In a World with Mitch Case
What started as a simple alternative to business lunches turned into a thriving community. In this episode, Mitch Case shares how a casual game of pickup basketball evolved into Pickup KC—a space where genuine friendships are built, business happens naturally, and busy professionals find connection beyond the office. It’s a story about rethinking networking, creating meaningful moments, and building something bigger than the game.
Watch the Full Episode
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMnQK7kOEXc&t=2783s
From Business Lunches to Basketball Courts
Brad Burrow:
Mitch, you must be going a hundred miles an hour—but tell me about Pickup KC. I used to play basketball all the time when I was younger, and I love what you’re doing with this.
Mitch Case:
It actually started as an accident—but it turned into something that brings me a lot of joy and has created amazing opportunities for people.
In my previous career, I used to take clients out to lunch. But I realized something—when I invited one person, suddenly ten people would show up. I wasn’t building real relationships, just surface-level conversations.
And as a commission-based salesperson, I needed something more meaningful.
The Shift: Finding a Better Way to Connect
Mitch Case:
So I asked them, “What else can we do to hang out?”
A couple of them said, “Let’s play pickup basketball.”
I hadn’t touched a basketball in 10 years—but I gave it a shot. We rented a half court and played 2-on-2 for a few months.
And everything changed.
From Transactions to Real Relationships
Mitch Case:
The conversations shifted from:
“What are you working on?”
to
“How was your son’s swim meet?”
The relationships became real—and the business followed naturally.
That’s when I realized:
This is something special.
Growing Into a Community
Mitch Case:
I opened it up to more people, mostly in construction and real estate at first. My company supported it, and it quickly grew to multiple courts.
Then during the pandemic, I asked participants two questions:
What’s the most unexpected thing you’ve gained?
How much business have you done through this group?
The top answer wasn’t just relationships—it was genuine friendships.
And the business generated?
Just under $1 million.
More Than Networking
Mitch Case:
When I left that company, I knew I had to continue this.
That’s when it became Pickup KC—open to anyone.
Every Friday, I remind everyone:
“This is a social and networking event first—we just happen to play basketball.”
There are no scouts. No pressure. Just people showing up, connecting, and having fun.
A Growing Movement
Mitch Case:
Today, we’ve had as many as 50 people playing across five courts.
It’s growing fast, and there are exciting opportunities ahead.
We’ve got sponsors, and people are happy to pay a small fee just to be part of it.
Why It Works
Mitch Case:
For me, it worked because I was a new dad.
I couldn’t commit to weekly leagues anymore—but I could show up on a random Friday morning.
And that’s what makes this powerful:
Flexible
Low commitment
High connection
People can just show up when they can.
Building Something Bigger
Mitch Case:
One of the best decisions I made was partnering with others who already had systems and space.
That allowed us to grow faster—and focus on what really matters:
building community.
What’s Next
Brad Burrow:
This feels like something that could expand to other cities.
Mitch Case:
There are definitely opportunities out there… we’ll just leave it at that for now.
How to Get Involved
Mitch Case:
The easiest way is to go to pickupkc.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
Final Thoughts
Brad Burrow:
What you’re doing is incredible. You’re a true entrepreneur.
Mitch Case:
I appreciate that. It’s not always easy—but I’m grateful to do what I love.
Outro
This has been In A World with Real Media.
Thanks for joining us—be sure to subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode.
Full Transcipt here:
Mitch, I mean, you must be going a hundred miles an hour, but tell me a little bit about Pickup KC [00:39:30] and, uh, you know, I used to, when I was younger, I played basketball three times a week and I loved it. Yeah. Um, I’ve gotten older and, you know, bad legs and all ankles and all that stuff, but, uh, I love what you’re doing with that. So tell us about that. Mitch Case: Uh, that was an accident that turned into something that brings me a ton of joy from a selfish standpoint, but has also provided a lot of amazing opportunities for individuals in Kansas City. So in my previous career, I would take people out to lunch to, you know, do [00:40:00] the wine and dining type thing. And I recognized, um, when I invite one individual from a team, all of a sudden, like 10 of their team members would show up and I wouldn’t get to know the individual one-on-one. And it just, it created a lot of surface level conversations. It also just like, I’m the outsider at that point. So their team has their conversations and, uh, the relationship wasn’t furthered. And as a 100% commission salesperson, like, I need to get something’s. Yeah. I need to get something outta this. Yeah. So I, I kind of, [00:40:30] not angrily told them, but said, Hey, I can’t take you guys out to launch and do this kind of stuff with a $300 tab at the end of the day. I don’t want to go out drinking after hours or anything along those lines. So what’s something else that you guys would do that we can get together and, and, and hang out? And a couple of ’em said, let’s go play some pickup basketball at this point. Really? Brad Burrow: That’s amazing. Mitch Case: I haven’t touched a basketball in 10 years. I’m like, well, all right. Cost me $25 to Soren Accord at Matt Ross Half court. Yes. At Matt, Matt Ross. [00:41:00] And we played two V two for probably about four months. And the relationship changed from, Hey, what are you working on that I might be able to help you with? To, Hey, how was your son’s swim meet last night? And the business just naturally flowed. Yeah. And that’s where I was like, man, this is really like, I’m having a blast. I’m getting exercise, I’m creating relationships and I’m getting paid to do this Yeah. When the business comes through. So I quickly opened it up to anybody and everybody in construction and real estate, which was primarily [00:41:30] the industries that I worked in, uh, worked for a company that was, uh, very willing to sponsor it and cover costs and all that kind of stuff. Mitch Case: And very quickly grew to about two courts. And, uh, you know, that’s when we started recognizing the, the real power of it. So when the pandemic hit, I’m still working at that company. Uh, we took a survey and I asked him two questions. I said, what’s the most unexpected thing that you’ve gotten out of pickup kc? Which at the time it was called Friday Morning Hoops. And if you have done business [00:42:00] directly with anybody inside pickup kc, how much have you done? Roughly the number one unexpected thing was not genuine relationships, but genuine friendships. So that really like fed my soul and my heart in the sense that I was able to help with that. And then as far as how much business had been conducted, it was just shy of a million dollars worth of business. Wow. Now, now keep in mind it’s construction. Mitch Case: So, you know, a small project is 200,000. Yeah. So there wasn’t a large quantity of things, but the dollar value [00:42:30] was inside of that. And that was, that was really, really empowering to me. When I left that organization. Um, this was something that I really wanted to carry on. So I was able to kind of take that with me. And that’s when I went from Friday morning to pick up kc, we opened it to anybody and everybody, and we still, every single Friday morning when we get out there and play, I tell ’em, Hey, this is a social and networking event. First. We just happened to play basketball. There’s no scouts. We’re all haz mens, one of bees, most of us have some sort of brace on. Yeah. [00:43:00] And we’re all like, dying for water. And probably a couple people finding a trashcan in between games. <laugh> like, yeah. You can’t take the, uh, the competitive athlete out of you. Uh, even if you get older and older and the hurt it, it’s still there. So Yeah. Uh, today we, we, you know, last week we actually had a record of 50 individuals that are out there running five courts, and Brad Burrow: It’s really picking up right now, isn’t it? I mean, it’s really, no pun intended. Yeah. Mitch Case: <laugh>. Yeah. It’s really hitting some stride. Yeah. And there’s some, some exciting things that are kind of [00:43:30] in the works, uh, behind the scenes that were considering from an experience. Some Brad Burrow: Sponsors and stuff that are behind it. Yeah. Mitch Case: So we have some sponsors. Um, you know, people are willing to pay seven bucks to come out and play on a Friday morning. And, you know, one of the things I always really wanted with it was, you know, obviously it was the networking side, but the reason that it really worked for me is that I was a, a new dad. I can’t commit to all those Tuesday night leagues Yes. That I used to be able to do, but I can commit an occasional Friday morning. And that’s where I really found, [00:44:00] uh, a lot of power in this, is that some of the people that come out, they just, they’re too busy and they just wanna catch a random Friday that they can, one of the best things I did was partner with a good friend of mine, Luke Wade, who owns KC Crew. So we get to utilize, um, Hy-Vee Arena because they, they work out of there. So we have early access to it. We have relationships that they’ve already built and systems that we get to just kind of leverage. And then I get to go out there and, uh, create and build a community. And now, you know, it’s, it’s grown more than I ever thought it would. Brad Burrow: I mean, [00:44:30] that could be scaled. I mean, you could do that in other cities and stuff, I guess if you wanted to. Huh? Mitch Case: I don’t wanna tell you too much. <laugh>. Yeah, <laugh>. Okay. We’ll keep that. I, I stay focused on, uh, certain things. Yeah. But there’s definitely some, uh, some stuff in the air right now. Opportunities Brad Burrow: Are there. Yeah. Um, how would somebody get involved in that? Let’s say I wanted to come and play. Mitch Case: Yeah. Uh, again, finding me on LinkedIn as a, as a way, but I always redirect everybody to go to the website. Pick up kc.com. Okay. Yep. You can get signed up there. Brad Burrow: Pick kc.com. Yeah. Well, let’s go ahead and wrap up. Uh, I, I [00:45:00] really appreciate, uh, what you’re doing. I mean, you’re a, a true entrepreneur and that’s, that’s pretty cool. Mitch Case: I, I appreciate that. As, as much as it can be painful on days. Yeah. Um, yeah. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do what we get to do. Brad Burrow: Yeah. Well, good luck with everything moving forward. I think there’s a lot of great, uh, upside in what you’re doing. Mitch Case: Thank you. I really Brad Burrow: Appreciate that. And, and if somebody was gonna refer, just refer ’em to the website. Mitch Case: Yeah. Refer ’em to the website, that would be, uh, ideal. Um, otherwise just find me on [00:45:30] LinkedIn and, and we can go Brad Burrow: That route. Tell us your LinkedIn. Do you know that your LinkedIn address? Mitch Case: It’s Mitch case, I think it’s just Mitch case. Yeah. Um, Brad Burrow: They can find you. Yeah. Mitch Case: I don’t know the actual link to that, but Okay. I’ll be out there. Brad Burrow: All right. So we’re at the end here. And, and now is your opportunity to audition as a voice talent. And so what we need you to do is do the inner world with real media. And I’ll just give you a quick tip. You just gotta get really close. Okay. And you gotta do it in that low movie Mitch Case: Voice, that deep inner Brad Burrow: World. Brad Burrow: So there you go. Mitch Case: [00:46:00] Inner world with real media. Brad Burrow: Wow. That was pretty good. Mitch Case: All right. <laugh>. Brad Burrow: All right. That’s Mitch case. Thanks. Thanks for joining Mitch Case: Us, Mitch. Brad Burrow: I really appreciate it. I love this. It’s the Inner World with Real Media podcast. And, uh, be sure to, to share this. Um, please, hopefully, uh, you’ll share it too. But, uh, oh, of course, if you’re listening, uh, share it, uh, on your profiles, uh, on all of your social media profiles. And, and, uh, if you know anybody you’d like to be on our podcast, let let me know. [00:46:30] I’m, uh, I’m on LinkedIn too, so I got Mitch Case: Some people for you. Brad Burrow: All right. Awesome. Thank you Mitch Case: Guys. Thank you. OUTRO: This has been In A World with Real Media. Thanks for joining us. And be sure to subscribe on iTunes and follow Real Media on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. So you never miss an episode.