WiST Webinar - Sportstech Careers

Facilitated by WiST CEO and Founder, Marilou McFarlane, along with an incredible panel of experienced leaders:

• Alysse Soll (She/Her) CEO underdog advisory, Chair WiST (Women in sportstech)
• Zaileen Janmohamed (She/her) CEO of BayArea2026

Panellists will share their experiences, career journeys and offer valuable advice on how to explore and pursue opportunities in the sportstech industry. This lively conversation will provide the opportunity to ask questions and network with the panellists in an informal setting.

Webinar speakers

Alysse Soll (She/Her) CEO underdog advisory, Chair WiST (Women in sportstech)

Alysse Soll is the CEO of underdog advisory, the investment arm of underdog venture team, a venture studio. In this role, she leads underdog’s efforts in sourcing, investing, advising, and fundraising for startups across the sports ecosystem, with a mission to support female and BIPOC founders.

Alysse is a 17-year veteran of the National Hockey League, launching the San Jose Sharks in 1990, where she pioneered fan acquisition platforms adopted by all NHL teams and other North American professional leagues. At the NHL, Alysse first launched and led the Fan Development Department driving global fan engagement through an era of unprecedented growth. She later launched the NHL’s first marketing department, driving digital engagement and programming. Prior to the underdog venture team, she was President of NewModel Advisory, a boutique sports innovation consultancy which connects sportstech startups with sports properties across the globe.

Alysse was recently recognised by SBJ as one of the 2022 Power Players in Sports Technology. She is an Angel investor, capital fundraiser and M&A for sportstechstartups (pre-seed through Series A), and a certified (Series 7, Series 63) FINRA registered representative. Alysse is actively engaged as an advisor across the startup sports technology ecosystem and serves as a judge and mentor for sportstech and Innovation Accelerators including Stadia Ventures, Mass Challenge, Comcast/NBCUniversal, DivInc., Tech Stars, and Pokatok.

Alysse serves on non-profit Boards, as the Chair of WIST (Women in sportstech) and as Deal Co-Chair of the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels where she also leads the Sports sector investments. Alysse serves on corporate Boards including Healium, a health and wellness tech company and Zoomph, a sports analytics company.

Alysse is a graduate of Cornell University with a BA in Japanese Studies and Harvard Business School, Advanced Management.

As a former athlete, world-class figure skater and Varsity Ice Hockey Player, she knows a thing about discipline, grit, patience, and practice. She is a proud mother of an amazing college student who keeps her on her toes.

Zaileen Janmohamed (She/her) CEO of BayArea2026

In March 2023, the Bay Area Host Committee named Zaileen Janmohamed to the role of CEO and President. An award-winning sports industry veteran of 18 years, Janmohamed is responsible for driving the Bay Area Host Committee's mission to pursue and secure global sports and live entertainment events for the cultural betterment and economic benefit of the Bay Area.

Zaileen Janmohamed is a long-time sports and entertainment industry veteran and passionate leader with a wealth of experience in brand, agency and property verticals of sports business. Most recently, Janmohamed was the Head of Commercial Development and Innovation at LA28, where she was responsible for identifying and actioning new initiatives and partnerships to monetize the 2028 Olympic & Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. Grounded in deep relationships and strong collaboration with the IOC, IPC, USOPC, NBC, global corporate partners, regional government, commercial and community leaders, and more; Janmohamed advanced the business of the movement in Los Angeles, driving groundbreaking initiatives including launching the first NIL marketplace (Athlete Marketing Platform or AMP) for Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Prior to her time at LA28, Zaileen guided brands including Intel, Google, and VISA in sponsorship and experiential marketing opportunities as Senior Vice President and General Manager of GMR Marketing's San Francisco office. She also served as the Head of Olympics Management at VISA, Inc., where she was responsible for delivering VISA’s premier sports sponsorship on a global scale for Olympic Games including the Rio 2016 games. While she began her career with Major League Soccer, Janmohamed’s deep passion for the professional soccer industry and global football movement began well before her exposure to the MLS Headquarters in New York, during a critical period in the 10th year of the young League’s existence, that included exposure to the creation/formation/addition of two MLS franchises.

Driven by the belief that diversity and inclusion are catalysts to fuse and maximize culture and business, Janmohamed expects this advocacy will be imperative within her role at the Bay Area Host Committee. In 2016, Janmohamed was honoured as a member of Sports Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40 Class” and Leaders in Sport’s globally acclaimed “Leaders Under 40.” Adweek has named her as one of their 2021 “Woman Trailblazers,” and was recently inducted into the Sponsorship Hall of Fame. Zaileen is also the Founder of the Women in Sport Business Program at the University of Massachusetts. Janmohamed received her Bachelor of Science from Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) and an MBA and Masters in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. A proud Canadian, Janmohamed lives in the Bay Area with her husband Arif, and two sons, Aydin and Ihsan.