From Addiction to Advocacy: Dan Uyemura's Journey and The PushPress Mission

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[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, we are live.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Dan Whitewurl, my friend, welcome back to the Future of Fitness.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for having me.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's chat about some fun stuff.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's going to be fun, man.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: It always is.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And I really enjoy our conversations.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: It's always very insightful, just with your experience within the industry, the amount

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: of gym owners and practitioners that you talk to on a day-to-day basis, your understanding

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: of fundraising and software and technology.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a really nice intersection.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of stuff I want to cover with you today, if time allows.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I think some of the newer products that PushPress has come out with as far as the

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: insurance and how that falls in line with your ultimate mission of

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_00]: really protecting gym owners and being one point of contact for them.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a really great value proposition that you guys offer.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Love to talk to you about artificial intelligence, the rate of the growth,

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: if our industry is ready for it or not.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Something that probably by the time we record and publish will be outdated,

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: but we'll give it a shot anyway.

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Your thoughts on CrossFit?

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: You have a very strong connection to the CrossFit community, and there's

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: a lot of changes that's happened at HQ, as they say over the last six months or so.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And it sounds like you're pretty optimistic about what's going on there.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But first, let's start with this, man.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: You've been out and about within the world of media, and you've been telling your story.

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not the usual story.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: It's very memorable about the impetus for how you got to where you are

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and how PushPress started.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll let you give a quick synopsis of it, but I want to understand from

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: your perspective not exactly what it is that you're telling about the story,

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: but why you're telling it and how doing something like that, which leaves you a bit vulnerable,

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_00]: affects you both personally and professionally, and for that to PushPress

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: and why it's important to tell your story.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: So give us some insights onto that, and then we'll take it from there.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. Cool.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. I mean, actually, I think that's a...

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I've told my story probably a dozen times now, and no one's asked me why.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think the why is actually more important.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_01]: That's cool. You brought that up.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, for those of you who don't know, I'll give you the bullet point version of the story.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I was one of the...

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I take full ownership of it, but during the era of opiates,

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I got addicted to painkillers.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Being addicted to painkillers usually leads you to finding uppers to keep...

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_01]: To regulate your downs with your ups.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Once you're on uppers, you need to find a way to go to sleep.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_01]: So you're finding some other way to go to sleep.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01]: For me, it was six packs of beers.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And I basically drugged and drank myself into quite a bit of life problems,

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_01]: became a felon, and had to make a hard life choice of like, do I go left or right?

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And I decided to try and clean up my life.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't identify as a bad person.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: It was my first, I guess, stint in making the wrong choices for an extended period of time.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_01]: And found my way into some recovery programs.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And the recovery program is kind of the Y, right?

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Of me telling the story.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And here I am today, which is 12, 15 years later.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_01]: So the interesting thing is like...

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And this goes for fitness.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Like people in fitness are like, oh, well, I want to lose weight.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And my response to that is...

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Because everyone wants to lose weight in a month.

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And my response is like, yo, you got out of shape and out of weight

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: over 10 years of making bad choices.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_01]: You can't undo that in a month.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Like it's going to take another 10 years of making the right choices to undo what you did.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And that was kind of...

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_01]: What the funny thing with drugs is you can ruin your life in three months,

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and then it takes 10 years to undo it.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's just what happened to me.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, I just...

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I went through the recovery program.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I listened to a lot of people.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I just shut up and listened.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And what I heard consistently was just don't worry about 10 years from now.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Just do the right thing right now in this moment.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't even worry about later today.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Just do the right thing right now this moment.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And if you make that choice every time, sooner or later,

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: you're going to realize like you're going to turn around

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and not even realize where you are anymore,

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: because you're going to be in the right place.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's exactly what happened to me.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_01]: So the reason I tell the story is two reasons.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: The altruistic reason is there's somebody out there right now

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: who's listening to this, who has a skeleton in their closet

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: or something that they're ashamed of that they're hiding.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And the reality is like, the reason I went down the path of drugging

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and all this is I was hiding a bad relationship.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I was hiding being unhappy in my job.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I was hiding a lot of things.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And what I learned in the recovery rooms is when you're open

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and honest about the things that you're hiding,

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_01]: you remove all of the inner things that you blame yourself for

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: that create the situations that make you do the wrong things.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: The selfish reason I do it is being open

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_01]: and honest about your problems is what keeps you straight.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So if I'm not out here saying what my problems are

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm hiding them, then I will find myself in a corner

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_01]: having a drink when I shouldn't

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_01]: or doing something wrong when I shouldn't

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_01]: because it's all something I'm hiding.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So it actually snowballs into your own problem again.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_01]: So you learn all that in the recovery rooms

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and like I said, I just shut up and listened and it's worked.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So why mess with it?

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: From a and it's impactful.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I just want to say that like some of the podcasts

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: you've been on, I talked to the podcasters

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: like Travis Barnes from Overcomers podcast.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: He's got his own backstory of spending some time in jail

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: and his renewed faith in his religion, Eric Corum.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: You guys did a two-part series on the blueprint podcast

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and I talked to him a couple of weeks ago

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: and he was just blown away with your knowledge

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and the story that you were willing to tell.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's also from a professional standpoint,

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's got to be a lot of value.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I think people must resonate with you more powerfully

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: than if I just got on to an interview or a media opportunity

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_00]: and that kind of gave my generalized story,

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: like border rays in Northern California, played sports,

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: business, blah, blah, blah.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But when you throw a story like that out there

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and this is what I'm trying to get

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: is to encourage people to tell stories

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: that maybe they think they shouldn't tell.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Like it's really kind of a right hook to the audience.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, whoa, that guy just say what I think he said.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So from a business perspective,

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: have you noticed anything like any value

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: in being so upfront and authentic?

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_00]: 100%.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think a lot of people expect everyone to be polished and perfect.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_01]: But if there's one truth in this world is

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: everyone is unpolished and unperfect

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and everyone has imposter syndrome

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and everyone is afraid of all the same things that everyone else is

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and literally the only way to get past it

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_01]: is just to be yourself and be true to yourself.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I learned pretty early, like when I became the CEO of this company,

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_01]: massive imposter syndrome, never done this before.

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, like so much learning in front of me.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's an animal learner.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I like learning.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So I just bought books, consumed everything.

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And one of the resonating, I guess, topics that I saw a lot was

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_01]: the best leaders are empathetic and vulnerable.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And if you really want someone to pause and listen to you

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: and follow what you're thinking or where you want to go,

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: you actually have to put yourself at their level

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and not dictate, not be standing on a pedestal doing it.

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And so while I don't go around to NT meetings

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_01]: and talk about my history,

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll be the first one to say I made a mistake

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_01]: or where my flaws are.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I have a whole document that I put out to the whole team

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_01]: on how to work with me

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and it's nothing about all my flaws.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_01]: These are the things you have to navigate

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_01]: because I am stupid in these ways.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's literally called How to Work With Dan

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and it just talks about how I have ADD

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and how I get distracted

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and how I could lose focus.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_01]: All the things that they need to know

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_01]: because they're going to work with me

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and be like, what the hell's wrong with this guy?

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: But I have found...

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, what I've found is when people read that,

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: then they come into the meeting and be like,

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_01]: oh, well, my cousin has ADD too.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: So I get it.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like you've level-set all this stuff

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_01]: and you're a human being to them again.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, that's what I show you.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's interesting, man.

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to write my wife an SOP

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_00]: on How to Be Married to Me and see if that helps.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like I'll be...

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: You know what you should do?

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_01]: You should have her write it at the same time

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and see where they line up.

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we'll come back to that one in a year.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's really interesting.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think having that approach

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and just being very authentic

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: and open with people isn't...

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00]: You're not asking for anyone to be like,

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_00]: oh, poor Dan, he went through this.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: It's hard thing.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: You're just being like, no, this is a shit.

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Is this who I am?

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_00]: This is what makes me up.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm imperfect and I'm very human.

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I really appreciate it.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I would really encourage founders, executives,

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_00]: leaders within this industry to...

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Things you think you need to tell people

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_00]: that will make them understand who you are

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_00]: and how to work with you

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and why you do what you do.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a really very powerful man.

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Very good.

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's another really interesting concept

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_01]: that came out of the rooms of recovery

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_01]: that I think is worth mentioning.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: We go through life and we are taught,

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: oh, don't talk about how much you make.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't talk about these things.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't talk about any imperfections.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_01]: In fact, we're taught when someone comes over,

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_01]: clean up your room.

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Like this isn't really my room,

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: but today it is because you're coming over

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm going to pretend like I have a clean room every day.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_01]: These are the social implications that we're taught.

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_01]: The reality is the more truthful and honest you are,

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'll give you an antidote specifically into this,

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_01]: the more truthful and honest you are

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_01]: about yourself, about who you are

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_01]: and what you do and what you stand for and you're real.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Not only does that protect you

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_01]: from doing stupid things in the dark rooms

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_01]: when you're hidden because you're ashamed of yourself,

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_01]: but it also creates a self-regulating filter

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_01]: on who will even want to be around you,

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_01]: which just makes your life easier.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And here's an example.

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So I have this whole history,

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_01]: which for most people who live,

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_01]: who see life a certain way is like,

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_01]: oh dude, I don't want to be around that person.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Probably I don't want to be around them either.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_01]: That's fine.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_01]: When we race our series A at Push Press,

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_01]: they do crazy due diligence,

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_01]: including background, criminal checks,

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_01]: none of that are wrong.

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, my whole record is expunged,

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_01]: it's hidden, et cetera.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_01]: It's unless you go with certain routes

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and I think they went to certain routes

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and they're like, hey, we need to talk about this thing.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, oh, I actually meant to tell you about this,

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_01]: but then I just told them the whole story

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and they're like, okay, cool, just want to check.

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_01]: But if they would have been like,

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_01]: oh, that's a problem,

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_01]: then I'm invested in and married to the wrong person

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_01]: or the wrong company for life forever.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And you know how much trouble that would have caused?

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_01]: So it was like,

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_01]: it was those things are really good to get out

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and open, especially when you're starting relationships.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Man, you should have heard all this stuff

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I dumped on my wife when I met her.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I have kids, I'm divorced,

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_01]: but the divorce isn't done yet.

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm still technically married.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I have a felony, I'm on probation,

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm doing community service.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Like we had to sit down at Chipotle

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and I did all of that.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And she was like, okay, I need like a day or two

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_01]: to see about all this at this point.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_01]: But I'm like, hey, if you don't like that,

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just giving you the information

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and you can bounce right now.

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But to be honest, you know what she told me?

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_01]: She's like, I've never actually dated someone

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_01]: who told me about all their problems on like the third date

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and gave me the choice to make the decision.

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So I want to see where this goes.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And it actually worked.

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm married to her now.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's awesome, man.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the truth will set us free, right?

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason why these cliches are around

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_00]: and they're said so often is because they're really true.

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's awesome, man.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And cool.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, let's give you some other really,

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, industry specific stuff.

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_00]: But thank you for sharing that.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_00]: CrossFit.

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_00]: So been around for a while.

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_00]: You all know the exact numbers, right?

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Possibly you could provide some insights.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I did a quarterly report not too long ago

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_00]: with Juliette Storran and Alex Alamistiano.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_00]: We covered CrossFit or opinions.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_00]: We used some of the stats that you provided as long

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_00]: as well as some of the stuff from Two Brain Business Report.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Don Falls, the new CEO, new wish, right?

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Within the last year or so.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_00]: But you've been having a lot of conversations of them

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_00]: as it goes with your role within the community.

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_00]: There's always a lot of smoke around CrossFit HQ, right?

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_00]: So there's always a lot of mixed messaging.

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_00]: There seems to be a lot of change.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_00]: It's one of the world's biggest fitness brands to date, right?

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Still the most recognizable across the planet.

[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It's got a lot going for it,

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_00]: but a lot of people feel like maybe it's on a decline.

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So what say you like with recent changes

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_00]: over the last six months, give us some insights

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_00]: like what's going on there?

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: What makes you more bullish on the new direction?

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm probably standing alone right now,

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_01]: but I also have maybe a little bit,

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I wouldn't say more information,

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_01]: but at least a little bit more insight

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_01]: than the average person does.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: There's been no bigger, well, I wouldn't say no bigger.

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_01]: There's been plenty of big critics of CrossFit.

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I've been a critic of CrossFit forever for all that,

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, it's easy to armchair quarterback.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And part of this might be as I've ascended

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and become the CEO of PushPress

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and PushPress is becoming a bigger company,

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I understand armchair quarterbacking is so easy

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01]: when you don't understand what they're going through,

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_01]: what the pressures are, all that.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_01]: But that all being said,

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I had given up on CrossFit personally

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and I was the biggest CrossFit homer in the era

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_01]: that you were in it and everything.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Recently, we've been having discussions with them

[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_01]: off and on about different topics

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and I've noticed a complete 180

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_01]: in how they're approaching things

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and this is what I can speak to

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_01]: because I don't know what's going on behind that firewall,

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_01]: but I do know the people that I interface with

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_01]: have never talked about gym owner value,

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: understanding how to drive members into gyms,

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_01]: building processes that create more value for gym owners.

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I've never heard these phrases spoken

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_01]: in their vernacular until recently.

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I know somewhere in the organization,

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_01]: from the top down or the bottom up,

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_01]: there is a movement of what we need to do

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: is actually make these gyms more successful

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and let's focus on that, which like I said,

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think I ever felt before and now I do.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I know they're on the right track.

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_00]: That literally I just cheered,

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I think your head was down,

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: but I was like cheering as you were saying that

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: because the one thing that I think

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I summarized after my conversation with Juliet specifically

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_00]: was like, you know,

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_00]: where can CrossFit do better?

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, you know, they just need to help affiliates

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_00]: make more money.

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_00]: That's it.

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Like that's fundamentally the biggest problem.

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying that's an easy problem to solve,

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_00]: but if you've tore some resources and some time into it,

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_00]: you could probably move the needle.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, can you give us insights like how,

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: how do you do that?

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, on a global scale,

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_00]: how do you start to move the needle?

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I think the free is so low hanging for them.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to, I can't speak to her.

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know like how they're thinking about it.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I can surmise what I think, but put it this way.

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_01]: If you get to a point where a small mom and pop gym

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_01]: that's operating out of Indiana looks in the mirror

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and goes, I can do better than CrossFit can

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_01]: to represent what I do to the industry,

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_01]: like the fruit is on the ground at that point.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Because they, you know,

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_01]: operationally speaking, experience speaking,

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_01]: network scale, efficiency speaking,

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_01]: leverage speaking in every business direction and vector,

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_01]: there's no way that a single gym should be able to out operate CrossFit.

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And yet thousands of gyms believe that to the tune of de-affiliating.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think like, I do think like I've seen,

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen in field a circling of the wagons moment,

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I feel and see that they're thinking about

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_01]: how can we structure our service

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and product offering in a way that not only

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_01]: increases the likelihoods that our gyms succeed

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and or thrive and or win, but proves it to them.

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. And I think that that mindset is the foundation

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: for actually doing what they have to do as opposed to,

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_01]: it did feel before like they're running after 100 different directions.

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_01]: There was no clear focus.

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_01]: And as a result, the games started to suffer.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: They're, you know, like less L ones were being done.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_01]: The affiliates were being left hanging to dry.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Like everything suffered in the CrossFit ecosystem at that point.

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And there does seem to be a focus now.

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. You know, I didn't de-affiliate,

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was around 2015.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't de-affiliate, I just kept the affiliation,

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_00]: but I changed the name of my goal and hit it and hit.

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what we did.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. And I just said, you know, power by CrossFit

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_00]: or whatever in the small print.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_00]: But the stuff that got me was just some of the PR moves

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that were just, I just agree with, you know, like

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_00]: certain things they would say or do.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, why are we, like I understand that

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_00]: this is part of this, you know,

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_00]: biker gang mentality of HQ, right?

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_00]: The kind of the old school mentality of glassman and the whole crew.

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's kind of an effude everybody else

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and throwing the finger up to, you know, the traditional

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_00]: industry or people in or around that

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and kind of intentionally being offensive at it.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, gosh, man, you're just making our job

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_00]: at the affiliate level so much more difficult at times.

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. I think a couple points to that.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's the big point is making political statements.

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_01]: In my opinion, there is almost no place in business for it

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_01]: until you get rise and maybe CrossFit was at this point

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_01]: where they thought they were when you rise to the point where

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: like a Google kind of has to make social statements

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_01]: because they're, you know, or some companies might feel

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_01]: obligated to because they have such a voice in the world.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_01]: But making I mean, I would have been all for,

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_01]: hey, glassman go after Coca Cola, go after big soda,

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_01]: go after, you know, broken science.

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_01]: That's all in your wheelhouse.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And those are things you should be doing.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I just don't know, like,

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_01]: does it help a CrossFit affiliate to expose, you know,

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_01]: a left or right leaning philosophy

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_01]: because they have responsibilities to affiliates too

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and people associate every affiliate

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_01]: with the statements that come out of CrossFit.

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's I think where they went wrong.

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think Glassman's apologetic for it.

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, you know, it's like,

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_01]: you think you have to understand these philosophies

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_01]: when you start the business and just say like,

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_01]: hey, we are, we lean left or right.

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And if you lean the other way,

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_01]: don't become a CrossFit affiliate to start.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_01]: But to hurt someone's business over it,

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I think is reckless.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, well said, man.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's encouraging.

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And like I said, I'm playing again, Don,

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_00]: follow on the podcast this year at some point.

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm really keen to get his insights

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_00]: of what his vision is because really cheering for it, man.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'm critical, I think, similar to you.

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm probably critical in ways because I love it

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and I want it to be better.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And I do think it's, it is, I mean, the brand's amazing.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Like you go all over the world,

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_00]: people know CrossFit, right?

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_00]: The core fitness enthusiasts, as I call them,

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: like die hard in CrossFit.

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, my wife still CrossFits four days a week.

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Been doing it for a decade

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and her community is still very strong.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: But same thing as like the affiliate owner

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_00]: also has a physical therapy clinic that he runs out.

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_00]: That's where it makes all the money.

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_00]: The gym is just out of passions.

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_00]: We got to get this point of like,

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_00]: people are running it for passion

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and making no money and having a second job

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_00]: to actually like, okay, let's make this a career.

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_01]: If I can give you pass on some advice to Don for me,

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_01]: not that my advice means anything really in his world,

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_01]: but what I would like to see from Don

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_01]: is him to get on a soapbox and speak more.

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Because nobody really knows.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what he's thinking.

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I should write, you should know what he's thinking.

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_01]: It should be loud and clear in the market.

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Every affiliate should know what CrossFit stands for

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_01]: at this point.

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't think,

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think I've seen Don speak once, to be honest.

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, and granted, you know,

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_01]: he's going to have to speak 10 times for me to catch him once.

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_01]: But the point is like, I don't think he's been out there enough.

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think he needs to be out there more.

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'll see what I can do.

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll let you know.

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_00]: At least coming on your show.

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's good.

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, nothing's confirmed yet.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So I don't want to tease anything out, but I have an end.

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Don, if you're watching this, get on the show.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, please do it, man.

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to talk to you.

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_00]: The insurance offering, this was pretty cool.

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I was, I've talked to you about it a couple of times.

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I've heard you talk about it as well.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_00]: You guys made a pretty big move.

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_00]: It was at like two months ago

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and you started offering insurance to gyms.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that really, I want to get your take on, of course,

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_00]: like what is the offering?

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_00]: How are you doing it?

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Why is it better?

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But also how does that fall in line with the overall mission

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and what you guys are doing at Push Press?

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Because I do love what you guys are doing

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and simply advocacy for independent gym owners,

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I think is a really powerful statement

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and a really strong mission

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that drives a lot of value with what you guys do.

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, tell us about the product and offering

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_00]: and why you did it.

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So I mean, this really goes back to why I started Push Press.

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And one of the reasons I started Push Press

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_01]: is because I got lied to and ripped off by a payments company

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_01]: who ran the software that we used.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And they told me it was 1.9% on my payments processing rate.

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I was really paying 4.8 at the end of the day.

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_01]: They basically hit a bunch of fees all over the place

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and I was none the wiser until a banker showed me otherwise.

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_01]: This predatory activity,

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I think happens in SMB small businesses across America

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and my stance was we would protect gyms from this

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_01]: because you can't really necessarily trust the companies

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and I understand we're a company too.

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_01]: This is why it's part of our astounding ethos.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_01]: If we differ from that,

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_01]: we will have a revolt within our employees

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_01]: because that's what we hire people against.

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_01]: But protect gym owners from this type of behavior.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not saying that this isn't happening

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_01]: in every aspect of the services that are helping gyms.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying that isn't happening in insurance per se.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_01]: But you do need somebody to keep people honest

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and we do need somebody to make sure that things are built

[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_01]: from a gym owner perspective first.

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_01]: And that is part and parcel of the core cornerstones

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_01]: of what we're doing here at Push Bus.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Everything we build will be from the lens

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_01]: of doing it right for the gym owner

[00:23:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and then for the gym member first.

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_01]: If you follow me or listen to what I'm saying,

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_01]: it's like company revenue and the things

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_01]: that the company gets out of it will always follow.

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_01]: If we do the right things first

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and we know how to present it to the market.

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think gyms should do the same thing.

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Like focus on what you're doing for your customers,

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_01]: focus on how you present that to the market

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_01]: and your money will come.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_01]: But the problem is so many people are focused

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_01]: on my money first that they're doing all the wrong things

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_01]: inside their business to try and back their way into money.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's kind of where we stand with the insurance thing.

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_01]: It's been pretty cool.

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_01]: We got 15% of our clients.

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, we launched it, we soft launched it

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_01]: with like an email and a couple social media posts

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and 15% of our clients got a quote.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And almost 100% of those quotes

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_01]: would have saved them a significant amount of money.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's been a good launch so far.

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. Well, from our conversations,

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_00]: correct me if I'm wrong.

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, one of the goals of what you're doing

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_00]: with your software and just your service

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_00]: over all of your company is like,

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_00]: you want to help GM owners save time

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: by kind of being one point of contact

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_00]: for all the million things

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_00]: that they have to concern themselves with.

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So I mean, that obviously sounds like this aligns with that.

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Is that still kind of the course

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_00]: that you guys are taking?

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Is that, explain that a little bit better than I did?

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. Yeah. So one angle of it is making sure

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_01]: that there's somebody who's building services

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and programs from a GM owner centric point of view.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_01]: The other angle is when you talk to GM owners

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and you were a GM owner, I was a GM owner,

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_01]: there's so many things to do in a day.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Every new business that you have to interact with

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_01]: turns into lost days.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Research, checking out their reviews,

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_01]: figuring out how to pay them.

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh shoot. They want their payment on this way

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and I don't do it that way.

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I've got to go set up in a Zella counter,

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_01]: whatever it might be.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_01]: There's just so many things that happen

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_01]: for every single person you have to deal with.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_01]: One of our value props is,

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and on top of that, because we know,

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_01]: insurance is a good one, let's talk about that,

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_01]: because we know the attendance history of members,

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_01]: we know how many members you have,

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_01]: we know the type of GM you are in or are in,

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_01]: we know so much about this business,

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_01]: like the insurance risk becomes less for us

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_01]: because we have so much insight

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_01]: into what's happening inside the GM.

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And this is, I guess if you want to talk a bigger picture,

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_01]: what our goal is to do is to lower the cost of GM ownership,

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_01]: both in terms of money, time, effort,

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_01]: and raise the value of the services we provide

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_01]: because we have a native integration into,

[00:25:28] [SPEAKER_01]: we know too much about the GMs.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_01]: We know so much about that.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_01]: It creates an unfair advantage for us

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_01]: to help them in other ways.

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, insurance was a test in that direction

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and I think that test was very successful.

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it sounds like it's been really well received.

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, at the top of my head too,

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, obviously we talk about CrossFit,

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_00]: you guys work with a lot of that community

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_00]: is in your 3,000, 4,000 GMs you have on your platform,

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_00]: however many it is now.

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_00]: But martial arts man, that seems to be really,

[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_00]: like I'm starting to see more and more

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's been like this for the while,

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_00]: but it seems to keep accelerating,

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_00]: like BJJ and MMA,

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_00]: like all these different martial arts GMs,

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_00]: like how is that segment of the market

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER_00]: doing from your viewpoint?

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that is definitely a new growth area

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_01]: of the marketplace.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_01]: What we see in fitness in general

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_01]: is like things hit waves and I think,

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I think BJJ MMA is probably halfway

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_01]: through a 10 year growth cycle.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Like there are CrossFit is at the end of theirs

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe trying to rejuvenate theirs,

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, which tells me honestly,

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_01]: probably in the next couple years

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_01]: there will be a new one that replaces

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_01]: BJJs and MMA soon.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_01]: But I think personally speaking,

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I think BJJ MMA and CrossFit

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_01]: are probably the two skillsets,

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_01]: adults, you know, training methodologies

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and skill sets adults,

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_01]: human adults should learn for both practical

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and functional reasons.

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I think both of them are pretty awesome.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Are you a, do you practice BJJ?

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_01]: No, so I'll tell you what, like I've always

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_01]: been attracted to UFC but never really a fan.

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I got the opportunity to go to the UFC 300 in Vegas

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_01]: with Jason Ackerman was hanging out with us

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and one of the gym owners in Vegas is Joe T. P.

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_01]: took us and I'm a fan now, like that was fun and amazing.

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's been on my radar to go join a local gym,

[00:27:16] [SPEAKER_01]: but they would be my fourth gym membership

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and I don't know if I could swing that first of all,

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to have to time wise more than anything.

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm kind of like swamped with work right now.

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm trying to find the right opportunity

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_01]: to kind of like ease my way into becoming an MMA student.

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Very cool.

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_01]: If you run an MMA gym in Las Vegas,

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm looking for you.

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Henderson, Las Vegas.

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm looking for a good studio.

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Awesome.

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's funny.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I was brand calling from Maddabalic posted something

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_00]: or he tagged something on LinkedIn and commented about

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_00]: what my thoughts on BJJ being like the next CrossFit.

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was maybe remind me of a quote that my business

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_00]: partner CrossFit had, trade boom a long time ago.

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you got it from somewhere else.

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_00]: He's like CrossFit is MMA for guys who don't like to get hit in the face.

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And it was like, yeah.

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Or choked out every night.

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It was really funny.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Man, I feel like I can't get away from a conversation

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_00]: this podcast nowadays probably because I bring it up.

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_00]: So like I can't get away from it.

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I choose what we talk about here.

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But artificial intelligence.

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I am slightly obsessed with it.

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I listen to a lot of podcasts about it.

[00:28:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm always playing around with it.

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm testing different services.

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm trying to figure out how I can create value,

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_00]: especially from my podcast community at the podcast collective

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_00]: and start to figure out some ways for us to really leverage it.

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_00]: But what is your, we're sitting here at the NQ2 of 2024.

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's put a little bit of a time stamp on it.

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Advancements in AI this year, what's your take on them?

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The big question I want to ask you is,

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_00]: do you think our industry, and I'm going to say,

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_00]: keep it specific to what you do.

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think the gym owner industry

[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_00]: is ready for the changes that AI is bringing?

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. Let's actually answer this in a way

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_01]: that will be evergreen and never date real quick.

[00:29:07] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we'll go ahead and do it.

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_01]: The AI changes that just came about are crazy.

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_01]: They're going to be really impactful.

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't think everyone really knows how to use them yet,

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_01]: but given time, it will probably change the industry.

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, that little clip will age forever.

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_01]: See what we can do.

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah. That's evergreen.

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So the answer to, okay.

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_01]: So I actually, I was on a panel and we talked about AI really quickly

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_01]: and my take is this.

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_01]: AI as it stands today is like if I gave you a one billion piece Lego set

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and said go nuts, right?

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I think it's too vast for people generally speaking,

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_01]: you have like a wide array of problem sets to solve,

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_01]: to like really leverage it effectively.

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And I would be willing to be even wager that

[00:29:53] [SPEAKER_01]: people probably waste time on AI as opposed to get time back right now.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_01]: The proper way to think about AI from,

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and we can we can stair step into like how software plays,

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_01]: but like from for you and me is like I have four tasks in my day-to-day life

[00:30:07] [SPEAKER_01]: where AI can help me.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_01]: It might be research, you know, writing newsletters, writing a blog,

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, whatever it might be.

[00:30:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll pause there and say,

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I think AI for marketing, sales and human to human type situation,

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_01]: marketing and sales specifically is going to be a fallacy.

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Either a fallacy or we become robots.

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Like either we assimilate to AI or AI doesn't work because marketing in general,

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_01]: it's one of those industries where it works until it doesn't work

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and it doesn't work when everyone does it.

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So now that everyone's doing like AI blog posts

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and AI fucking automation, you know, sales chats,

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_01]: the minute someone human actually talks to them and be like,

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_01]: okay, let's talk because you're a human and I'm so sick of these robots.

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like the voice teleprompter things.

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_01]: You got to push one to get whatever, you know, like nobody likes that.

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think AI for marketing as it stands now is will not work as much as people think.

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_01]: You have to have a process, you have to have a reason to use it

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and you have to deploy it within your process.

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Now the good thing about that is like, that's what software does.

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_01]: It defines process, it buckets you into a funnel to do the process

[00:31:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and it spits out the result.

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_01]: So software, I think it's our job as software builders

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_01]: to actually figure out where AI fits into the processes

[00:31:17] [SPEAKER_01]: that are already happening and layer it in,

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_01]: not build like a whole AI process but layer it into what you do.

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And or now we can create new processes around things

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_01]: that there never was a process

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_01]: because the AI actually makes that like super obvious to do, right?

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's how I see AI.

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think it's, I think it's a dumb answer

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_01]: because it's, I don't think it's as impactful

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_01]: as everyone wants it to be today.

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think it's going to change the entire world

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_01]: the way that the internet and iPhones changed the world when they came about.

[00:31:47] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's, I'm on both ends of the spectrum there.

[00:31:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. How are you personally using AI?

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I use AI quite a bit for research for my job.

[00:31:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So a lot of my job is theoretical and dreaming.

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So I use a lot for research and, you know, it's less research like

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_01]: tell me how many gyms are in America, like AI can't do that.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's more like, you know, I'm thinking about building this process

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_01]: for something. Give me some examples of how a company, you know, like how this might work,

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, so it's more free flowing.

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_01]: The more you ask AI to be precise about something,

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_01]: the more you're asking for trouble right now.

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_01]: So I use it for research.

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll use it for a lot of like, yeah, organizational things

[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_01]: like I'm trying to make a decision about this, this and this,

[00:32:29] [SPEAKER_01]: here are the pros, here are the cons,

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_01]: what are some things that I might not be thinking about?

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_01]: So again, it's not like choose for me.

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_01]: It's more like, what am I missing?

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Or, you know, look across, you know, the history and tell me,

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_01]: like has a company made this decision before?

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_01]: What does that, what does that, when what happened, you know,

[00:32:44] [SPEAKER_01]: we still have to follow that up to make sure it's true.

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER_01]: So a lot of things like that I use it for,

[00:32:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm using it to learn Spanish right now.

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_01]: That's actually a cool use case.

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_01]: That's actually really cool use case.

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm using an app where it's an AI,

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_01]: you can do an AI conversation where it's just a free flowing conversation

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and you get to pick the topic, right?

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And then like the person on the other end will speak it

[00:33:04] [SPEAKER_01]: because they're using AI that like turn into voice

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_01]: and then it'll tell you how to respond with like the proper type

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_01]: of thing to respond with.

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And then based on your response,

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_01]: the AI will pick up and continue the conversation infinitely.

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's actually a pretty, that's a pretty cool use of AI.

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think there's like a lot of very particular use cases of AI

[00:33:20] [SPEAKER_01]: that are going to change everything.

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Pretty excited about all that.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. It's, you know, I have a GPT-40 open every day

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_00]: and I prompt it.

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm constantly, I think it's just like anything else,

[00:33:33] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, it was like when wearables start coming out

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and people were asking my take on,

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, should business professionals be leveraging

[00:33:40] [SPEAKER_00]: where I'm like, well, not yet, but you should get a wearable.

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, you should use it

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_00]: so maybe you can feel some questions about it.

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And same with like this, you know, just the generative AI

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_00]: is like, here's a little tidbit for the audience

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_00]: that I found out I got this right partner, Shannon Terinishi.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're about to write something,

[00:33:56] [SPEAKER_00]: let's say you want to write a SEO rich blog on this podcast,

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_00]: right? Which I do all the time.

[00:34:01] [SPEAKER_00]: It's because I don't have time to write blogs,

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_00]: but having one that's SEO rich that drives traffic to my website.

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It's great, right?

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_00]: But I will say you are, so I'm talking about GPT.

[00:34:10] [SPEAKER_00]: You are Eric Malzone, you're born here, dada-dada-dada.

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_00]: You set the thing of tone of like who exactly they are

[00:34:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and then it'll actually like, okay, readjusted.

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_00]: It'll come back with and now it's talking in my voice.

[00:34:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's cool and creepy at the same time

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_00]: because there is enough, you know,

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_00]: my content out there where it can kind of capture some of it

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_00]: but giving it that context, you could say like,

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, you are Mr. I don't know,

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_00]: you are Anthony Bourdain, right?

[00:34:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, you're talking in as if you, you know,

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_00]: have a Spanish accent, dada-dada-dada.

[00:34:42] [SPEAKER_00]: You can be clearly defined on who you want this AI to be

[00:34:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and then it'll come out in that form

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's kind of cool and fun and pretty time-consuming

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER_00]: but stuff like that, like I never would have really figured out

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_00]: if I wasn't using it all the time.

[00:34:54] [SPEAKER_00]: That's just a small use case, right?

[00:34:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I think an interesting way to look at this

[00:34:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and important way to look at this is like,

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_01]: me and you were, well, I'm gonna assume you were

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_01]: in a very bad form but we were kind of of age

[00:35:06] [SPEAKER_01]: when the internet came out.

[00:35:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you remember that.

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_01]: In 1993, I started college.

[00:35:11] [SPEAKER_01]: In 1993, email started becoming a thing

[00:35:15] [SPEAKER_01]: but it was like, you had to log into a terminal,

[00:35:18] [SPEAKER_01]: you had to like use these weird commands.

[00:35:21] [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't like gooey, it was like all text

[00:35:23] [SPEAKER_01]: and I remember at the time, I would email people

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and they'd be like, dude, just write me a letter.

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, don't make me do all of that

[00:35:29] [SPEAKER_01]: but now fast forward to today,

[00:35:31] [SPEAKER_01]: it's like email is the staple of communication

[00:35:34] [SPEAKER_01]: on the internet, one of them

[00:35:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and you can think AI is gonna be like that.

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Like right now people, it's right now AI

[00:35:40] [SPEAKER_01]: is like in the year 2001, like everyone's building everything.

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Shit's getting funded, that's stupid.

[00:35:47] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's like things are gonna blow up,

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_01]: things are gonna be very rocky

[00:35:51] [SPEAKER_01]: but eventually it's gonna smooth out.

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_01]: There's gonna be some really fine-tuned winners

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_01]: and what like Amazon's, the new Amazon's gonna get built

[00:35:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and the new Google's gonna build.

[00:35:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Like the winners are gonna figure it out

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and then in 10 years they're gonna be like,

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_01]: how did we live without this?

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_01]: But right now it's like this crazy Wild West

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_01]: but this is not like crypto and NFTs are what they are

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and they've actually taken some hold

[00:36:13] [SPEAKER_01]: but this is more like the internet popping

[00:36:15] [SPEAKER_01]: or the advent of the car.

[00:36:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Like this will change the shape of history

[00:36:19] [SPEAKER_01]: so maybe create Steinett that I don't know.

[00:36:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:36:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I just get back to this funny,

[00:36:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember my first experience with email,

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I was like 1996, I was in college.

[00:36:32] [SPEAKER_00]: My brother was doing research in the Antarctic

[00:36:34] [SPEAKER_00]: and for me to write a letter to him

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and get to him, it's just huge.

[00:36:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Two weeks, right?

[00:36:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe at best.

[00:36:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And then all of a sudden we're emailing,

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_00]: like I would go to the computer lab at Boston College

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and all of a sudden I would have it in like,

[00:36:49] [SPEAKER_00]: whoa, and then I would write one back

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_00]: and then like next day I would have another one.

[00:36:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Like this is what?

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And now that's, we can,

[00:36:56] [SPEAKER_00]: now I can just call someone in the Antarctic,

[00:36:58] [SPEAKER_00]: which is crazy.

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Like if there's no way you could do that now.

[00:37:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So just the speed at which it's all accelerating

[00:37:03] [SPEAKER_00]: is just pretty wild.

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_00]: One last topic if you got time Dan,

[00:37:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if we have 10 more minutes at all.

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_00]: But you guys raised the success,

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_00]: we'll series A a couple of years back

[00:37:16] [SPEAKER_00]: as a founder nowadays,

[00:37:19] [SPEAKER_00]: fundraising is pretty fundamental to what people do.

[00:37:22] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of probably entrepreneurs

[00:37:23] [SPEAKER_00]: or founders who are listening to this as well.

[00:37:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Specifically to like private equity.

[00:37:28] [SPEAKER_00]: What are the worrying signs or things

[00:37:32] [SPEAKER_00]: that people should be aware of

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_00]: if they're looking to approach private equity

[00:37:35] [SPEAKER_00]: to be a partner in their business?

[00:37:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, okay, so here's the thing.

[00:37:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Private equity won't get involved

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_01]: until you've hit a certain maturity level.

[00:37:42] [SPEAKER_01]: So most people, unless you've built

[00:37:44] [SPEAKER_01]: like a hundred billion dollar business

[00:37:46] [SPEAKER_01]: or a 50 million dollar business,

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_01]: you won't be messing around private equity folks.

[00:37:50] [SPEAKER_01]: They're at a different level

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and their objectives and direction

[00:37:54] [SPEAKER_01]: of doing stuff is completely different.

[00:37:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So let's, I guess, partition that question.

[00:38:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So for entrepreneurs listening to this,

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_01]: we're looking to get funded,

[00:38:04] [SPEAKER_01]: you're probably looking more for seed, pre-seed,

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER_01]: or venture capital type people who are basically,

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know this when I started,

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_01]: but it's like the venture people

[00:38:14] [SPEAKER_01]: are looking to prove a business.

[00:38:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Then there's a segment called growth equity

[00:38:18] [SPEAKER_01]: which sits between private equity and venture

[00:38:20] [SPEAKER_01]: which is looking to grow a business.

[00:38:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And then private equity is looking to mature and or cash out

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_01]: or go public of a business.

[00:38:27] [SPEAKER_01]: So once you get in the private equity realm,

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and this is where I think all the problems are

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_01]: especially in fitness,

[00:38:32] [SPEAKER_01]: it's like private equity's only focus is to make money.

[00:38:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And kind of like the conversation we had earlier,

[00:38:38] [SPEAKER_01]: like because that is their focus

[00:38:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and they have set timelines on returning funds,

[00:38:42] [SPEAKER_01]: like the instrumentation for private equity fund

[00:38:45] [SPEAKER_01]: in general is we raise a whole bunch of money

[00:38:47] [SPEAKER_01]: from investors and we're going to return it in seven years.

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_01]: So we got to deploy a whole bunch of money

[00:38:51] [SPEAKER_01]: in year one.

[00:38:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And then in the next six years,

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_01]: we got to figure out how to grow the business

[00:38:55] [SPEAKER_01]: to a point where we can get a 3x return over seven years.

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Like that's kind of the mechanics of PE.

[00:39:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And that seven years is which creates all of the weird

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_01]: incentive misalignments between the business,

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_01]: the customers and the investors.

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Because once you get into your three and four,

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_01]: it's just like, okay, foot on the gas,

[00:39:13] [SPEAKER_01]: make the money, buy some other companies,

[00:39:15] [SPEAKER_01]: roll up some things, raise the prices,

[00:39:18] [SPEAKER_01]: do whatever you can because we've got to start gearing up

[00:39:20] [SPEAKER_01]: to sell this thing.

[00:39:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think that's where private equity, in my opinion,

[00:39:24] [SPEAKER_01]: goes wrong and has problems because it is built

[00:39:26] [SPEAKER_01]: in the interests of the investors only.

[00:39:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I always warn people when you're doing business

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_01]: with a company, look who's behind them

[00:39:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and look who's investing in them.

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_01]: What is their timelines?

[00:39:36] [SPEAKER_01]: What is their philosophy?

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_01]: How do they approach doing this?

[00:39:40] [SPEAKER_01]: The people I choose to get involved with

[00:39:42] [SPEAKER_01]: in terms of investors have to be customer first.

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_01]: They have to believe in the core tenants of

[00:39:48] [SPEAKER_01]: you make money by delivering customer value,

[00:39:51] [SPEAKER_01]: not the other way around.

[00:39:54] [SPEAKER_00]: That's kind of how I see it.

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's really good insights.

[00:39:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's funny, I've never started a company

[00:40:00] [SPEAKER_00]: where I needed to raise funds.

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_00]: It's always been, Rootschef sell companies.

[00:40:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So I think just interviewing people on this podcast

[00:40:09] [SPEAKER_00]: and talking to so many founders and entrepreneurs,

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I've learned so much but I still know

[00:40:13] [SPEAKER_00]: so very little about the investment landscape

[00:40:17] [SPEAKER_00]: of where to start.

[00:40:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I know the major categories and I'm sure I'm not alone,

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_00]: basically, for people listening to this

[00:40:24] [SPEAKER_00]: or like, oh, I didn't know there was a difference

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER_00]: between growth equity and private equity.

[00:40:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's interesting, man.

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It all makes a lot of sense.

[00:40:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I think you and I have talked offline

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_00]: about some founders and CEOs of companies

[00:40:36] [SPEAKER_00]: in our industry feel the same way about PE

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and cautionary tales, I guess you could say.

[00:40:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's PE.

[00:40:43] [SPEAKER_01]: In my opinion, PE is problematic in our space.

[00:40:45] [SPEAKER_01]: So if you look across companies and you can tell

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_01]: when somebody is focused only on making money,

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_01]: we're raising rates, we're cutting customer support,

[00:40:54] [SPEAKER_01]: we're not building more product.

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Like products are expensive to build in software.

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So if they're not really building product

[00:40:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and they're raising rates, it's like you can tell

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_01]: probably right away that they're only in.

[00:41:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And to me the problem is this,

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_01]: if their whole goal is to sell the company,

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_01]: they're finding a bag holder.

[00:41:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Like they don't care what happens

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_01]: to all of the clients eventually

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER_01]: because it's like someone else's problem.

[00:41:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And you could see how that type of an arrangement

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and mindset just creates so infinite number of problems

[00:41:18] [SPEAKER_01]: not only for like how they go about doing their business,

[00:41:21] [SPEAKER_01]: but all of the downstream bag hold,

[00:41:22] [SPEAKER_01]: like all the customers become the bag holders

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER_01]: because like, oh great, well now someone else owns us

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and like what do they think?

[00:41:27] [SPEAKER_01]: What is their goal?

[00:41:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know, I strongly advise,

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_01]: especially gym owners, like when you look at the software

[00:41:33] [SPEAKER_01]: you're using, look at the companies you're working with

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and watch out for PE.

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Which is interesting because we just talked about this earlier,

[00:41:40] [SPEAKER_01]: like CrossFit is PE owned.

[00:41:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And I do think like in their first couple of years

[00:41:44] [SPEAKER_01]: of being PA owned, they were going about it all backwards.

[00:41:47] [SPEAKER_01]: But that's where the tone, the shift in what they're saying,

[00:41:50] [SPEAKER_01]: the fact that they're worried about gyms

[00:41:52] [SPEAKER_01]: making more money and customer value

[00:41:53] [SPEAKER_01]: to me is the big shift that I'm interested in see play out.

[00:41:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So not all PE is bad.

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's just put it there.

[00:41:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, one more thing.

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you this.

[00:42:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, let me tell you this.

[00:42:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, one more quick thing.

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER_01]: You know how I said like if you speak your truth

[00:42:05] [SPEAKER_01]: you self-select away from the problems,

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_01]: the future problems of people that don't get witness?

[00:42:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm setting myself up so no private equity will ever buy us

[00:42:13] [SPEAKER_01]: because I will never want to work for a private equity company

[00:42:17] [SPEAKER_01]: and be trying to earn out on that.

[00:42:18] [SPEAKER_01]: So I just burn those boats.

[00:42:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you sure did man.

[00:42:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Dan, we covered a lot of ground today.

[00:42:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I really appreciate it.

[00:42:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's a very diverse opportunity

[00:42:32] [SPEAKER_00]: to talk about a lot of stuff with you.

[00:42:34] [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, man, last question is always is,

[00:42:37] [SPEAKER_00]: what is a challenge that you're facing right now

[00:42:41] [SPEAKER_00]: that our industry can help you with?

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, what would you like to hear from people

[00:42:46] [SPEAKER_00]: about if they're going to reach out to you

[00:42:47] [SPEAKER_00]: after listening to this?

[00:42:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, man.

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a tough one.

[00:42:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm so immersed in the problems

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_01]: that I'm facing in my company.

[00:42:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's see.

[00:42:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I need to be better at networking.

[00:42:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I need to be better at understanding

[00:42:58] [SPEAKER_01]: what the next stages of a CEO look like

[00:43:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and how do you build teams?

[00:43:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I need to be better at operational efficiency and being,

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a dreamer, not a great operator.

[00:43:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Those are some of my weaknesses.

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_01]: So if there's anyone listening who's really good

[00:43:12] [SPEAKER_01]: at any of those things, love to talk to you.

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, man.

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Awesome.

[00:43:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And Dan, where do people go?

[00:43:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Pushpress.com for the company.

[00:43:20] [SPEAKER_01]: My Instagram, I try and post daily

[00:43:24] [SPEAKER_01]: little business tidbits and mindset advice things,

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_01]: which I'm pretty proud of and I like doing.

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_01]: It's fun.

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's me interact with customers as well

[00:43:31] [SPEAKER_01]: and people out there.

[00:43:32] [SPEAKER_01]: That's at Danielson, the Karate Kid guy.

[00:43:35] [SPEAKER_00]: D-A-N-I-E-L-S-E-N.

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Awesome.

[00:43:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's also pushpress.com for slash Dan,

[00:43:40] [SPEAKER_00]: which I know of in the book cart.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.

[00:43:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I blew it.

[00:43:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I missed that softball.

[00:43:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, all right on.

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Dan, always a pleasure, brother.

[00:43:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Go forth and keep CEO-ing

[00:43:51] [SPEAKER_00]: and we'll be in touch.

[00:43:54] [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, ladies and gentlemen, Dan Weimura.

[00:43:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[00:43:57] [SPEAKER_00]: See ya.

[00:43:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Awesome, dude.

[00:43:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Let me make sure this all gets uploaded.

[00:44:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, wait.

[00:44:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't leave yet.

[00:44:03] [SPEAKER_00]: This is your host, Eric Malzone.

[00:44:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And I hope you enjoyed this episode of Future of Menace.

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