# Skillest, Inc.

The Platform For Remote Golf Coaching

## Elevator pitch
Skillest enables golf instructors to build a remote coaching business. The benefits of remote golf lessons include: 1) No need to schedule a lesson. You communicate through the app and discuss your golf swing and game remotely. 2) Work with golf instructors all over the world. You aren't limited to instructors who are nearby. 3) Remote golf lessons allow you to get more frequent instruction at a lower cost. Skillest is the modern way to improve your golf game.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/skillest
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:76744
- Last updated: 2026-06-16T05:02:31Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-16T06:18:39Z

## Quick facts
- ⛳ $2.5B spent on pro golf lessons per year. 221% increase in golf nets & screens in 2020.
- 📈 $2M lessons purchased in 2021.
- 🧑 CEO was 95th employee at Yahoo! and co-founded Yahoo! Messenger.
- 🏌️ Co-founder is a leading PGA Professional and contributing writer for Golf.com.
- 💸 $2M raised to-date from angels & VCs (The House Fund, founders of MyFitnessPal, Caviar, Zuora).
- 💰 Tons of runway from last funding round. We want you to be part of our journey.
- 🧑‍🎓 Top students spend over $10K on the platform. 4.9 stars on App Store. 65 Net Promoter Score.
- 🏆 World-class instructors have coached Tiger Woods, Cam Smith, Kevin Na, Lydia Ko, and Steph Curry.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:64303: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:64309: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
               

## FAQ
1. **What was the valuation in the last round?**
   - We raised $1.4 million in our seed round which closed in October 2021. The valuation was $9 million post-money. With that round of funding we expanded the team and launched many product improvements. Spend on the platform in 2021 was $1.9 million. In 2022 I am forecasting $2.7 million in lesson and subscription purchases on Skillest.
2. **Hi Brian, do you have a model that you'd be happy to share? It'd be good to understand budget vs actuals for the year, plus a forecast for the next 3-5. Thanks**
   - I'm sharing projections here for 2023 to 2025. The key for us right now is to grow revenue and increase our margins. We will accomplish this through a new revenue model we are launching. We are charging coaches $49/month to use the Skillest platform. This is in addition to the 15% service fee we charge students who buy lessons and subscriptions on Skillest. We've heard from many coaches that Skillest has changed their lives. We give coaches the ability to make more money and have more flexibi...
3. **The financials seem to project a good growth curve but what I do not understand is if this is an app or if it runs on a VR perspective like the cycing thing that has been making the rounds.**
   - We are a service which runs across all platforms. Students can access Skillest from the web, Google Play, or the App Store. Skillest is more than a match making service that connects golfers and golf instructors. We provide all the tools to help golf coaches market their services, convert their followers to paying customers, give lessons remotely, and communicate with their students. We are focused on golf coaches today, but we believe the platform could be useful across many different vertic...
4. **Hi, in terms of your distribution strategy, are you intending to sell direct to consumers (i.e., golfers buy via ecommerce) or do you plan to sell to golf instructors who in turn sell to their students, and if so, how? Thanks, and regards. This product is wonderfully simple an...**
   - Hi Mark - This is a great question. Our plan is to do a little bit of both. But our primary focus is on selling directly to the instructors. Skillest is a platform that helps instructors make more money and save more time. And time + money = freedom! One of our competitive advantages is that coaches rely on Skillest to grow their business. Because of that, coaches promote Skillest more than they promote any other product they use. You can see this on social media, YouTube, podcasts, etc. Skil...
5. **Hi. What is your 2022 and YTD revenue and MRR? Also, I know Skillest is currently focused on golf, what is the plan and timeline to expand to other sports?**
   - I'm including answers below. Please keep in mind these are not audited by an accountant yet. * In 2022 we had $2.7 million in revenue on our platform. * Jan 2023: $284K, Feb 2023: $319K, Mar 2023: 368K ( month is not complete yet ). We charge coaches $49/month to use Skillest. In March 2023, we had 413 active coach subscribers and $20,100 MRR.

## Team
- Brian Park (CEO)
- Baden Schaff (Co-founder)
- Alan Gao (Co-founder)

## Recent posts
- Your Last Chance To Invest In The Future Of Sports Coaching (2023-04-29T18:42:11Z)
- Invest In The Future Of Sports Coaching! (2023-04-28T08:39:20Z)
- Skillest Is Seeing Tremendous Growth (2023-04-20T07:51:30Z)
- New Revenue Model For Skillest (2022-12-07T20:56:31Z)
- It's The Final Phase 🚀 (action required) (2022-11-09T08:58:39Z)

## Q&A
- Q: Hi Skillest team, I was wondering if you could give us an update on the situation of the app as it has been a long time since last update. Thanks!
  - A: I will be sending an update soon. Sorry for the delay.
- Q: Last day… how many active coach subscribers do you have now, and what's revenue in April thus far?
  - A: I answered this in another question. The spend in April was $372,000 and we ended April with 445 active coach subscribers.
- Q: Last day…. updating the below, how many active coach subscribers do you have now, and what's revenue in April thus far?
  - A: The spend in April was $372,000 and we ended April with 445 active coach subscribers.
- Q: It seems like VR will play a big role in Skillist future. What plans do you have to be a success with VR?
  - A: I think it will take time for VR golf coaching to take off, but there is potential for sure. Here is a link to a VR based lesson that was done between a Skillest coach and one of his students. https://twitter.com/briankpark/status/1594154022247677952
- Q: With future growth into other sports, will Skillest be the single platform for all new (coach/student) markets? In other words, will investing in Skillest today be all inclusive to future expansions.
  - A: Hi Chas - our plans are to launch every new sport under the Skillest brand. So when you invest in this crowdfund, you will be investing in the company that will own future expansions to new sports. Thanks!
- Q: Is there any seasonality in Skillest? Historically how does Q1 compare to Q2, Q3, and Q4? Is the 15% service fee going to stay for the foreseeable future? How price sensitive are coaches? 15% seems to be on the low side for a marketplace like this (although this may be the right strategy to get market adoption). What sports market do you intend to enter next? Can you give me more of a feeling about the team, are you making/have you made any new hires soon? what is Brian Park's equity stake? Thanks
  - A: Regarding seasonality, here is the % of total year spend by quarter for last 2 years. 2021: Q1 21%, Q2 27%, Q3 27%, Q4 26% 2022: Q1 22%, Q2 26%, Q3 27%, Q4 25% What I look at is primarily growth year over year and we are seeing stronger growth this year over last year. For example, March 2023 was 67% higher than March 2022. March 2022 was 40% higher than March 2021. I believe growth will accelerate faster this year than last year because we started adding more coaches, beginning in September 2022, so we'll have more coaches joining and building a business on Skillest this year vs last year.
  - A: Regarding service fee, we have no plans to change the service fee at this time. Our coaches feel like the service fee is fair because they choose how much they want to make and they get paid that amount. I believe in the future there are ways to increase the profitability of the company without directly needing to increase the service fee. For example, in September 2022, we started charging coaches $49/month to use Skillest.
- Q: If you had a magic wand that can fix any problems in your business, what 3 problems would you solve?
  - A: The first problem would be to continue to increase more demand for remote golf lessons. We want to make sure new coaches who come on the platform can get busy quickly. The second problem would be to help coaches make more money from passive income. For example we will be devoting resources to letting coaches make more money through courses and opportunities to make content once and then get paid from many people for that same content. The third problem I would love to magically fix is to have the resources we need to continue to aggressively grow. As an early stage startup, we run very leanly. Every department could have more people, but we are doing what we can to stay small and keep our costs low so we can get profitable as quickly as possible. Thanks for your questions!
- Q: Just updating below going into the end of the round, how many active coach subscribers do you have now, and what's revenue in April thus far?
  - A: MTD spend on platform through April 21 is $270K. We are on pace to be 80% growth year over year. We have 444 active coach subscribers as of today. Thanks for asking!
- Q: How does the investment work in regards to obtaining a return. Is a share based situation. Do we become a silent part owner ? Ect.
  - A: The investment is in the form of a SAFE note. More information about SAFE notes can be found on this page: https://help.wefunder.com/#/glossary/contract Given that the amount each investor is investing in the company is relatively small, you will be a silent part owner in the company. Having said that, investors are welcome to email me anytime and I'm happy to hop on a Zoom call with investors to answer questions they have. We want people who use and believe in the product to invest in Skillest. And if you are a user and believer, then I certainly want to hear your feedback on how we can make the service and the company as great as possible.
- Q: When does this funding round close?
  - A: My understanding is that the last day for people to invest is April 30th, 2023. The actual close where all the paperwork is done and we receive funds will probably be a couple weeks after that.
- Q: Hi Brian, it seems that Skillest has successfully tapped into the growing market of golfers, and is thriving as a result. Could you share any insight into new features or products being developed that would entice more coaches/students to join the platform? Are there any new features that are in the pipeline that you are excited about? What is the #1 complaint you have heard from coaches/students so far?
  - A: Great questions Jon. One of the biggest initiatives we have right now is to expand to more sports. Skillest has paid out over $7 million to golf coaches and we've realized that everything we've built for golf can help coaches in many other sports as well. All coaches want to make more money. All sports coaches wish they had more freedom and flexibility to coach remotely. We will be launching baseball and swimming soon with many more sports to come. Another important area is to give our coaches opportunities to make passive income. Skillest lets coaches give private, one-on-one lessons remotely. We also want to help them scale their time and make more money by creating content once which can be viewed by many students. We launched a "courses" feature years ago and we plan to make substantial improvements to our courses. Another area which I am excited about is to improve our matching / recommendations. We've signed up a lot of coaches recently and we want to give students more options for finding the right coach for them. Many students want to search for coaches by location, gender, or skill specialty. One of the biggest complaint we hear from students is that they don't know which coach to work with. Improving the matching / recommendations engine will go a long way towards solving that complaint. On the coach side, one of the biggest complaints is that it can be hard to build an online business. Skillest removes many obstacles and we make building a business much easier. But that doesn't mean that it's easy. Coaches need to figure out how to make themselves stand out amongst the thousands of coaches who are all trying to do the same thing. Skillest helps coaches automate their marketing and we will continue to build features to help coaches turn their social media followers into paying customers. Thanks for the questions!
- Q: Hi. What is your 2022 and YTD revenue and MRR? Also, I know Skillest is currently focused on golf, what is the plan and timeline to expand to other sports?
  - A: I'm including answers below. Please keep in mind these are not audited by an accountant yet. * In 2022 we had $2.7 million in revenue on our platform. * Jan 2023: $284K, Feb 2023: $319K, Mar 2023: 368K ( month is not complete yet ). We charge coaches $49/month to use Skillest. In March 2023, we had 413 active coach subscribers and $20,100 MRR.
  - A: We are planning to launch new sports very soon. It's very likely we will have at least one more sport, if not a few live in Q2 2023. Stay tuned!
- Q: Hi, in terms of your distribution strategy, are you intending to sell direct to consumers (i.e., golfers buy via ecommerce) or do you plan to sell to golf instructors who in turn sell to their students, and if so, how? Thanks, and regards. This product is wonderfully simple and yet highly valuable. It opens up lots of opportunities for users and coaches alike.
  - A: Hi Mark - This is a great question. Our plan is to do a little bit of both. But our primary focus is on selling directly to the instructors. Skillest is a platform that helps instructors make more money and save more time. And time + money = freedom! One of our competitive advantages is that coaches rely on Skillest to grow their business. Because of that, coaches promote Skillest more than they promote any other product they use. You can see this on social media, YouTube, podcasts, etc. Skillest coaches are constantly sharing the fact they you can get private lessons with them to their audiences. From a business perspective, focusing on coaches simplifies our operations and activities. 1) We know where to find golf coaches. They have online presences and we can reach out to them. 2) We know we have product market fit with coaches. Coaches rely on Skillest to help them grow their businesses. 3) We have a strong brand with coaches. If you are a coach and you see hundreds of other coaches promoting Skillest, you will have faith that the product works. 4) Our LTV for golf coaches makes it possible for us to use marketing channels like ads to acquire coaches. For example, if a coach stays on Skillest for 1 year and sells $10,000 in lesson in that year, Skillest will make approximately $2,000 in 1 year from subscriptions and service fees through that coach. We are a marketplace and we do make efforts to grow the demand side of the marketplace as well ( golfers ). We do that through SEO, social media, partnerships, and word of mouth. Let me know if you have more questions.
- Q: The financials seem to project a good growth curve but what I do not understand is if this is an app or if it runs on a VR perspective like the cycing thing that has been making the rounds.
  - A: We are a service which runs across all platforms. Students can access Skillest from the web, Google Play, or the App Store. Skillest is more than a match making service that connects golfers and golf instructors. We provide all the tools to help golf coaches market their services, convert their followers to paying customers, give lessons remotely, and communicate with their students. We are focused on golf coaches today, but we believe the platform could be useful across many different verticals beyond golf.
- Q: Hi Brian, do you have a model that you'd be happy to share? It'd be good to understand budget vs actuals for the year, plus a forecast for the next 3-5. Thanks
  - A: I'm sharing projections here for 2023 to 2025. The key for us right now is to grow revenue and increase our margins. We will accomplish this through a new revenue model we are launching. We are charging coaches $49/month to use the Skillest platform. This is in addition to the 15% service fee we charge students who buy lessons and subscriptions on Skillest. We've heard from many coaches that Skillest has changed their lives. We give coaches the ability to make more money and have more flexibility. They can teach students all over the world, teach from anywhere, and teach at all hours of the day. The problem Skillest had in the past was that our 15% service fee was our only source of revenue. This meant we did not have a lot of flexibility to invest in marketing and growth. Our goal in 2023 is to build the best platform for coaches and to charge a SaaS fee to coaches to use Skillest. This will improve our margins and give us the ability to invest more into growing Skillest faster. Here is a link to the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JxG21qEtVrb18v0D_nLVUeRuTWrIH2LPmjVNTCKmJBI/edit?usp=sharing