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

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615: Stop Chasing Sexy Businesses - This Boring One Made Me $500M+ | David Royce

615: Stop Chasing Sexy Businesses - This Boring One Made Me $500M+ | David Royce

David Royce went from a broke college kid in a door-to-door pest control job to building and selling four service businesses for nine-figure exits by applying Silicon Valley systems to an unsexy blu...

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614: (Solo) Running on Fumes? Reset Your Mindset Before The Year Ends

614: (Solo) Running on Fumes? Reset Your Mindset Before The Year Ends

If you’re dragging yourself toward the end of the year feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and mentally drained, you’re not alone. This is one of the toughest stretches for founders — you’re still runni...

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613: Why Most Beauty Brands Fail - and How to Beat The Rest | DIBS Beauty Founder

613: Why Most Beauty Brands Fail - and How to Beat The Rest | DIBS Beauty Founder

DIBS Beauty went from zero to one of America’s fastest-growing makeup brands in just four years, with founder Jeff Lee scaling the business into the mid–8 figures and landing a top spot on the Inc. ...

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612: (Solo) Funding vs Bootstrapping - The Real Tradeoffs EVERY Founders Needs To Know

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Should you raise money or bootstrap your business? It’s one of the biggest questions every founder faces — and the wrong decision can shape the entire future of your company. In this episode, I share...

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611: From Homeless to Multi-Billionaire - His Success Habits | John Paul DeJoria

611: From Homeless to Multi-Billionaire - His Success Habits | John Paul DeJoria

John Paul DeJoria went from being homeless twice to building two global billion-dollar brands, Paul Mitchell and Patrón Tequila, using nothing but resilience, sales mastery, and a refusal to quit. ...

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610: (Solo) The Secret to Finding Agencies That Don’t Burn You

610: (Solo) The Secret to Finding Agencies That Don’t Burn You

When you’re just starting out, the fastest way to grow isn’t automation, ads, or scaling systems — it’s doing things that don’t scale. In this episode, I share why the most successful founders — fr...

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609: From $0 to $20M in 3 Years Selling Suppliments | Damien Fitzpatrick

609: From $0 to $20M in 3 Years Selling Suppliments | Damien Fitzpatrick

From professional rugby player to successful entrepreneur, Damien Fitzpatrick built a sports recovery brand trusted by elite athletes around the world. In this interview, Damien shares how he went...

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608: (Solo) Why Short-Term Wins Can Quietly Kill Your Business

608: (Solo) Why Short-Term Wins Can Quietly Kill Your Business

When I first started Foundr, I made a lot of short-term decisions — and most of them hurt us more than they helped. It took years (and a few hard lessons) to understand that sustainable growth only co...

25 Nov 202510min

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