If you’re a lacrosse player who’s ever used a rebounder to practice, chances are you’ve benefited from the solution a 13-year-old girl found to a frustrating problem: a lack of good lacrosse training equipment. In 2012, Rachel Zietz left a gaping hole in her backyard rebounder while practicing, and decided she would put a better option of the product on the market if no one else would. The idea led her to create Gladiator Lacrosse, a lacrosse practice equipment company whose core product was a sturdy rebounder.
When Rachel was 15, she went on Shark Tank with Gladiator. While she didn’t find a deal there, Dick’s Sporting Goods flew her out to the company HQ, and later began carrying Gladiator lacrosse products in their stores. Rachel graduated high school in 2018 and continued to develop the company from there: that year, an acquisition by Whirlpool Corporation allowed her to hone in on the professional rebounder space. These are now sold to colleges across the country, and can be purchased by schools anywhere.
Rachel went on to attend Princeton College and captained an undefeated club lacrosse team there. As an all-state and national team member at 16 years old, she could have played D1, but decided to prioritize education. Today, Rachel Zietz makes steady revenue from her original product, but she also works for a venture capital firm (Lightyear) based in New York. It has assets under management of $5 billion.
Zietz has experienced every side of entrepreneurship, from her own idea at 13 years old and subsequently developing her company, going on Shark Tank and walking away from unsatisfactory offers, to her current work in venture capital where she helps fund the great ideas of the next generation of young entrepreneurs.
