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Weingarten, age 29, who serves as the chief growth officer for sports media company Overtime, was named on the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, which is released annually and features 600 successful young entrepreneurs, stars, and leaders who have already exhibited plenty of potential.
Since Weingarten joined Overtime in 2015 as a startup, it has grown to have over 100 million followers on several social media platforms.
The company has also started four sports leagues for high school athletes and is even backed by high-profile investors such as rapper Drake and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
For Weingarten, a native of the Lewisboro hamlet of South Salem who graduated from John Jay High School in Cross River, his success with Overtime was not something he had ever expected. In fact, at first, he wanted to work toward a coaching career.
"I played basketball, I played football, I played baseball, I wanted to play every sport. I was obsessed with it. And my dream was to coach one day," Weingarten said, adding that his ultimate goal was to become a college basketball coach.
While attending Iona College in New Rochelle, Weingarten began working toward this and started coaching high school football and basketball at John Jay while also founding his own AAU basketball program in Westchester.
"I was kind of on my path to being a coach," he said. "I hadn't thought about anything else."
However, at the suggestion of his mother, Weingarten decided to look for an internship while in college.
"I googled 'sports internships' and I skipped to the 50th page of Google. And the reason I skipped to the 50th page is I didn't think anyone on the first 49 pages would hire me, right? Like, think about that, it's like ESPN, it's CBS, Fox, all these different big companies," Weingarten explained.
After clicking on the 50th page, Weingarten happened upon a listing posted by a sports media startup called Tally that would end up changing his life.
"I started working there as an intern," he said, adding, "We didn't really know what we were doing, but we knew that we wanted to create a sports brand for the next generation of fans."
Finding Success
Taking inspiration from brands such as ESPN and Bleacher Report, Tally eventually grew into Overtime. While working there, Weingarten began learning from his team members and asked them how he could help. One of them eventually suggested that he assist with social media, where they needed a lot of assistance.
"It was not something I had done before, but I noticed that wow, there's this huge need here," Weingarten said. He soon began posting on accounts that had no followers and was soon met with success at getting people's attention. From this point on, Weingarten began running Overtime's social media accounts, gaining 100 million followers across Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook.
"My expertise and my success came from knowing what kind of content our fans were looking for, and figuring out how we can give them all the content that they wanted as well as talking to them in a voice that they could understand that felt in line and relatable with what they were doing," Weingarten said, adding, "It's that 15-year-old in Westchester who wants to play Division I basketball one day. It's that 17-year-old who's out in North Dakota who loves football."
Weingarten also realized that his obsession with growing the company's social media grew out of his competitive nature.
"I'm very competitive and I've been playing so many sports, and I think with social media, I get to post something and see if I've won or lost every single time," he said, continuing, "Did we beat our competitors? Did it perform well? What are the comments saying? Like, I love that...that competitive part is fun."
He also tasks himself with keeping up with the ever-changing nature of social media platforms.
"I would not call myself an expert in any way. Because you can't be. It changes every day," he said.
Influence Of Home
According to Weingarten, his upbringing in South Salem helped shape him into the successful person he is today, and also brought out his competitiveness.
"It's something that keeps you really humble," he said, adding, "I think being in a town that sometimes can feel really small can feel competitive and having people that are really smart around you and people that are really kind and great makes you feel like you're part of something."
Although he now lives in New York City, Weingarten said he always enjoys visiting home.
"When I go back home to Westchester, it feels like home and it feels like I can have a clear head and a clear mind," he said. "I think being kind of in a place where it's woodsy and has fresh air and all that stuff helps me think."
Weingarten also said that he can see the impact Overtime has on young people in Westchester during his visits.
"My cousin owns a gym in Westchester where he trains all high school athletes. And I'll go in and they're wearing Overtime gear," he said.
"Just knowing that there are high school athletes in my town or our county that have followed similar things or know what Overtime is up to, it really makes me just appreciate all the exposure that we got," Weingarten noted, adding, "It blows my mind."
Advice For Others
For people such as his past self who are just beginning to figure out what their passions are, Weingarten said that the key to success is being willing to always keep trying new things.
"Always try a million things and try it really hard, like give everything your absolute best," he said, continuing, "I took an internship and I really didn't know what to expect or what it would turn into. But I went into it with an open mind and I went a hundred percent and I found my passion that way."
For Weingarten, his appearance on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list marks the end of a "really cool year" that also saw him making the New Voices Under 30 list complied by Sports Business Journal.
"Overtime is the best company in the world," he said. "I'm so thankful, and everyone who I work with has taught me so much."
The full 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list can be viewed by clicking here.
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