Mentality of a Champion 💪 🏆
Having wrestled in front of arenas from an early age, Ben is no stranger to the bright lights. He carried this mentality with him into the UFC, reveling in the big moments.
- Practice makes perfect: Ben had competed on big stages hundreds of times before getting into the UFC. Whether sports or business, getting reps in and doing something over and over is critical to success. This gave Ben the confidence to embrace big moments. He seldom felt nervous for big fights — in fact, he embraced them.
- Book recommendation: Mastery by Robert Greene. The book examines the lives of historical and contemporary leaders, and examines what led to their success. “You’re not mastering a skill, you are mastering getting great.”
- Superstition: “Superstition is another word for fear”. Ben doesn’t believe in relying on superstition and rituals for success.
- Embrace failure: In June 2019, Ben suffered the fastest KO in UFC history. Far from hiding from the embarrassing defeat, Ben has embraced it and even laughs about it today. He believes authenticity is critical for any brand, and embracing embarrassment is no different.
- Business failure: When confronted with failure in business, you can: 1) double down, 2) pivot, or 3) innovate.
- Three types of people: 1) The dabbler — does a bunch of things, but quits easily; 2) The stressor-achievers — achieves success, but has to grind it out; 3) The master — achieves success, but understands the road is difficult and embraces the journey.
Ben Askren: The Businessman 🤼 ➡️ 💼
Ben started his business career in 2011 with the opening of his first wrestling academy. Today his company, AWA, owns 5 gyms and Ben believes they will be the largest wrestling academy in the US within 3 years. Since retiring, Ben’s become a big voice within the crypto community.
- Numbers: AWA gyms do between $200k to $300k in sales each. Since they focus on young students, school times limit the gyms’ operating schedules.
- UFC: Although Ben made around $200k per fight, for most fighters MMA doesn’t provide a good living. Due to the UFC’s near monopoly on the sport, fighters are left with little negotiating power.
- Crypto: After retiring, Ben has emerged as a big proponent and investor in cryptocurrencies — he believes it’ll continue to disrupt numerous industries.
- Rewarding early adaptors: The hardest part about building a company can be gaining early adaptors. Companies like Rokfinare looking to make it easy to reward these first users by rewarding them via crypto. Your first customer is way more valuable than your one millionth.
- Examples: Rewarding early adopters is nothing new. Some companies that have done this in some form include: Juno (ridesharing that gave initial drivers tokens); Jet.com (rewarded early users for making referrals — with one early user make $20m); Ben & Jerry (raised money via a “local IPO”); and Sam Adams (who raised $90m from customers).
- IPO for athletes?: Athletes like Spencer Dinwiddie have begun selling “shares” in their potential career earnings to the public. Ben is skeptical of the practice and isn’t sure if he would have done it himself while an active athlete.
Ben’s Books 📚
Ben’s committed to reading 25 books this year — he’s already read 23. Here are some of the best he’s read so far:
- 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
- What You do is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz
- Power of a Moment by Dan Heath and Chip Heath
- The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zuckerman