Jarrod Barnes

Jarrod Barnes serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Sport Management at New York University, teaching courses across gaming, esports, and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining the Tisch Institute, Jarrod previously was an Investor with Emerson Collective and Unshackled Ventures, investing in early-stage startups at the intersections of education technology, the future of work, gaming, and Web3.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Jarrod began his career as a college football coach at the Ohio State University and Clemson University. Jarrod would go on to transition into professional sports by leading player marketing and corporate innovation efforts for the Los Angeles Rams.

Jarrod is passionate about all things entrepreneurship and has previously founded multiple startups, most notably, Compass, a Web3 mental health platform that provides tokenized rewards for improving mental fitness and Prime U, a learning and development platform for sports teams.

Jarrod is a proud alum and former football student-athlete at the Ohio State University (M.S. in Sports Management) and the University of Louisville (B.S. in Exercise Science). Jarrod is currently completing his Doctorate of Education in Learning Design at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.