gabriel 37:41

to celebrate us being in last place by that night, we were almost in last place of the competition that night. And we were celebrating that We had been able to pull all of this together.

Ponseti 37:54

Yeah, that's true.

Alex 37:57

Can you talk a little bit about Palair and Puma and what role those brands had in this franchise?

Ponseti 38:03

Let me start, just say something, because then you can go with Palair and Puma. But in reality we had brands that support the team: that was AIX Investments and PAX. That was the really the sponsors that we had on the Kru Padel team by Taktika, I didn't wanna miss that as well. And so they support us a lot because, not only creating, but managing and operating a team like this is not easy and it's expensive. And we were meeting a lot. So I think that we made a great job. And of course, we had also other brands that support us, like Puma and Palair, and if Gabriel, you wanna talk about them, feel free please.

Gabriel 38:45

Yeah. So, Puma came from the relationship with Kun. Kun had been working with Puma most of his life. he has a very strong relationship. So Puma was the sponsor of our uniforms I would say. remember the players had to wear the brands that they're committed to. So, Fede and Claudia had to wear bull padel, for instance, right? But the gear outside of the competition, Puma was the one that we had chosen, and with Palair originally, it was just gonna be a collaboration for one event. And Sarah Horrocks did an incredible job of bringing something that turned out to be very special, which started with the hats, uh, the caps. She did an incredible job producing a very high quality cap that we didn't have a puma cap. So, originally it just started like, well, I'm gonna work this cap for the game. And then everybody started saying, where did you get that cap? I want it, it became sort of a cult following of,

Ponseti 40:00

It was a hype. At least a hundred people ask me for that cap. Said, where can I, where can I find it? No, no, you cannot find it because it's just for the team and for our friend family, that's all. So it became some kind of hype and it was a funny story.

Gabriel 40:17

She did our sweatshirts as well, that she did it just to give them out to us as a gift. We hadn't planned for the sweatshirts, but if you remember, it was cold those days. It was raining, and that was the warmest gear we all had there.

Ponseti 40:35

Hundred percent.

Gabriel 40:36

it first because it was cold. But then, I mean, the look and feel of the cap, of the sweatshirt just took over and it was this aspirational, I would say that we didn't have to sell. We had no plan to give it away. As, Alex just mentioned, it started just for the team. And then all of the stakeholders wanted one, and then all of the families wanted one and we ran out of them. So it was like, oh my God, well I'm gonna lend you mine for the event, but then I want it back. And it was a very, very special situation that happened with that.

Alex 41:20

I think also, that neon pink logo, which in the UV light in the arena popped, like it was, you, you couldn't see anything in the Stadium, but the one thing you saw were those pink UV, light enhanced, logos sprinkled throughout the audience. Which really was just, as you said, it was just like a hype moment.

Ponseti 41:42

But trust us. That was something unexpected.

Alex 41:47

Sarah herself, I spoke to her, she was surprised at how the popularity of it spread like wildfire through that arena. I certainly tried to twist a few arms to get hold of some myself, but unfortunately couldn't get hold of it. But I'm probably one of those hundred that you are mentioning, Alex. And can you talk about the stands because I think you touched on this Gabriel, that, obviously not everyone could sit courtside, so you had a actually significant numbers in the stands, but I saw loads of banners, I saw those pink logos. It looked like the only team that had organized, whether it was fans or friends and family was again, Kru padel by Taktika who every time your players were on court, the fans, the merchandise, the branding, the flags, the banners, they were all visible. Was that coordinated. or how did that come about?

Ponseti 42:39

It was coordinated, but I think that, and, we didn't talk about this yet, but I think that a team sport like Hexagon Cup, it's the way that it should go. Because it's the way to create that engagement with the fans. That it's like, for me, I like to compare it with Davis Cup. So even we need more people, more fans doing noise between the points and engagement and having fun and screaming and all that. I think that that's where should do, because at the end, it's an exhibition. It's a real experience. So we were expecting that. We were expecting that with a flash, with all we prepared. But I would like that all teams do the same in the future.

Alex 43:24

Let's now talk about the trophy win. So once you guys won 2025. Spoiler alert. What's been the response after the win in terms of investors, commercial partners, players, fans? Have there been any specific developments proposed or embraced on the back of that win that really were a product of the success?

Gabriel 43:47

I mean, we're not looking for investors, so we we're very fortunate to be very well funded, but, definitely the sponsor pool has increased. The interest to do things has increased. If Eduardo was here, we've received tens or hundreds of calls to do collaborations, to do activations. We're taking our time. We're picking our battles. If we're gonna do something, we want to do it very, very well curated, which is what the brand deserves and the team deserves. We tried to do something around the Miami racket scene that was there. Eva Longoria was there a couple of days before, celebrating her 50th birthday. The players were there. Unfortunately, Kun had other commitments in Europe that he couldn't make it fit. So when Eva Longoria was there, Kun was not there, and vice versa. So it was very hard to coordinate agendas and do something really special. And we don't wanna just do an event to do an event. It has to be very well curated. So there's a lot of excitement, there's a lot of hype. We're gonna definitely capitalize on it. But we're gonna take time. We don't have to throw everything out the window, day one.

Alex 45:07

And how did the other teams and owners react to your tournament win? Any jealousy? Any, You just arrived. What do you think you're doing?

Ponseti 45:17

I think they should be happy because, we want not only because of the, level of the players that of course they have, but also what we create as a team. That we were more, more like a family than a team. And that feeling that players were having with Kun, building this team, with all of us, supporting them all the time in all matches, also between matches. We were there, all the team being supported and planning all the stuff. So I think it makes a difference

Gabriel 45:45

I think the Hexagon won. not just Kru padel. Hexagon really won. We were the underdogs on the final. The fact that the next gen decided the final was amazing. They had lost against the Raffa Nadal team. it was a very clear loss a couple of days before, so this was a rematch. It was full with drama. We had some match points on the women's game that probably we should have won, and then it would've been ended with the men's team. I'm so, so happy that it was decided by the next gen. And that it was a rematch. Because that brought another level of how it was decided. And this two young women were just so confident when they stepped into the court. And they told us, don't worry about us. We got this, we got this. We're gonna give it our all. so I think Hexagon if you were there the year before and you were there this year, there was a very clear evolution. I think all the owners, are on the same page that this is evolving. That this is getting better and better. And we were all very happy. We created a very good synergistic relationship between the owners. Obviously there was a competitive tension because we all wanted to win. Nobody likes to lose, but only one can win. The other nine are gonna lose by default; just by the structure of the competition. But I think everybody was very supportive. And after we won, I received from every single owner of the other teams a congratulatory message. And that's special, right? That's special. That means about the professionalism and the commitment that we as owners have to this competition and to developing the event moving on.

Alex 47:51

And anything you would've done differently if you could go back in the last, 12, 18 months since the journey began? Is there anything that you think you would've liked to have done differently?

Ponseti 48:01

Not me.

Gabriel 48:01

It's hard to respond that when you win. Right?

Alex 48:04

yeah, it kind of worked out well whatever happened, ups and downs, it seemed to work out in the end, right?

Gabriel 48:10

I would say the only thing I would've done differently is what I said a couple of minutes ago to put the pot on that 17 to one bet. That would've been something special to share with the players. I would've shared all of those earnings with all of our team and the coaches primarily because the coaches were there really just to support us. They made very little money from this event. I think that's something that should change down the line. That the coaches should get at least something from winning the tournament. but overall it was just, it, it was one of the most magical weeks that I've experienced, and we've had many. But this was very, very special.

Ponseti 48:54

Yeah.

Alex 48:56

And now the last two questions just about the future. So what are your hopes for the future of the team and the brand? So, obviously you can touch on Hexagon 2026, but beyond that, how do you think the brand and the team come to life between now and 2026? Is there any plans, for example, around Argentina considering that, as you said, you've made quite a deliberate decision to be quite an Argentinian centric brand? What are we gonna see from, Kun padel by Taktika between, 2025 Hexagon Cup and 2026 Hexagon Cup?

Ponseti 49:31

Well, I think that it's as Gabriel said, that we wanna do it the proper way. At least what we will do is to be there and play the 20 26, Hexagon Cup. We'll be there and doing our best to win again. But I think that at least for me, and we didn't spoke about it, but I think that we should do it step by step. We don't need right now to create something, but what we wanna create is that a brand around Kru Padel Team by Taktika, because it's becoming something. Not only because we won, but also because who's behind, because of Kun, because of the team, the family we created. So there is something that we can do, but we need to start doing a step, a step and thinking on the next year and creating the team and making sure, because next year the next gen is not gonna be women but men. So we need to start thinking on the new team. We need to prepare.

Gabriel 50:25

Yeah, I would say that there's gonna be a lot of things that are coming out of this relationship. Kun Aguerro, Alex, Eduardo. We are creating more than just a team. We're creating a group, a family that is invested in padel, that wants to develop, padel all over the world; that wants to commit to doing things right. we have a lot of things in the pipeline to show in the next coming weeks and months, that we're excited to be able to share with you, Alex, and with all of your ecosystem. We're building a family as well, for instance. Vero and Claudia are gonna be joining us for the Stingrays, season at the PPL. So we wanna commit to our players as much as they're committing to us. So they're committing to play for us. They're committing to give everything on court and we're committing to, to being by their side and integrating them in all of the projects that we have moving forward. Unfortunately Fede was already a franchise player for another team of the PPL, and he couldn't come and join us and we're very respectful of that. And Momo, we couldn't make it work to try to bring him over to the team. But Maxie, was with us last year at the PPL. Maxie was our coach and. he's coming back to the Stingrays as well as Lucia Sainz who played for us last year. So we wanna be known by committing to players as much as they commit to us and creating something that hopefully can evolve over time into a lot more things than just playing a couple of weeks over the year together, right?

Alex 52:14

and so Fede and Claudia are obviously your franchise players. They're locked in for 2026. With Momo and Veronica, locked in for next year or they go back into the draft and you'll try to get them, but you can't promise it. How does that element continuity work?

Gabriel 52:29

yeah, we will be defining our team, prior to the season. We would like to repeat the formula that worked for sure. I mean, that will be our first commitment, and our first intent to repeat, and have the same team defending their championship next year. I'm sure all of the other teams are gonna make changes. If we can maintain that core team, those four, and the next gen man, we'll definitely have to pick from the draft. But if it worked, let's repeat it. That would be my intent. But a lot of things can happen from here to then. But originally our intent would be to repeat.

Ponseti 53:10

Yep,

Alex 53:11

And a significant 2026 merchandise offering, I'm assuming?

Gabriel 53:16

A lot of surprises are in the horizon.

Can Others Collaborate with what you are Building?

Alex 53:19

I don't think you need to be a high price consultant to suggest that might be a good idea for 2026. Last question, just because obviously there are a lot of listeners from the business of padel, you touched, on this Gabriel already with regards to investors, but are you looking for any further support from partners or investors or anybody else in the industry who can help with the Kru padel by Taktika Project or indeed any of the other projects that you guys are working on?

Gabriel 53:44

For sure. I mean, we're launching probably one of the biggest padel centric funds, in the world and for sure the biggest for the United States. That I know for a fact. we wanna invite everybody that wants to participate in this journey to be a part of our journey. We cannot build this alone. What we want to build, we need a lot of very talented people, partners that could really see the vision that we want to put together and contribute and collaborate with us. We're very open, so if anybody wants to reach out, I am everywhere in Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Alex as well. We will be at the World padel Summit. I'm very, very happy to have accepted, to be part of the Board of the World padel Summit and support Alex in this incredible mission that he has to get padel everywhere. so we will be there, open to have any meetings, open to meet with everybody that wants to collaborate in building something special.

Alex 54:55

And Alex from your side, anything you want to add?

Ponseti 54:58

I think that once Gabriel speaks, I cannot add anything else. But yeah I'm open because, I wanna be part of this growth of the sport. I'm doing that all day with the padel World Summit, with all the projects that I am involved and happy to do everything that is connected with the values of this sport, I think that we should help each other. I cannot add anything else.

Alex 55:22

Okay. Well that's a good place to wrap up our episode. Again, please like, share and subscribe. If the content was thought provoking, please comment on LinkedIn. If you have any recommendations around our format, topics, we should devote an episode to, questions we should ask, speakers we need to bring on. We want you all those driving the next phase of this industry's future to tell us what you want to hear about and who from. Thank you Gabriel and Alex for joining us today. We will keep doing our best to cover all the angles of the business around padel. Episode after episode. Until the next one.