From the tech world to the padel courts, three friends — Jessica Talbert, Katie Lampert and Neil Chainani — left their careers in tech and fintech to pursue a new dream: building a local sports community around one of the world’s fastest-growing games, padel. (Talbert and Chainani, now married, are expecting their first child.)
Think of padel as tennis meets squash. It’s played in doubles on a smaller, enclosed court where players can hit the ball off the glass walls for fast, continuous rallies. A massive hit in Europe and Latin America, the sport is now taking off in the United States.
With courts rare in the region, they launched Park Padel in November 2023 with public courts at San Francisco’s Embarcadero, followed by their flagship club in South San Francisco in November 2024. With ambitious plans to expand across the West, the trio reflected on their lessons in entrepreneurship, community, and why Silicon Valley wasn’t the end-all, be-all for them.
Q: You all came from established tech and fintech careers. How did that turn into starting a business around a niche sport like padel?
Jessica: Katie and I went to undergrad together and played rugby. We’d always talked about starting a business… Later, Neil and I worked together at Lyft in research and data science, and we’d also talk about starting something one day.
It wasn’t until the summer of 2022, when all of us happened to be traveling in Europe, that we discovered padel. We saw it first in Lisbon — under the bridge, which actually reminded us of San Francisco — then again in Rome, and finally in Spain, where we spent a week learning how to play.
People were obsessed with it — total beginners and semi-pros playing side by side, all having fun.
Q: Was anyone playing padel in the Bay Area back then?
Neil: Hardly anyone in California… but the Bay Area felt like the perfect mix — great weather, a big Latin American and expat population, and people who love trying new activities that aren’t just centered around alcohol.
Jessica: And there were no courts here! We wanted to play, so we figured we’d have to build them.
Q: How did you introduce the sport to the Bay Area, especially with pickleball already booming?
Neil: Our first location, in Embarcadero Plaza, was really our marketing strategy. They’re the most public courts in the country — tons of foot traffic from the Ferry Building, commuters, and people living in FiDi (Financial District) looking down from their apartments.
Jessica: Every day, people would stop and ask, “What is this? Is it pickleball?” And we’d explain — or invite them to try.
Neil: We love pickleball, but it was important to make that distinction. Padel is its own sport, with a different pace and level of play.
Jessica: We think of our community in waves: first, the people who already knew padel and couldn’t believe there were finally courts; second, the curious — travelers or tennis converts; and now, a growing wave of people who just want a fun, social, active way to meet others.
Q: What’s the biggest difference between pickleball and padel?
Neil: The ball can come from any direction, so it activates your brain differently. There’s a special kind of joy when you pull off a shot off the wall that you didn’t think would work — it surprises you and keeps you hooked.
Jessica: The walls are really what set it apart from pickleball.
Neil: That also raises the ceiling for athleticism. It’s easy to pick up — you can have a great time within an hour — but it has infinite room to grow. It’s fast, fun, and incredibly watchable, even on TikTok and Instagram.
Q: How have your tech backgrounds influenced the way you run Park Padel?
Katie: Each of us brought something from tech that turned out to be really valuable. Jessica comes from user experience — figuring out what makes a product “sticky” and how to talk to customers about what they’d like to see in a club like this.
Neil comes from data science, so he handles the numbers and builds tools to make sure everything runs efficiently. I come from people and talent, so I focus on team-building, culture, and ensuring a great experience for both employees and members.
Jessica: We’ve also had to learn so much from scratch — real estate, construction, hiring. We also focus on professional development for staff members who might’ve been hired right out of college.
What’s been interesting about this moment is how much AI has helped small businesses like ours operate like bigger ones. Neil builds internal tools that help with programming, scheduling, and membership systems.
Q: Why did you choose South San Francisco for your second location?
Jessica: We wanted a flagship — a beautiful space with a lounge, showers, locker rooms, and room for tournaments. Indoor made sense so people could play year-round, but finding buildings with high enough ceilings is hard.
Katie: Lobs are a big part of the game, so ceiling height is critical. South San Francisco has a lot of warehouses that worked perfectly. Plus, we’re in the heart of the biotech cluster, so it’s ideal for corporate events — and we’re close to the airport, which makes it convenient for travelers.
Q: What did your friends and family think when you left your careers?
Jessica: They asked, “You’re not actually leaving your job, right?” And I said, “Oh no — I have to.”
Katie: We actually got Embarcadero off the ground with support from friends and family, so we were lucky to have people who believed in the vision.
Jessica: They didn’t know what padel was — there was nowhere to show them. Our first round was really a leap of faith: they were betting on us. Sometimes we remind each other of how cushy our old jobs were — but this is so much more fulfilling.
Q: How have you built a community around the sport?
Jessica: It’s the most important part. This place is nothing without the people. Community-building is hands-on — we’re here all the time, meeting members and matching them up for games.
Every time I’m at the club, I think of it like hosting a party. My favorite thing is seeing members who met here hang out outside the club — going to concerts together or bringing friends back to play. That’s when you know it’s working.
Q: What have you learned as entrepreneurs in these first two years?
Katie: There’s no time to dwell on the past. Every day brings new challenges. There are low lows, but also incredible highs.
Jessica: Fight for your highs. Believe they’ll come, even when things are tough. And don’t do entrepreneurship alone. I love that my co-founders are strong in areas I’m not — it lets us lean on each other when needed.
Q: Any regrets leaving your old jobs?
Jessica: Besides the salary? (laughs)
Katie: I honestly haven’t looked back. After COVID, people were craving connection — a place beyond home and work to belong. Creating that space has been incredibly rewarding. No day is the same, and that makes it all the more fulfilling.
Jessica: It’s an engaging way to live. You’re constantly learning and meeting new people.
Q: What advice would you give to others thinking about starting a business?
Katie: Find people who challenge you — who push back, discuss, and help you reach better decisions.
Jessica: Hold strong opinions loosely. Back up your ideas, but if someone has a better one, go with it. You don’t win by winning an argument — you win when the business succeeds.
Q: What’s next for Park Padel?
Jessica: We’re looking at a spot in the East Bay that we’re really excited about, and planning to open around 100 courts over the next five years — we have 13 now. We love the Bay Area, we’re deeply invested here, and we want to become a household name before expanding across the West.
Q: Anything you’d like to highlight about your South San Francisco location?
Jessica: We have showers, locker rooms, a dedicated workspace if you need to take calls, fitness equipment, recovery tools like Hyperice and Normatec, and even a ping-pong table. We host tournaments every third Saturday, plus socials… where players of all levels can drop in.
Katie: And our staff — they’re amazing… We invest heavily in them because they make the experience what it is.
Names:
Jessica Talbert, CEO and Co-Founder
Katie Lampert, COO and Co-Founder
Neil Chainani, CFO and Co-Founder
Education:
Jessica — Stanford University; B.A. 2011, M.B.A. 2018
Katie — Stanford University; B.A. 2011
Neil — University of Maryland; B.A. 2015, Harvard University; M.S. in Data Science 2016
Residence:
San Francisco Bay Area
Five things about Jessica, Katie and Neil:
— Jessica and Katie played together for the Stanford Women’s Rugby team as undergraduates.
— Jessica and Neil, who are married, are expecting their first child in December.
— Neil moonlights as a designer and created much of Park Padel’s website and signature swag.
— Jessica prefers to spend her downtime reading nonfiction — The Name of the Wind is her favorite book.
— Katie is a certified barre instructor and hopes to bring that practice to the padel courts one day.
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