The Read Bio
Co-founder and CEO of Whoosh. He is a reformed VC and successful serial entrepreneur with leadership experience scaling B2B & B2C companies in automotive, hospitality, and telecom.
Read is a 4x founder with 3 successful exits, including an IPO. Known for his charisma and visionary leadership, Colin inspires trust in his team, partners and investors. He is a lifelong golfer and 2x collegiate All-American. When he’s not at work or on the golf course, he’s with his wife and two boys, likely rooting for the Phoenix Suns or Boston Red Sox.
The Read Story
I’ve been around golf since I was eight and spent most of my childhood at Arizona Country Club, where the staff felt like family and I really started to understand the ins and outs of how clubs operate. I always thought I’d build a career in the game, but life took me elsewhere. I became an entrepreneur, built a few companies, and had a few successful exits. Still, I kept coming back to golf, both as a player, and as a founder wanting to disrupt an industry that felt stuck in time.
In 2020, I joined a private club and saw it up close: outdated systems, clunky member experiences, and huge inefficiencies behind the scenes. At this very specific point in time, the sport’s demand was spiking and staff were overwhelmed. I knew how to take a company from zero to one, and these challenges finally helped me picture the right entry point for me.
With Whoosh, I set out to build the software I wish existed; a modern, intuitive tool, built for how clubs actually operate today. It was a chance to return to a space I’ve loved my whole life, and to show my kids that you can build something meaningful in an industry you care about.
Whoosh is a modern hospitality technology company that provides the most advanced reservation and operations software to manage everything from the course to the clubhouse. Our solution offers the industry’s first cloud-based, tablet-focused tee sheet and booking tools for private, semi-private and public/daily-fee facilities that puts reservation control in players hands for golf, racquets, simulators, lessons, fitness and more. Inspired by frustrating technology at clubs in which our founders belonged.
Whoosh emerged in the private club space in 2022; which, at the time, was riddled with terrible member booking software and even worse staff tools. The business has since grown to become the best-in-class provider for the industry, powering the most premier clubs and “Top 100” golf courses in the country.
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You wake up in the morning – what’s the driving passion?
I have a passion for what I do and I hope that passion inspires those around me to reach their potential.
This means showing up as my truest self each-and-every day. Also — coffee helps.
How was the name “Whoosh” selected for the company?
The golf and club software space is dominated by legacy, 20+ year old technologies that all start with “golf-”this or “club-”that. As lifelong golfers and members at clubs that leveraged this antiquated tech, my co-founder, Scott Peper, and I realized that space was missing a modern technology company.
So, the name Whoosh became a differentiator for us. Not only is it a play on the sound of a golf club or a racquet makes when swung, but it also evokes positive feelings of action, responsiveness, and success.
The one-word nature also is a nod to the typical VC-backed tech companies that have risen to fame over the past two decades.
What differentiates Whoosh from others that provide similar services?
Whoosh differentiates itself from other providers through its modern UI/UX, hospitality-driven approach, unique waitlist functionality, and seamless data integration. The platform offers an intuitive native app that feels familiar to golfers while providing staff with a streamlined drag-and-drop interface that minimizes clicks and simplifies tee sheet management.
Unlike competitors, Whoosh is the only platform offering embedded waitlist functionality, allowing clubs to efficiently manage guest requests even if they don’t have online tee times.
The golf industry saw a major spike in interest following the global pandemic. That momentum now seems to have plateaued. What do you see as essential elements for the major golf organizations to do in order to keep the industry healthy and growing?
The industry has not plateaued, it’s still growing.
While we might have reached an equilibrium point for green grass course supply, the demand continues to go up, as proved by increased greens fees at public facilities, record long waitlists at private clubs and new records for rounds played each year.
I’m a firm believer that the simple act of picking up a club and hitting a golf ball, regardless of location or venue, is, in fact, golf. As we are now seeing more off-course golf being played, I believe we are creating a healthy pipeline of future players who are learning the game outside of the perceived stuffiness of a country club.
To continue to foster this evolution, I’d encourage organizations to be more welcoming to players of all ages, backgrounds and ability.
The face of public golf is clearly evolving in the 21st century. What trends do you notice happening and how do you see such progressions playing out in the years to come?
Since the pandemic newcomers have found their way to the sport as an appealing, “socially distanced” option, moving the face of golf further away from its antiquated stereotype. Off-course golf proved itself to be wildly inclusive and welcoming, giving these younger, newer golfers opportunities to learn the game and hone their skills more casually.
Along with these more modern golfers, came “tech-spectations” and a desire for convenience and personalized experiences. These people do not want to call a pro shop to book a tee-time, they expect to book easily online or through an app, just as they would for an Uber.
And now with staff time freed-up thanks to these automated booking services, like our own, courses can now spend more time focusing on hospitality and crafting memorable experiences for these guests.
If you could change one thing in golf unilaterally – what would it be and why?
While golf is generally thought of as appealing to masochists, the idea that you can hit a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway and still be penalized because it comes to rest in a divot in a catch area seems to be overly penal.
Honestly, at the amateur levels, do we really need to make the game more difficult? Also, demerit systems; I understand there are needs for rules and decorum, but I have heard too many stories of negative experiences at private clubs where demerits are given for inoffensive reasons.
Companies routinely talk about the importance of customer service. Define the term and the approach you follow at Whoosh.
Customer service equals delighting customers, going above and beyond, showing empathy, matching urgency, and understanding/anticipating needs equals hospitality. Our software creates opportunities for hospitable interactions on our customer’s courses, but it also extends to the way we prioritize the needs and satisfaction of those we work with.
We provide our customers with a risk-free trial of our software to ensure it meets their needs and improves operations before a software agreement is signed, unlike many of our competitors. Golf is a business that does not operate solely during typical business hours and no one wants to be put on hold for 20+ minutes with an overseas call center for support.
So, we encourage texts, calls and emails and staff dedicated accounts and support teams stateside, enabling us to onboard, troubleshoot, and process feedback in real-time to create real relationships with our customers.
What role does customer feedback play and how do you both solicit and incorporate it in your efforts?
Feedback is at the heart of why we are a successful company. Many legacy tech companies no longer innovate or listen to the requests from customers, operating under the “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” mentality.
From the beginning, Whoosh’s ethos has been “for industry, by industry,” focused on gathering data and interviewing key stakeholders at golf facilities all around the country to best understand challenges and build an impactful solution to streamline their everyday workflows, enabling them to provide the best experience possible to their members and guests. This commitment has created a solid feedback loop with our customers day in and day out.
What’s the biggest mistake many clubs make in daily operational efforts?
One of the biggest mistakes private clubs make is resisting change, leading to inefficiencies in their daily operations. Many clubs are still relying on outdated systems or a patchwork system of tools that don’t integrate, causing staff to lose 20+ hours a week on manual data entry and fragmented data management.
The best-run clubs are adopting technology that centralizes their data, simplifies operations, and gives them the insights they need to enhance the member experience.
Among the current club client base you have now – what is the percentage split between private, resort, daily fee and taxpayer-owned facilities?
Whoosh currently services 200+ private golf and racquets clubs worldwide. Since our expansion into public and daily-fee golf with Square in 2024, we’ve brought on countless public facility development partners and are currently live with a dozen of those venues.
Our current clients are 85% private and 15% public, daily fee, resort, municipal.
Most golf facilities tout the importance of hospitality. Define the term and the approach followed at Whoosh.
Hospitality is about making every person feel valued and welcomed, not just during their round, but throughout their entire experience, both on-site and off (through digital experiences).
It’s about the small touches that make any guest feel like a regular, a member feel like they’re coming home, and a first-time visitor want to return. At its core, hospitality is about delighting customers and delivering those thoughtful, unique moments that go above and beyond expectations.
Whoosh believes that technology should support hospitality, not replace it. That’s why our platform is designed to automate and simplify the operational side of the business, allowing staff to focus on creating experiences instead of getting buried in admin work. The best hospitality feels effortless; our goal is to help clubs make that a reality.
What is the biggest task that clubs need to get right in 2025 as opposed to how they operated from 20-25 years ago?
The way people engage with golf and club life today is completely different from 20 years ago. The next generation of members expects convenience, flexibility, and digital experiences that match what they get in other parts of their lives. Modern customers expect to book and manage reservations without having to make a call or send an email. This extends beyond tee times to lessons, clinics, events, simulators, range stalls, and even pre-ordering food and other amenities.
In 2025, the best-run clubs will be those that embrace technology to meet modern expectations, improve operational flexibility, and ultimately provide a more seamless experience for members and guests.
Curious to know – what are the range of prices for the various service provided?
We charge an annual fee based on the number of amenities facilities manage through Whoosh.
Pricing for public or private golf clubs starts at $7,000, while public alt. golf operators can expect pricing that starts at $2,500.
Biggest challenges going forward – short and long term? And what strategic responses are you looking to include for both at Whoosh? Then, given those stated challenges – what strategic plans are being implemented to deal with each?
Short term: There’s a clear misalignment between operator demand and the technology solutions available. To address, Whoosh will continue to build demand for better solutions by releasing key features that solve real pain points for facilities of all kinds. By offering intuitive, fully integrated technology, Whoosh is showing operators what’s possible when their systems work together, ultimately pushing the industry toward smarter, more efficient operations.
Long term: To push the industry forward, we need to continue doing what legacy providers failed to innovate. Many of these incumbents were once best in class but have since stagnated, refusing to evolve with changing customer expectations.
We’re taking inspiration from more forward-thinking industries and applying those principles to golf. By leveraging advancements in machine learning (e.g. AI) and emerging mobile technologies (e.g. digital wallets), we’re shaping the future of club experiences. The goal is to reimagine the entire journey, ensuring that every touchpoint (from the first thought of a reservation to last on-site interaction) is delightful.
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