281: Spartan Race’s Joe De Sena on Being in the Industry of Barbed Wire, Blood, and Bruises

281: Spartan Race’s Joe De Sena on Being in the Industry of Barbed Wire, Blood, and Bruises

Joe De Sena, like many of us, is a fitness fanatic. But his approach to fitness is a bit more...intense than most. De Sena used to participate in countless obstacle course races, Ironman events, and marathons around the world. But even those weren’t challenging enough for this hardcore athlete. That’s why, after wrapping up a decade-long career on Wall Street, De Sena decided to start his own adventure racing company. The first race De Sena hosted was on the British Virgin Islands, and it didn’t go very smoothly. That race cost De Sena half a million dollars and resulted in a participant getting lost at sea for several days. Thankfully, the races have evolved a bit since then—although are no less challenging—and are known today as the Death Race and Spartan Race, which are collectively a $60 million business that has revolutionized the world of obstacle racing. Check out this interview to learn more about De Sena’s financial, mental, and physical journey to popularizing this global franchise. Key Takeaways De Sena’s decade-long stint on Wall Street, and how it helped fund his next venture Why De Sena decided to start his own adventure racing company How the very first race De Sena hosted on the British Virgin Islands went terribly wrong for one participant The birth of Death Race and Spartan Race Why De Sena never gave up on his company, despite losing $8 million in the process over a span of 15 years How the network effect eventually helped the obstacle course races gain traction The expansion of Death Race and Spartan Race to 45 countries De Sena’s honest thoughts on work-life balance and what it takes to be an entrepreneur A sneak peek into his latest book, The Spartan Way

Episoder(586)

131: Running 4000+ People Events & Building a Fast Growth Media Company with Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner

131: Running 4000+ People Events & Building a Fast Growth Media Company with Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner

After being unceremoniously tossed out of the corporate world 20 years ago, Michael Stelzner took a chance and turned toward entrepreneurship. In the years that followed, Stelzner began building a rep...

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130: How to Start a Social Enterprise with Scott Harrison of charity: water

130: How to Start a Social Enterprise with Scott Harrison of charity: water

For the past 10 years, Scott Harrison has made charity his business, and he's managed to raise $250 million and bring clean drinking water in people in more than 24 countries since he began his nonpro...

8 Feb 201736min

129: How Lootcrate Became the No.1 Fastest Growing Company in America with Matthew Arevalo

129: How Lootcrate Became the No.1 Fastest Growing Company in America with Matthew Arevalo

Many of us have been to one of those startup events where you're divided up into teams and have to whip up a company in the span of a weekend. You make great connections and have some fun, but typical...

1 Feb 201754min

128: The Godfather of Blogging Shares How to Create Content People Love - Darren Rowse of Problogger

128: The Godfather of Blogging Shares How to Create Content People Love - Darren Rowse of Problogger

The internet marketing scene is not exactly known for being grounded and humble. It's often as bombastic and self-inflated as a hip-hop rap battle. That’s why it comes as such a surprise to find that ...

25 Jan 201756min

127: The Psychological Triggers to Make Someone Buy with Sean D'Souza of Psychotactics

127: The Psychological Triggers to Make Someone Buy with Sean D'Souza of Psychotactics

If you're interesting in learning how to market more effectively and land more sales, a quick Google search will bring up thousands of results, each one promising that their specific tip will be the o...

22 Jan 201745min

126: Learn How  Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan Quit Her Job to Launch One of America's Fastest-Growing Businesses

126: Learn How Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan Quit Her Job to Launch One of America's Fastest-Growing Businesses

There are many reasons people choose to become entrepreneurs. Some want to make money, others want the freedom of owning their own businesses, and some, like Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, want to make an...

18 Jan 201746min

125: How to Build a Distributed Team for Fast Growth with Wade Foster of Zapier

125: How to Build a Distributed Team for Fast Growth with Wade Foster of Zapier

You can't talk about fast-growing SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies without mentioning Zapier. In about five years, they've amassed a customer base of over 1.5 million registered users, and grown...

11 Jan 201739min

124: What it Takes to Grow Multiple 7 Figure Online Businesses with Sol Orwell

124: What it Takes to Grow Multiple 7 Figure Online Businesses with Sol Orwell

Over the past 20 years or so, the common understanding of what an "entrepreneur" is has undergone some massive changes. It used to be that an entrepreneur was someone who wore a proper suit, courted i...

4 Jan 201746min

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