Coaching & ParentsWritten Faceoff

ACTIQO

The bill nobody actually adds up.

Alec Bantel

Founder

Founder: Alec Bantel, solo founder; product leader in Detroit's auto industry by day
Based in: Detroit
Built for: Families managing kids' activities
Also: The ACTIQO podcast, Parenting Decisions That Actually Matter
Website: getactiqo.com

What it is

An app that coordinates everything around a kid's activities, then shows a family what each one is actually costing in dollars, hours and energy. The registration fee is the number parents can see; ACTIQO adds up the rest: the gas, the hotel weekends, the replacement cleats, the private lessons, the hours. Its Game Plan, Family Sync and Ready Check screens handle the logistics, and the company calls the result Family Activity Intelligence. Alec Bantel is a product leader in Detroit's auto industry by day and ACTIQO's solo founder by night; he got there through a failed product and a calendar full of his own kids' practices.

Why it earns the pick

Families spend more than $40 billion a year on youth sports, about $1,016 per child on a primary sport by Project Play's count, and almost nobody knows their own number. A parent who can see the full cost of a season makes a better call on the next one, and a club that understands that bill has an easier conversation at registration.