From Newlands Views to Global Dreams: Amrit Rai’s Journey from First Home to Business Success

Amrit Rai is a successful Auckland-based sports agent, connecting talented school-aged athletes from New Zealand with opportunities to train at America’s top colleges. The entrepreneur credits purchasing his first home in Newlands, Wellington and its ocean view as the catalyst he needed to build and grow Platform Sports Management from his kitchen table nine years ago.

Can you describe the moment you knew you had found the right home with Tommy’s?

My little brother Ajeet and I grew up in Stratford, New Plymouth, playing a lot of tennis, after discovering a passion for the game from my Dad. I chose to attend Victoria University and afterwards I didn’t know what I wanted to do. On the advice of tennis coach Clint Packer, I started the company in 2015 to help tennis players get scholarships in America. I was 22.

Over the next few years, I kept grinding away. Then Mum and Dad suggested I buy a property. The property at Newlands was high on the hill and had this amazing view of Wellington Harbour. While the house needed a bit of loving, when my Mum and I looked at it we both saw the potential and put in an offer immediately.

How did living in this home support your business to grow?

As soon as I moved in, my business really started to take off. The start-up journey is a lonely one. There were lots of late nights, running podcasts from my house and drafting proposals. Yet every morning, when I sat down at the kitchen table to work, the view across Wellington Harbour filled me with happiness and clarity. I could also see large mansions on the adjacent hillsides and that gave me more drive as I dreamt of owning one of those houses one day.

Thanks to having a place where I could be safe and warm, I was able to stick at the business. I started off representing three athletes in my first year. In 2024, I have six full-time employees and our organisation has helped 570 kids find a place at US colleges.

Why was the location of your home important to the growth of your business?

For me, it was really accessible to everywhere I needed to travel. It was close to the city and also for getting to the Kapiti Coast, where I work with schools and coaches. If I’d lived on the other side of town, it would have been more difficult and the commute longer. That would have taken away some of the energy I needed to give the business momentum.

What is one of your most memorable moments about your first home?

I still own the home today but now I rent it out as a source of income, as I moved to Auckland a few years ago to make the most of the business opportunities there. Yet recently, as part of a showcase and exhibition, I was in Wellington, hosting Yale and Syracuse University to meet new athletes. While they were here, I did a driveby of the Newlands house to show them where I started the company. I often go there, drive the street and look back at how far I’ve come.

How have the Tommy’s team continued to support you since this first purchase?

As a business owner, the values I bring to my company is that every athlete is a part of my family. I feel like Tommy’s is also part of my working family. Both Mum and I were impressed with the way our agent, Tim, supported us through the process of buying Newlands. He never pushed me to buy the place.

Since then, our relationship has evolved. Tommy’s have helped Mum and Dad buy another apartment in Wellington and I even used Tim as a sounding board when I was buying a second house in Auckland. He wasn’t the listing agent so didn’t make any money off the sale but he was always available for me to talk through the pros and cons.

Post-high school was the most important time in my life and Tommy’s has been a huge part of that.

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs about starting a business from home?

You have to believe in the business you are providing people. I never once thought, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Today, my business is not about how much is in my bank account, it’s about how much of an impact I make for the people I represent. That’s how I feel about Tommy’s and how they approach things too. They understand the value of building relationships and being invested in people.