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Capital and M&A

Capital and M&A raise practical questions about how fitness businesses grow, combine, and find the right partners. These conversations offer a place to explore them through merger decisions, private equity experience, and relationships behind deal flow. Fritz Lanman and Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer discuss integration priorities, investment capacity, and what their combination could mean for operators. Jon Canarick revisits investments in Equinox and Curves, including the challenge of bringing nutrition and fitness together. Jon Ward considers how trusted networks can connect founders with capital and support partnerships across fitness, wellness, and healthcare. Along the way, guests examine where scale might help, where business models constrain expansion, and how leaders weigh new opportunities without losing focus on the businesses they run every day.

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Latest conversations

The Future of Action Sports - Deacon Andrews60 min

capital

The Future of Action Sports - Deacon Andrews

The Future

Bringing New Products to Market - Daniel Schreiber55 min

capital

Bringing New Products to Market - Daniel Schreiber

Building Wealth & Money Magic - Krisstina Wise67 min

capital

Building Wealth & Money Magic - Krisstina Wise

Empires Within A Niche - Fares Ksebati57 min

tech

Empires Within A Niche - Fares Ksebati

The ABC's of Publicity - Lisa Simone Richards47 min

capital

The ABC's of Publicity - Lisa Simone Richards

The ABC's

Entrepreneurial Success Habits & Sales Mindset - Matthew Januszek49 min

capital

Entrepreneurial Success Habits & Sales Mindset - Matthew Januszek

USA Cycling - Kevin Dessart57 min

capital

USA Cycling - Kevin Dessart

Kevin Dessart

The Godfather of Fitness Marketing Has Returned - Ryan Lee55 min

capital

The Godfather of Fitness Marketing Has Returned - Ryan Lee

The Godfather

Hidden Profits & Secret Sauce - Aernout Leezenberg63 min

capital

Hidden Profits & Secret Sauce - Aernout Leezenberg

Dining and Rereading - Dan John71 min

longevity

Dining and Rereading - Dan John

Dan John

Singapore's Growing Fitness Market - Natalie Dau51 min

capital

Singapore's Growing Fitness Market - Natalie Dau

Singapore's Growing Fitness Market

Unshakeable Ethos - Joe Rakoski and Justin Quinn42 min

capital

Unshakeable Ethos - Joe Rakoski and Justin Quinn

Unshakeable Ethos

Better Workflow for Online Coaching - Kevin Koskella40 min

operators

Better Workflow for Online Coaching - Kevin Koskella

The Top 5% - Mike Arce51 min

capital

The Top 5% - Mike Arce

Seeker of Truth and Perpetual Student - Mike Bledsoe63 min

capital

Seeker of Truth and Perpetual Student - Mike Bledsoe

Narrow Your Niche...Then Do It Again - John Heagle30 min

operators

Narrow Your Niche...Then Do It Again - John Heagle

Mastering Video Content - Chris Perilli of Pixel Mobb26 min

capital

Mastering Video Content - Chris Perilli of Pixel Mobb

Chris Perilli

Your Website Fitness - Theresa Smith of For Time Design24 min

capital

Your Website Fitness - Theresa Smith of For Time Design

Theresa Smith

Mark Samuel - Think As BIG As Possible32 min

capital

Mark Samuel - Think As BIG As Possible

Mark Samuel

Becoming an Online "Fitness Influencer"33 min

capital

Becoming an Online "Fitness Influencer"

Greg Zuffelato - The Making of The "Busy Bar"35 min

capital

Greg Zuffelato - The Making of The "Busy Bar"

Greg Zuffelato

John Spencer Ellis - You Can't have an Elephant Mouth and a Hummingbird Ass50 min

capital

John Spencer Ellis - You Can't have an Elephant Mouth and a Hummingbird Ass

John Spencer Ellis

Matt Albrizio of Forever Fierce - Easy Money with Apparel Sales38 min

capital

Matt Albrizio of Forever Fierce - Easy Money with Apparel Sales

Matt Albrizio

(3) Dan John - The Path to Being a Legend - Little and Often, Over the Longhaul86 min

longevity

(3) Dan John - The Path to Being a Legend - Little and Often, Over the Longhaul

Voices in the conversation

From the conversations

How are the merger leaders approaching integration?

“And so we've been very, very cautious about integration for the sake of integration and have spent a lot of energy thinking about okay, how do we make sure we work really well together?”

Inside the $7.5B Merger Behind Mindbody, ClassPass and EGYM with Fritz Lanman & Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer · 7:33 ↗

What happened when Canarick's team combined fitness and diet through the Jenny Craig acquisition?

“Uh, we ended up buying Jenny Craig uh as part of that. And so we actually sort of brought in this we created this combined center trying to bring fitness and diet together under one roof. I'm I'm I'm not embarrassed to tell you it did not work.”

Jon Canarick, North Castle Partners, on Curves, Equinox, and GLP-1s in Fitness · 8:00 ↗

How does Ward describe capital introductions within his network?

“Or you're looking for capital. I know a guy like literally fits this family office model that you're talking about, and he knows other people. Can I connect you? Yeah, like who is he? Sends the link, there you go, off and running.”

The Assembly Founder Jon Ward on GLP-1s, Deal Flow and Fitness's Future · 21:21 ↗

THE FUTURE OF FITNESS NEWSLETTER

What I’m paying attention to.

Every week, I talk with founders, operators, investors and scientists across fitness, health and wellness, then share the ideas that stayed with me, the shifts worth watching and what they could mean for the industry.

Free, every week, plus our quarterly State of Fitness report. Leave anytime.