The artist, Pablo Picasso, once said, “In life you throw a ball. You hope it will reach a wall and bounce back so you can throw it again. You hope your friends will provide that wall.”

For Brother Ted Moskovitz (Central Florida, 2009), that bouncing ball has led him to several different careers and now onto a pickleball court.

“I’ve done a lot of different things professionally, it hasn’t always been a straight line,” said Moscovitz.

When he arrived on campus at the University of Central Florida, he had no idea about fraternities. “My mom and I went to freshman orientation and there was an organization fair there. My mom made a beeline for the Hillel table, and we met two guys there who later became my big brother and grand big brother in AEPi. My mom introduced herself to these two guys and told them that I was going to be going to school there. They gave her their phone numbers, and she put us in a group text, and they invited me to hang out with them that night. I just fell into it. The rest is history.”

“AEPi just felt like the right place for me. I had always been involved in Jewish things and advocacy and NFTY. It was a natural continuation for me.”

After graduating, Ted began a career in politics and political consulting in Washington, DC that also led him to working on celebrity campaigns, but he moved on and attended law school at American University. “I somehow ended up as a securities lawyer and working at the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t for me. I didn’t like sitting in a room by myself and pushing papers. I want to be building and creating something.”

After leaving his position in D.C. behind, Ted teamed up with his Nu Delta chapter brother, Benji Rabhan (Central Florida, 2008) who had moved to Austin, TX and just sold a company and was looking for a new entrepreneurship venture. “That kick-started my entrepreneurial journey. After that, I teamed with another friend to start an early-stage venture fund. We were early in the cryptocurrency movement and were also looking for ways to use technology to solve big challenges. We built our brand by being ‘the most helpful guys in crypto,” said Ted.

His business continued to grow as he helped bring crypto discussions to the world stage. “We started out doing all the blockchain stuff. But what we realized over time is that the technology was really only part of the equation and that the most interesting and important technique to be working on is what we call the Human OS, the operating system that runs our own mind. We just saw a lot of people working on the wrong things and prioritizing the wrong things, and kind of asking the wrong questions.”

The transformative tools available to people through technology helped guide him as he got into investing in people and companies around the world.

And then, the bouncing ball led to a pickleball court.

“I had a new baby right at the beginning of COVID and was just dying to get out of the house and find things to do with friends. So, I started playing pickleball with some friends and it became the biggest pickleball community in South Austin, where I live, with hundreds of people just finding games. I really like the culture of it.”

A pickleball friend who he had met on the court told him about his dream to own a professional team and they put together an ownership group. After an initial attempt to bring an expansion team to Miami fell through, the group – which by now had expanded to include a number of celebrities and professional athletes – took over ownership of Major League Pickleball’s Austin team, the Texas Ranchers.

“Our idea was to build a community-owned organization. We brought in a large group of investors, Hollywood celebrities and people from entertainment like Lil Wayne and Zach Bryan and athletes like Scotti Scheffler and a bunch of guys from the NFL. But, we’re democratizing ownership. We’re doing an equity crowdfund so people can buy in and be a part of the team. It’s a different model.”

He’s enjoyed Major League Pickleball so much that he’s looking into bringing other sports franchises to the Austin area.

The Ranchers continue to tour throughout the country to expand their brand and Major League Pickleball’s prominence. “If there are ever any brothers who want to come, get involved, cheer, whatever, they should reach out to me. I’m always looking for good interns, too!”

For more information on Brother Moskovitz and to contact him, visit his website at tedmoskovitz.com.

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