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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91: How to Rapidly Boost Conversions and Stop Losing Customers with Brian Moran of SamCart

91: How to Rapidly Boost Conversions and Stop Losing Customers with Brian Moran of SamCart

As the dominance of technology keeps on gaining steam, some non-techy, would-be entrepreneurs are made to feel discouraged. How can they compete with all the slick coders starting businesses in this v...

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90: Bootstrapping Vs Raising Capital with Ankur Nagpal of Teachable

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89: The Power of Vulnerability as an Entrepreneur with Brene Brown

89: The Power of Vulnerability as an Entrepreneur with Brene Brown

Brene Brown was a meandering youth in her 20s, doing more traveling and bartending than she was building a business or focusing on school. As a result, she didn't graduate college until she was 30. No...

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88: How 5x Founder David Cancel Builds & Sells Companies at Record Speeds - Founder of Drift

88: How 5x Founder David Cancel Builds & Sells Companies at Record Speeds - Founder of Drift

As the son of hardworking immigrants, David Cancel saw his parents working seven days a week to support their family. As an adult, he realized that not all people worked the way his parents did, which...

20 Apr 201647min

87: What it Takes to Sell Your Company to Amazon for $970m with Justin Kan from Twitch.tv

87: What it Takes to Sell Your Company to Amazon for $970m with Justin Kan from Twitch.tv

Justin Kan doesn’t come off as the type who lives for the spotlight. Which is funny, because at one point he live-streamed his life, 24/7 for the whole world to see, for months. That may seem like an ...

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86: The Secret on How Triple Your Leads, and Close 90% of Sales with Gary Tramer of LeadChat

86: The Secret on How Triple Your Leads, and Close 90% of Sales with Gary Tramer of LeadChat

From a very young age, it was clear that selling was encoded in Gary Tramer’s DNA. His aptitude for sales emerged early when he was a scrappy little kid riding his bike around the neighborhood with hi...

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85: Creating a $100m+ Marketplace that Dominates Your Industry with Martin Hosking of Redbubble

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“Lean Startup” has become a popular concept in the world of entrepreneurship. All founders and founders-to-be have phrases like “pivot” and “fail fast” on the tips of their tongues. But for Martin Hos...

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84: How to Build a Successful Business without Startup Funding with Rob Walling of Drip

84: How to Build a Successful Business without Startup Funding with Rob Walling of Drip

As a full time software developer working for a large company, Rob Walling dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur – and more than a decade later he has obtained serial entrepreneur status. Rob Walling is ...

23 Mars 201648min

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