Inside the eHub: Gonzalo and Angel

Written By eHub Community Manager, Hannah Wissotzky

This startup began on a pitch — not the kind with slides, the kind with a soccer ball. For Angel and Gonzalo, two second-year MBA students at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, that process started with a shared experience and a problem they both understood firsthand. They met early in the MBA program on the soccer field at Haas. Both had spent years playing sports, with Gonzalo playing professionally in Peru before coming to Berkeley, and Angel continuing competitively through college. Sports had long been a defining part of their lives, and it didn’t take long for them to realize they were thinking about the same challenge.

“When we met, we realized we shared a similar perspective around sports,” Gonzalo said. “I realized that there was a pain point for people who didn’t make it to Pro to keep growing their sports identity.” For many athletes, sports shape identity from a young age. But once competitive play ends, maintaining that identity becomes harder. That shared observation became the starting point for their work together. They began brainstorming ideas early in the MBA program and later explored the problem more deeply through the Lean LaunchPad course, where they spoke with users and narrowed their focus.

Through that process, they identified a major gap: players often lack a persistent profile that stays with them over time. As athletes move between teams, seasons, and leagues, continuity in stats, highlights, and performance can easily be lost. They also noticed how taxing the current system is for families and coaches responsible for documenting player progress. “Parents and coaches spend a lot of time filming, recording games, editing highlights and sending it to scouts.” That process is very manual and time-consuming.”

That realization helped define their direction. They began focusing on automating highlight creation, starting with basketball, while also building a system that allows athletes to maintain profiles containing their highlights, stats, and performance history. The goal is to simplify how progress is recorded and shared while making it easier for athletes to carry their work with them wherever they play. As their idea moved from concept into active development, the Berkeley eHub became a central part of their routine. They joined the BUILD Track last semester, gaining structure, accountability, and a place to consistently work through milestones.

“Entrepreneurship is sometimes a pretty lonely journey,” Gonzalo said. “So having a physical space where you can show up and work alongside other people building things has been really helpful.” Their days often follow a familiar rhythm. After class at Haas, they walk to the eHub together. Some days start with outdoor meetings. Others involve sketching ideas on whiteboards or working upstairs on monitors when deeper focus is needed. Over time, the space became part of the structure that helped them keep building.

Through the eHub, they connected with mentors like Jenny Dearing, who remained involved even beyond the formal structure of the program. They also collaborated with students across engineering, go-to-market, and design through the Date Before You Marry program, expanding the range of perspectives shaping their work. There were also moments that reflected the pace of startup life, including being invited to pitch at an event just minutes before it began, and stepping up to present anyway.

Now, they are entering a new phase. This semester, they are launching, testing with real users, and applying to accelerators. As Gonzalo described their current focus, “We’re launching. We’re testing with real users. We’re applying to accelerators.” When asked whether others should consider joining the eHub, Angel said, “I would definitely recommend the ehub, even if you don’t have an idea, just come hang around. You might find your new co founder, or hear about an idea that inspires you to build something.” If you’ve been thinking about stopping by the eHub, this is probably your sign to do it.

About the Author:
Hannah Wissotzky is a third-year UC Berkeley undergrad student studying Business Administration at Haas and Interdisciplinary Studies. She serves as a Community Manager at the eHub, where she works closely with student founders and documents their journeys.