Driving Force Podcast

Today’s guest is Isaiah Kacyvenski. Isaiah’s diverse background includes earning two degrees from Harvard, playing in the National Football League for 8 years in between, and achieving success as an experienced entrepreneur and investor. Perhaps what’s most impressive about Isaiah’s background though has to do with where he started from. Isaiah grew up in Endicott, NY where at times he grew up homeless and without food with his parents. His rise from poverty led him to becoming a subject of an NFL Films profile that received an Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Long Feature, and was also featured on an Oprah Winfrey show titled "Why They Beat the Odds". Following his NFL Career, Isaiah acted as Global Head of Business Development at MC10 and co-founded the premier sports tech research and advisory firm, Sports Innovation Lab. Immediately prior to founding Will Ventures, Isaiah was the Managing Partner at Blue Star Innovation Partners, where he led the firm’s sports technology investment practice. Today, Isaiah serves as Managing Partner of Will Ventures, a venture capital investment fund focused on sports technology and the massive, adjacent market opportunities that it opens up (human performance, health and wellness, media and entertainment, eSports, and more). In this interview, we dive deep into Isaiah’s time growing up in poverty, his journey to Harvard and playing in the NFL, perspectives on drive and managing setbacks, and all things Will Ventures. We could have talked for 3 hours, and due to time constraints we couldn’t touch on everything, but I promise part 2 is in the works.

Timestamps

00:03:06 Growing up in poverty in Endicott, NY

00:07:33 Both his parents grew up in orphanages

00:11:49 What homelessness looked like for him and his family

00:15:02 The impact of his mother's death on him

00:23:42 Why he feels there's always something big to accomplish

00:26:02 The impact his father has had on his life

00:30:29 When and why he started playing football

00:35:19 When he realized he could make a career out of football

00:41:08 How not making his high school varsity football team changed the course of his life

00:42:44 Journey to Harvard and playing in the NFL

00:52:53 Overview of Will Ventures

00:55:36 The democratization of sports tech and the importance of strong founding teams

00:58:24 A few of their portfolio companies

01:02:48 His driving force

01:04:12 Parting words of wisdom around getting through tough times

Today’s guest is Kyle Robidoux. Kyle is an avid skier, runner, local beer enthusiast, and non-profit manager who has worked tirelessly to ensure that he is not defined by the boundaries that others place on him and his vision. Born in Massachusetts and raised in Maine, Kyle was diagnosed at age 11 with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative eye disease that first affects your night vision and often leads to complete blindness. He was declared legally blind at 19. His decreasing vision is far from the only obstacle he has had to battle throughout his life. He has struggled with binge eating for much of life, and in 2010 was close to 250 lbs and having a hard time playing with his young daughter. This provided him the motivation to take up running. It first started as a walk. Now, Kyle has now completed over 25 marathons and ultramarathons, including five Boston Marathons and three 100-mile races. In the summer of 2018, Kyle, with the support of his sighted guides, completed the grueling six-day, 120-mile Transrockies Run, which includes over 23,000 feet of elevation gain. He’s also focused his professional career on building community and works as a Director at the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. In this interview, we get into the impact his eye disease had on his youth, his experience as a blind father, the inspiration to take up running, and all things training and ultra-running.

Timestamps

00:03:00 Adjusting to the pandemic

00:08:57 Dealing with his eye disease growing up

00:18:10 Deciding on whether or not to have kids

00:20:37 Unhealthy reaction to his eye disease

00:24:03 Decision to start running

00:30:18 Running with sighted guides

00:32:42 Using running as a way to raise awareness

00:35:06 Weekly training schedule

00:40:38 His first ultra

00:43:23 Racing different distances

00:47:31 What he does for fun

00:49:16 What he does for work

00:55:52 What he really wants to accomplish in the next two years

00:57:43 His daily routine

00:58:42 His driving force

00:59:26 Advice for people looking to get in better shape

Today’s guest is Christian Graugart. Christian is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, author, and founder of BJJ Globetrotters. BJJ Globetrotters is the world’s largest BJJ affiliation (of which I’m a member) with over 750 academies and over 21,000 members on the community’s Facebook page. The BJJ Globetrotters 5-7 day long training camps have become some of the most sought after fixtures on the jiu-jitsu calendar – they’re hosted everywhere from the Austrian Alps to the Arizona desert and the tropical island of Saint Barts. The mission of the community is simple: To continue spreading the message of a non-political, open minded and positive approach to training and life. Christian is originally from Denmark but currently lives in Saint Barts in the Caribbean. He started grappling in 1999, and in 2010 took an around the world trip to train Brazilian jiu-jitsu in as many places as possible. It took him to 56 academies around the globe in 140 days. It was this life-changing experience that led him to writing a book about the trip and eventually starting BJJ Globetrotters. In this interview, we get into Christian's martial arts background, the early days of jiu-jitsu in Europe, his around the world trip, and all things BJJ Globetrotters.

Timestamps

00:02:55 Growing up in Denmark

00:04:30 Martial arts journey before jiu-jitsu

00:07:43 Discovering and starting jiu-jitsu

00:09:55 Training and competing in jiu-jitsu before his trip

00:13:51 Inspiration for his around the world jiu-jitsu trip

00:18:38 The around the world trip

00:24:37 Biggest takeaways from the trip

00:27:20 Returning from the trip

00:30:13 Inspiration for BJJ Globetrotters

00:33:55 BJJ Globetrotters community and camps

00:44:37 Moving to Saint Barts

00:47:00 Living in Saint Barts

00:49:00 Fascination with natural disasters

00:50:22 His contribution to jiu-jitsu

00:54:40 The day he got his black belt

00:55:55 His favorite submission

00:57:55 His daily routine

01:02:33 His driving force

01:03:39 He doesn't want to be anyone's life coach

Today’s guest is Cameron Shayne. Cameron is the Founder and Director of Budokon and is considered the father and founder of mixed movement arts. Cameron pioneered the phrase and concept of BDK Mixed Movement Arts by combining Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Yoga, Crawling Patterns, Mobility, Calisthenics, and Cognitive Studies into a single black belt system known as Budokon. Cameron describes movement as a way of examining mind, and believes practicing Budokon can be an excellent way to facilitate self-transformation and self-discovery by breaking down a person’s false constructs of self. Cameron began studying Martial Arts and Zen meditation at the age of 12, and yoga asana training at 25. He has black belts in both Karate and Taekwondo, as well as his Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu under the Gracie System. He’s also the movement coach for the Bellator world champion Lovato Jr. fight team as well as artists & entertainers Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn, Slash, Courtney Cox, Rene Russo, Meg Ryan and Jennifer Aniston as well as Olympians Kerrie Walsh-Jennings and Sugar Ray Leonard. In this interview, we go into his upbringing and what got him interested in martial arts and yoga. We discuss his experience working as a bodyguard for Charlie Sheen and the lessons he took from that experience. We touch on plant medicine, instant fame, and self-discovery. And of course, delve deep into Budokon and movement.

Timestamps

00:03:02 Intro

00:06:17 Upbringing and technology's impact on self-discovery

00:11:13 Observational quotes and statements

00:14:31 The tool doesn't make the user

00:18:20 Sports and martial arts growing up

00:27:53 Yoga and meditation

00:30:05 Being Charlie Sheen's bodyguard

00:40:06 Plant medicine and psychotropics

00:48:45 Hollywood film industry and "Insta-fame"

00:56:00 Inspiration to start Budokon

01:03:38 His objective with Budokon

01:11:21 Knowing a person by knowing their movement

01:13:19 Budokon's holistic approach to movement

01:16:10 Budokon for longevity

01:21:23 Following intuition vs wanting to be convinced

01:31:00 Negative effects of excessive sitting

01:35:57 His daily routine

01:38:39 His driving force

01:42:35 Parting words of wisdom for the athlete listening

Today’s guest is Michael Buckley. Michael is the co-founder and CEO of Cadence, an event experience software platform for event organizers and most importantly, their audience. In his previous role at another enterprise software company, Michael realized that it seemed like the most amount of positive impact they were having with their customers was on the events side. After conversations with others at the company who were also very passionate about events, him and some other employees decided to split off and form their own company focused solely on events. Now, they’re aiming for the word Cadence to become synonymous with event experiences. Apart from Cadence, Michael also has some great perspective and thoughts on fitness and wellness to thrive in business. His daily routine is one that many would not picture for a software startup founder and CEO. In this interview, we discuss the impact the current pandemic situation has had on his business and the industry, when his passion for events really started to kick in, the jobs he held pre-Cadence and how those experiences led to the founding of Cadence, and of course, all things Cadence and event management.

Timestamps

00:02:47 Pandemic's impact on his business and the industry

00:13:05 When did his passion for events start to kick in

00:14:30 Does he consider himself a born entrepreneur?

00:15:39 College experience

00:18:00 The interview that changed his career outlook

00:20:11 First couple jobs after college

00:27:08 Impact of Great Recession on his career trajectory

00:28:30 Job where the "aha" moment occurred

00:32:09 Tipping point to start Cadence

00:39:57 Overview of Cadence

00:44:59 How they differentiate themselves from competitors

00:46:15 Culture at Cadence

00:54:39 Fundraising

00:59:22 What keeps him up at night

01:00:40 Ultimate vision for Cadence

01:01:46 Thoughts on fitness and wellness to thrive in business

01:03:00 His daily routine

01:06:00 His driving force

01:07:28 Advice for people thinking about starting a business