Starting a business from nothing is brutal. Getting anyone to pay attention to you in the first place, then to part with cash for some product they've never heard of, then to deliver on that product is crushingly difficult.

Also, getting anyone to believe in you and work for you or invest money into your schemes is equally difficult.

Ben Crookston of Train Heroic has spent the last few years doing all of these things – and doing them successfully.

A few years back, Ben, Josh (one of the co-founders of Train Heroic) and I would travel deep into Southern Illinois on weekends and give continuing education seminars to high school teachers – sort of as a starting point for marketing Train Heroic.

Josh would always sleep on the floor in our hotel because he's a freak.

Now, Train Heroic is probably best known within the CrossFit community for The Barbell WOD. This is where Dave Spitz of Cal Strength shares programming for weightlifting with the intention of getting CrossFit athletes exposure to some true progression in their snatch and clean & jerk.

Train Heroic originally started as a more prescriptive entity – giving pre-packaged programming and coaching to high school and college sports teams that needed it. However, over the course of their development, they realized that they had more power as a platform for coaches to share their programming and philosophy than as an entity prescribing reps and sets from above.

Now, coaches can develop their program in the Train Heroic marketplace, and athletes can receive coaching and programming from some of the top names in the business for a monthly fee.

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Learn More About Ben & Train Heroic

Show Notes

  • [1:16] Why did Ben start Train Heroic and what is it?
  • [4:18] Who is Ben Crookston?
  • [9:33] How Ben handles people that are not internally motivated.
  • [13:26] Techniques Ben uses to make goals clear and help people understand what they actually want.
  • [18:21] How Ben differentiates between outcome goals and actions goals.
  • [21:02] Ben talks about where Train Heroic started and where it is going.
  • [25:45] Who are some of the coaches offering programming on Train Heroic?
  • [27:30] Ben explains what creating and developing at start-up is like.
  • [34:26] How Ben got people to invest in his start up?
  • [38:10] Ben explains what it's like running a start-up and how's the work/life balance?
  • [43:40] What books are you reading and what sources do you pull frameworks from?
  • [49:26] What's next for Train Heroic?