By Miguel Mike Medina
Founder and fantasy sports writer Jake Kirby always finds ways to elevate his craft. He’s always on a mission to go 110 percent in his profession.
Kirby is the founder of FPTrack.
Kirby always made sure to stay productive. Every leader has a story to tell. For Kirby, it took a while to figure out what he truly wanted, but once he found it, he held on and relentlessly focused on his vision.
“Honestly, I think I’ve spent such a large chunk of my life not really knowing what I wanted to do that saying outright “I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur” probably isn’t the whole truth,” Kirby said. “The one constant to this point though has been sports, and specifically sports writing. I guess that’s two things, but they go hand in hand for me.”
Kirby loves sports such as football, baseball, and hockey. He leads a group of writers who help keep his company consistent and successful. His journey to come up with the company name is unique.
“The term ‘FP’ has so many meanings in the fantasy sports world,” Kirby said. “Fantasy Points, Fantasy Players, Fantasy Projections, Fantasy Picks, Fantasy Performance, Fantasy Predictions, Fantasy Positions. The list is endless,” Kirby continues.
“In truth, I started the site not only as a way for me to put my analysis “on paper,” so to speak, but also as a way to track the players I own across multiple platforms and leagues. As we have progressed and are now entering our second NFL season covering the sport, we have definitely transitioned from being purely a “tracking first” website into being more of an editorial fantasy sports publication. We have a team of 11 writers now, including myself, and we have coverage for fantasy football (NFL), fantasy baseball (MLB), and fantasy hockey (NHL).”
Kirby lives to tell many stories, but he enjoys focusing on fantasy football the most. He’s also still learning more about baseball and paying attention to some of the sport’s biggest names.
“I’m strictly a fantasy football NFL analyst,” Kirby said. “Although as a site we have coverage for fantasy baseball and fantasy hockey, my personal knowledge for those two sports is nowhere near at the level where I could confidently research and write long-form content about them. Up until the start of this year, my baseball knowledge genuinely consisted of Ohtani, Judge, and A-Rod, period. I know a bit more about it now just through maintaining the data points we have, but I’m still a long way off ever being able to put pen to paper on any credible content for the sport.”
Being a high-road leader is what true leaders should strive for when running a company. Bring value and uplift others.
“Lead from the front, and lead by example. Whether I do this well is best asked of the people I work with. In my experience, the best leaders are those that give as good as they demand.”
Kirby is a product of The Open University, where he studied Computing and IT. Everyone who uses digital or treats it as a profession understands that a lot goes into it and that you are constantly learning new things. It’s not for everyone, but Kirby loves it and enjoys problem solving.
“It’s a big digital world, we are all just small fishes within it, and just when you thought you had it figured out (“it” being whatever you are/were working on), blink, and you’ll most certainly be humbled,” Kirby said. “The learning never stops, and anyone telling you otherwise is most probably lying to you (and to themselves).”
No job comes easy. In every profession, there will be tough assignments. Kirby humbly shared the times he was challenged.
“Big O notation still keeps me up at night,” Kirby said. “Outside of that, though, I’d argue our dynasty trade calculator at FPTrack has taken the most time to tweak and tune. Only now, around a year after implementing it, am I somewhat happier with how it’s performing, though I’ll likely never be 100% satisfied with it!”
We all go through obstacles in life. We all go through trials and tribulations. Growing the product is a major obstacle Kirby had to face in his career.
“Exposure, 100%,” Kirby said. “Building the product, especially with my background in software, was actually one of the easier sides of the equation. There’s still a lot of time that I put in to maintaining and building on the infrastructure we have in place, probably more time than I’d like, but for the most part the development side of things isn’t too painful.”
“On the other hand, growing the product and getting eyes on it (and then bringing those eyes back each time) is, for me at least, the biggest challenge, but I’m a big believer in “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” It helps that the product I’ve built is something I’m extremely passionate about, and I hope that passion can resonate through my writing.”
Game Time:
– Sports Writing or Web Development?
Sports writing.
– Radio or Podcast?
This is an interesting one, and both have pros and cons. If I were to choose now, it would be podcasts because I like that; with a podcast, everything is on the record. I want my fantasy takes documented and judged not only on my wins, but also on my losses, so I’d lean toward podcasting.
– Favorite Breakfast Meal?
Anything with peanut butter. Crunchy or smooth, depending on how I’m feeling.
– Favorite Late Night Snack?
A bowl of buttered popcorn.
– Name 3 of your favorite teams and writers
Kansas City Chiefs! The writing team at FPTrack. I have some really talented, friendly dudes working with me, and I’m very grateful to have them on the team. Matt Harmon of Yahoo and Reception Perception is also a big inspiration of mine.
– Name 3 travel destinations to cover a major sporting event?
Los Angeles, Arrowhead in Kansas City, and Australia next year to catch some of the Rugby World Cup.
– FIVE people (dead or alive) that you would love to have a conversation with in person.
Patrick Mahomes, Michael Jordan, Adam Schefter, Andy Reid, and Adam Sandler.
Best advice you’ve ever received?
“Life’s a bowl of cherries, don’t eat them all at once” – my dad, and his dad (my grandad) before him. It isn’t the standard saying, but I’ve always interpreted it as meaning enjoy the good things in life, but don’t use up all the pleasures immediately. Pace yourself, and savor them along the way.
Where can we follow you and your work?
You can read all of my fantasy football content, as well as all of the other FPTrack teams content across fantasy football, fantasy baseball, and fantasy hockey at https://fptrack.com. We also have a range of other fantasy tools on the site, ranging from trade calculators and live ADP boards to tracked player injury reports, news, and multi-league, multi-platform insights.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
