Founders & Mission
Whywe'rebuilding
GuardNIL University.
Built by parents and former agents who've seen what comes after the highlight reel.
The Founder Story
Josh Woods spent years in NFL agent networks and then in NIL agent work — close enough to the machine to see exactly where it breaks down. The contracts. The money. The pressure on families who had no roadmap and no one to call.
One story stays with him. A teenager in Las Vegas — the kind of athlete scouts notice — needed to buy a car. Not a college car. Right now. His family had no plan for the money his talent was theoretically worth. There was no system to help them build one.
Around the same time, parents started finding Josh — not through agent connections but through word of mouth. “How should my kid start preparing now for a future NIL contract?” They weren't asking for an agent. They were asking for an operating system that didn't exist yet.
The thesis was born from those real conversations with real families. Not from a whiteboard. Not from a pitch deck.
60 million youth athletes. 500,000 will play in college. Only 5,000 will make meaningful NIL money. The same 5,000 going pro.
The infrastructure should exist for the other 59.5 million.
Why This Name
Mark Cuban gave Josh the name. “GuardNIL University” — or more precisely, “Guardian.” Two words with two meanings that happen to be exactly what the platform does.
Guardian
The parent's role.
Every dollar that moves through GuardNIL University requires a parent's approval. The parent is the guardian. That's not a feature — it's the architecture.
GuardNIL University
The athlete's preparation.
Guarding the NIL future means building the habits, the history, and the financial muscle memory before the deal ever arrives.
The Team
Josh Woods
Founder & CEO
NFL agent network. NIL agent. Built GuardNIL University from conversations with real families who had no infrastructure for what was coming.
Galen Oakes
Partner & CTO
AI-first builder. Architect of the Sentigen platform. Responsible for every line of code that makes GuardNIL University run.
Chad Collins
Investor
Early backer who understood the NIL market before the rest of the world caught up.
Kristen Stroud
Investor & Sports Facilities Connector
Investor and connector to Sports Facilities Companies — the network that puts GuardNIL University in front of tens of thousands of youth athletes.
Advisors
Mark Cuban
The person who gave GuardNIL University its name.
Vinny Reed
Creator of the Dr. Pepper Fansville campaign.
NIL Agent & On3 / Rivals Network
The agent and publisher network that sits at the center of how college athletes actually monetize.
What We Believe
Three principles.
Every decision.
01
Earned, not handed.
Every dollar that lands in an athlete's wallet passed through an incentive gate. We don't believe in participation trophies. We believe in work, verified by someone who was actually there.
02
Family-shaped.
The parent sets the terms. The coach verifies the work. The athlete earns. That triangle is the product. We don't work around families — we are built for them.
03
AI does the work; parents stay in control.
The AI handles the scheduling, the encouragement timing, the social captions, and the travel plans. But the approve button is always yours. No dollars move without a parent's tap.
Earned.
Family-shaped.
Yours to control.
The way NIL preparation was supposed to start.
Get Involved
Want to back us, partner with us,
or pilot with us?
We're opening 50 founding-family spots for launch. We're also talking to league operators, coaches, and investors who see what we see.