This is a post by Jesse Pujji. Jessi a serial entrepreneur that lives in the US. He has:
- Bootstrapped to an 8-figure exist with his previous startup, Ampush
- Is currently building GatewayX, a venture studio that he plans to bootstrap to $1B+
- Executive Chairman & Founder of GrowthAssistant.com
- ex-McKinsey Consultant
Guest Author: Jesse Pujji
He’s a former Navy SEAL who accidentally turned a $39 jiujitsu belt into $100M+ business.
What’s even crazier?
The idea came to him while on a top-secret mission in Southeast Asia.
Buckle up for this one 👇👇👇
1/ In the mid-90s, Randy Hetrick (a U.S. Navy SEAL commander) was deployed on an extended mission in Southeast Asia.
With time to kill, Randy & his SEAL teammates faced a unique challenge…
2/ They needed a way to stay in shape WITHOUT access to a gym or equipment.
Scrambling to find a solution, Randy realized he mistakenly packed his jiujitsu belt from home.
3/ With a spark of creativity, Randy tied a knot in the belt, threw it over a door, and began using it for bodyweight exercises.
It looked odd, but it worked.
4/ SO well that the rest of his squadron began asking him to make them in exchange for cases of beer.
It was getting popular, but Randy could have never predicted what would happen next…
5/ After a 14-year career as a SEAL, he left & enrolled at Stanford.
While there, he snuck into the athletics facilities to workout instead of at the campus gym.
”I would be in there training with straps & every coach would ask me if I could make straps for their team” Randy said.
6/ Pretty soon, everyone on campus – from 300lb linemen to female tennis players 1/3 their size – was using them.
TRX was born.
But Randy ran into a major roadblock…
7/ Nobody knew what “suspension training” was.
“Weight training without weights? It’s not a rubber band? So if it doesn’t have weights and it doesn’t stretch, how does it work?”
Then, a miracle happened…
8/ NFL All-Pro Quarterback Drew Brees posted on Instagram using TRX bands during a workout.
The floodgates opened…
Pretty soon, they couldn’t keep up with demand.
9/ Fueled by this momentum, Randy went all-in on turning TRX into a global fitness phenomenon.
By leveraging influencers & other growth channels like:
• Trainer partnerships
• International expansion
• Marine Corps training programs
No one could stop them.
10/ In 2011, Inc. magazine named TRX one of the Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies.
They had grown to 1M+ customers in 60 countries JUST 5 YEARS after launch!!
And by 2014, TRX was generating nearly $50 million in annual revenue.
11/ Today, TRX has become a household name.
They offer 100s of different SKUs and it’s estimated that they do $200M+ / yr in revenue.
TRX straps have even become a staple in training for ~95% of pro sports teams across the NFL, NBA, AND MLB.
12/ I love this story, b/c it’s a reminder that you should:
1) Innovate from necessity, not creativity: TRX was created to solve a real problem.
2) Validate quickly: Randy made his prototypes with a jujitsu belt.
3) Nail positioning: Randy sold TRX as “a gym in your backpack.
13/ If you enjoyed this, follow me for stories like this weekly!
