Categories: Articles

If You're In Business, You Need To Watch This CrossFit Documentary

Surfing across Apple TV, I came across something that you should watch this weekend.

Let me take a step back. Around 2000, I had heard about this crazy website, where a well-respected trainer was trying to completely disrupt the fitness space. It was called CrossFit. Every day, they would post on a blog a workout of the day. At first, it was criticized and ridiculed by many pundits in the industry. Any serious trainer would use more professional gear and would never post this type of proprietary system online for free. A lot of the gear was stuff that you might have lying around in your garage. What were they thinking?

Have you check out the business of CrossFit lately?

People are quick to point to Apple and Amazon as these untouchable beacons of corporate perfection, but spend some time looking at CrossFit. From how they disrupted the industry to how they communicate and connect with consumers. It is a master class in understanding the powerful connection between business success and marketing. My dear friend, Jeffrey Hayzlett, has a great television show on Bloomberg called, C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett, where he create mini-documentaries on interesting companies and speaks to the owners, customers and employees to see what makes them tick. This episode isn’t a new one . It just happens to be 30 minute business documentary that I watched with amazement the other night and it’s something that you should watch and share as well.

It is inspiring. My hope is that it inspires you as well…

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.