The CEO's Advice to the MVP

Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor knows the formula for a successful launch. NBA champ Jaylen Brown recently launched a shoe and athleisure brand. They have a lot to teach each other.

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How do you kickstart a new brand when you're up against deep-pocketed competitors?

That’s what Jaylen Brown is considering. NBA fans know him as this year’s reigning Finals MVP, who just led the Boston Celtics to their 18th championship. But shoe dogs know him as a rebel—the star player who turned down $50 million in endorsement deals, publicly sniped at Nike, and then, in September, revealed his big move: He launched his own shoe and athleisure brand called 741, and plans to sign other athletes with competitively generous deals, thereby undercutting the big shoe brands.

To help Brown start, we connected him with Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor—an exec with deep marketing experience, whose platform has helped founders raise more than $8 billion. The meeting was part of a new series called The Playbook, created by Entrepreneur and Sports Illustrated, where we pair entrepreneurial athletes with the leaders who can help them. Here, you'll learn Brown’s philosophy on playing the long game, and Taylor’s formula for successful launches.

EVERETTE TAYLOR: You're living the dream right now. I'm impressed by how you recognize that, no matter how successful you are now, you have a long life and the NBA is just one part of your career. Where did that recognition come from?

JAYLEN BROWN: I got that from growing up playing chess, because there’s three components to a chess game: an opening, a middle, and an endgame. As you approach your strategy, you have to know all three at the same time. Your opening act determines how you're going to finish the game.

ENTREPRENEUR'S STARTUPS July 2025 | 63 So when I translate that to life, I am positioning my pieces. It's why Istarted thinking about the end of my career at the beginning. I know that this is a game.