Jason Fox

Post-pitch story

Jason Fox pitched Earbuds as a social way to listen to music: you could hear what athletes, artists and friends were playing in real time. The app launched publicly in 2019, and TechCrunch covered how it let fans stream the playlists of the people they follow. The sports world liked the idea. In August 2021 Earbuds raised a $3 million Series A led by Ecliptic Capital, with backers including NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield and the Andre Agassi Foundation. Fox, a former college football player, built the app around the pre-game playlist culture athletes already loved. Earbuds stayed small and kept experimenting. In October 2023 Axios Austin reported that the eight-person team had added generative AI to help listeners find new music. Fox is still founder and CEO, and the app is still live. Earbuds isn't a giant, but it raised real money, signed big-name supporters and is still shipping new features years after the pitch. That's more than most social music apps can say.