Tanner Bykowski

About Tanner Bykowski

For five years I\'ve been trying to answer one question: Why does baseball have 100 million fans and almost no casual way to actually play it? The sport splits everyone into two categories eventually - fan or player. Once you\'re a fan, you watch. There\'s no in-between. No place to step into a batter\'s box with friends, swing a real bat, and feel what it\'s like to hit one out. That\'s the gap Diamond Derby is built for. Baseball Lite - the space between fan and player. The answer starts with Derby Box - a patent-pending autonomous pitch delivery system I\'ve been developing since 2020. No obstruction in the hitting zone. No coach required. Mechanics that work for a 12-year-old in a training cage and a 45-year-old who hasn\'t swung in twenty years. Derby Box powers three products: 1) Diamond Derby Homerun Park - a group baseball participation venue built around the home run moment. Real bats, real baseballs, human-scaled walls. No instruction. No gatekeeping. Just the moment 99% of baseball fans have never actually gotten to experience. 2) Derby Yards - A real estate play. 3) Third-party licensing - to the youth facilities, college programs, and training operators who need quality solo hitting repetitions without staffing a pitcher or coach. Building in Raleigh, North Carolina. Raising now.Former Milwaukee Brewers. 100% bootstrapped since 2020.Step in. Swing. Go y••••••••@diamondderby.com

Experience

1. Founder & Creator

   Diamond Derby

   Nov 2025 — Present · Raleigh, NC, US

   Diamond Derby is a baseball participation brand built on one insight: accessibility. 110 million fans. Almost none of them have ever stood in a real batter\'s box, swung a real bat, and watched it clear a fence. That\'s the gap. That\'s the category - Baseball Lite. The space between fan and player that nobody built a venue for.Three products. One platform.1) Derby Box - a patent-pending autonomous pitch delivery system. No obstruction in the hitting zone. No coach, no pitcher, no partner required. Mechanics that work for a 12-year-old in a training cage and a 45-year-old who hasn\'t swung in twenty years. 2) Diamond Derby Homerun Park - a 6-cage group baseball participation venue in Raleigh-Durham. Real bats, real baseballs, human-scaled walls. Built for the 99% who never got their moment.3) Derby Yards - baseball team compounds built around shipping containers near major tournament complexes. A real estate play anchored by Derby Box on-site.What I\'ve built since 20•••00% bootstrapped- Developed, modeled, and filed a provisional patent for Derby Box (September 2025)- Built a network of 90+ industry professionals across MLB, construction, hospitality, tech, and marketing- Conducted 315+ organic demand validation surveys — 98.7% would visit, 28.6% non-players- Generated organic website views and 3,100+ LinkedIn followers with zero paid marketing- Led all financial modeling, architectural planning, competitive analysis, and raise s••••••••@diamondderby.com

Education

• Coursera

  E - Learning Certifications , Project Management

• Central High School

  High School Diploma, Business focused

• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

  Bachelors of Business Adminstration, Marketing

• The Agile Coach

  Agile Project Management Certifications, Project Management