Ever since I started TCU TV (can you believe we’re 25 episodes in with 5 more recorded?) I’ve known that I wanted to eventually start a second podcast where I could interview all of the interesting people I know outside of BMX. So today I’m happy to present the first episode of No Jumper in which I interview Ryan Denehey. You may not know who Ryan is (unless you remember late 2000’s action sports website „BNQT“) but he’s an unbelievably successful young entrepreneur who has started and sold a couple of different businesses to some high profile firms, namely Gannett and Groupon. Hopefully some of you reading this will take some inspiration and use it to start something.
If you enjoyed this interview, follow No Jumper on Soundcloud, iTunes and Twitter to keep up on future episodes.
https://soundcloud.com/nojumper-1
00:30 Ryan tells us his story of starting out making videos in the bike world
06:00 We talk about dealing with rejection and failure as an entrepreneur and how to fight through it
10:15 „If you’re not completely embarrassed by your first attempt at whatever it is you’re trying to do, you’re not trying hard enough“
15:03 We talk about working for free and when you should be willing to take on an unpaid internship
19:25 Are you a person with a lack of regard for tradition and is that a key trait for entrepreneurs?
27:30 Let’s talk about BNQT, what the original idea and how did it almost fail?
38:00 How BNQT became The Come Up’s first ad network back in the day
40:20 Why did you end up selling BNQT to USA Today?
46:25 „Oftentimes when people have their first big success, they stop doing what made them successful in the first place“
50:22 Let’s talk about your most recent start up, Swarm
53:30 „Very few people actually want to give up trivial things to go after much bigger dreams“
55:25 How Nas became an investor in Swarm
59:25 How did you feel when you realized Groupon were making an offer to buy you?
1:04:40 We talk about what our days are like and how we manage to be productive
1:10:50 Do you still feel like you have companies you’re going to start up in the future?
1:12:50 We talk about Ryan’s blog and his new book he’s working on
Check out Ryan’s blog here: http://www.deneheyxxl.com
and follow him on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/denehyxxl
