The Nick Bare Podcast

In today’s episode, Nick sits down with friend and Bryker and Co founder, Josh Holley to discuss raising capital and selling your business. The episode begins with Nick and Josh discussing how they met. They were training for a marathon together and Nick says that he learned a lot from training with Josh. A big part of Josh’s training was about learning restraint in his workouts and that was a big takeaway for Nick. When they started training together, Nick says Josh taught him a lot about business as well. Josh began his role in finance in the beginning of the recession in a restructuring firm. He thought he’d only be in the role for a couple years before transitioning back to a traditional finance role, however he stayed for seven years. He credits this time with accelerating learning and leading him to his current work of building finance and accounting into businesses. Even before you get into raising money Josh says you need to understand the cash needs of your business. Nick agrees, citing a personal story of his own business needs as an example. More than fifty percent of the time, even in well established businesses, leaders are looking at the bank account as the measure of health and success when financial statements tell a different story. Josh stresses the importance of accrual accounting, whether you’re trying to better understand the business, raise capital, or sell the business. Nick and Josh both agree that there are a lot of parallels between marathon running and business building because both require pacing and endurance. In the early days of growing your business, you may have small bank loans, but a large part of your revenue will come from friends and family. For these types of investments, Josh recommends a Safe Agreement. This will allow those close to you to invest in your business now and not discuss valuation until you get more traditional investors. Later, when you feel like your back is against the wall, this isn’t the time to raise equity, Josh says you should be looking to get creative and work with vendors and others to save money. Nick agrees, and adds that this is why relationship building is important to him and his business. For business owners, Nick and Josh recommend an accountant as one of your first hires. This will allow you to move to building the business not being stuck in the business. As you prepare to sell your business, there are a few things that will help you seem more desirable to buyers. This will be things like practicing accrual accounting, tracking sales tax and one time expenses, as well as implementing a board. If you don’t have these things in place there may be doubt in investors or buyers minds. Having all this in place can help you avoid earn out at closing. These things are an expense, certainly, but Nick and Josh say you’ll earn it back with investment or buy out. As the episode ends, Josh reminds listeners that when selling your business you have to keep the buyer in mind, and Nick stresses the importance of looking to the future rather than getting bogged down in the present. Timestamps: 0:00- Nick introduces the episode and today’s guest, Josh Holley. 3:14 - How Nick and Josh met. 8:11- Josh shares how he came to investment banking. 13:47 - Common business problems Josh sees in his work. 22:08 - Josh discusses how to better understand your business. 36:56 - Safe Agreement 48:34 - The importance of accounting 1:03:14 - How to get ready to sell your business. Links: Follow Josh Holley. Learn more about Nick Bare on his

In today’s episode, Nick speaks with Omar Crispy Avila, who joined the U.S. Army in 2004 as an Infantryman and deployed to Iraq in 2006. 11 months later, his vehicle was struck with a 200 pound IED, resulting in burns to 75% of his body and an amputation of his right leg. Over the past few years, he has made huge transformations and discovered his fulfilling life purpose to help other people through his stories.  Through his social media presence, Crispy portrays himself as a true, all American patriot. He expresses his love for America as a whole and the freedoms and opportunities the nation offers to so many. In this country, he is able to live his wildest dreams. Crispy came to America when he was just 7 years old and was granted citizenship during high school. In his home country of Mexico, citizens are not allowed to voice their opinions or own firearms to protect themselves.  Crispy recounts his experience watching the attacks of 9/11 live in school just after he became a U.S. citizen. This marked a defining moment of Crispy’s life when he knew he wanted to serve his country. He turned down a football scholarship to join the Army one month after graduation and was deployed to Iraq very soon after.  Crispy recounts a few attacks he experiences there, specifically the one of May 14th. Though he remembers feeling angry with God for letting his friends be killed, he was making his peace with him at this moment. Something inside of him told him to get up, that he wasn't going to die here today. With broken legs, third degree burns and partial blindness, Crispy was taken out of the area of attack. He was in an induced coma for 3 months and woke up in Houston to the news that his friend had died.  To date, Crispy has had a total of 105 surgeries. His doctors discovered cancer in his foot and brought in a specialist to take a look at it. Though they were able to remove it all, Crispy couldn't walk on his feet anymore. He pleaded with the doctor to have his leg amputated.  Crispy has not always been in the place he is today, and spent much of this aftermath in a very dark place. It was the loving people he surrounded himself with who made him the man he is today. He shares the story of connecting with Chris Kyle. Discussing vulnerabilities, Nick points out that opening up is the best way to instantaneously connect with others on a meaningful level. Crispy believes he is a better person today because he was finally able to put his pride aside and find the courage to ask for help.  Then, Crispy recounts the opportunity which led him to meeting and connecting with kids who also suffered from severe burns like his own. The organization Sons of the Flag helped him find his own calling in helping others. Sometimes people don’t need to hear advice, but just want to know that they aren’t alone. Crispy feels he gets more out of giving advice than anything he may get out of it. Crispy shares that while many people search for resilience, few really have it. Until you’re put in a situation, you’ll never know how you would react to it.  In closing, Crispy shares his experience undergoing stem cell therapy and the miraculous ways it has changed his life by relieving chronic pain. Sharing vulnerabilities is really what the world needs right now and Crispy is living proof of it.  Timestamps:  0:00 - Nick introduces the episode and today’s guest, Omar Crispy Avila. 2:10 - What does patrio

In today’s episode, Nick talks with ultra-endurance athlete Robbie Balenger about his accomplishments, recovery techniques, diet, and running career. While he has admired Robbie for some time, Nick met Robbie for the first time in Leadville when the two ran the Leadville 100.  Robbie had formerly completed the 2019 Transcontinental run, and his competition of the Leadville 100 was part of what he dubbed the ‘Colorado Crush” - a multi-month undertaking consisting of the Leadville trail series, the Colorado trail, and all fifty-eight Colorado peaks.     By way of background, Robbie shares that he spent a number of years in Austin before moving to his current city of Denver, CO.  He moved to Austin for family, but stayed for the fun, getting into the food and bar scene and spending a lot of time partying.  Eventually, though, Robbie started falling in love with running and endurance training, and he found that it provided a healthy form of the same elation he pursued through partying.  Seeing that partying didn’t help him be his best for his work, and finding in running a substitute for the physical boost partying gave, Robbie found himself more and more invested in the sport. His races quickly evolved -a half marathon led to a marathon, and then to an eighty-mile race.  About two and a half years after his first fifty-miler, Robbie was running the Transcontinental.  His move to Denver only deepened his drive to run, and transitioning to a plant-based diet aided his performance as an athlete.  Robbie’s aim in changing his diet was primarily to enhance his performance, but it also had a secondary grounding in concern for environmental health.  While Robbie is a committed advocate of plant-based eating, he also explains how people can care for environmental needs even without adopting his plant-based diet; for one thing, they can pay close attention to sourcing when purchasing and consuming meat. Even with rigorous training and a plant-based whole food diet, Robbie’s body was seriously challenged by the Transcontinental.  He dealt with hallucinations and paranoia, shin splints, tendonitis, and more.  But after the first month of running, his body adapted and the work became somewhat easier.  As he settled in and ran, he was able to do a lot of thinking; ultimately, Robbie feels that he came away from the race with a deepened sense of self-confidence, growth in trust of/reliance on others, and a clearer sense of how to define himself as a man. Shifting gears a bit, Nick asks Robbie to share about NuCalm, one of Robbie’s sponsors and a company Nick and his team are interested in exploring.  NuCalm offers a unique concept for recovery centered on the fact that recovery at base is rest.  It’s difficult during races to get good sleep, so Robbie decided to use NuCalm’s three-part system to enhance his sleep quality and foster cellular recovery during the Leadville 100.  He tried the system throughout the Colorado Crush, and continues to use it as part of his regular routine.  His results have been profound, and offer great possibilities for runners looking to boost recovery both during and after races.  Finally, Robbie shares about how cycling fits into

In today’s episode, Nick provides a recap from the recent Leadville 100 Ultramarathon, a race that was about “more than the miles” and required the contributions of the BPN team.  On August 21 and 22, Nick raced a distance of 100 miles through the Rocky Mountains, joining only about half of the participants in meeting the 30-hour time limit for completion.  With the help of the BPN team, Nick finished the race in 27 hours, 53 minutes, and 5 seconds, having faced 15,600 feet in elevation ascent and descent, high altitudes, and overall both a great and challenging race.  Now, he wants to share with listeners about the details of the race - talking about everything from checkpoints to nutrition strategy, ups and downs, and the role his teammates played in the competition.  Nick’s training began in the spring after he was chosen by lottery to be allowed entry in the race.  This training included not just preparation for mountain terrain, but training for elevation shifts.   The Monday before the race, he and several other BPN workers arrived confident in Leadville ready for more altitude training and trail reconnaissance (for both Nick and his team members who would be shooting film for a documentary expected out in October!).  Nick and his team built out a plan for the race, with each member having a specific role outlined.  Nick’s main role, himself, was to embrace the suck that would come with enduring the race.  On the day of the race, Nick was up at 2:30 am for breakfast, which consisted of a bagel and some BPN products - G1M and electrolytes; his ultimate goal was to build up his sodium and carbs.  He prepared himself mentally, got dressed in carefully chosen clothes, and loaded up about 100fl oz of water in his pockets.  The race had an exhilarating start at 4am, and Nick explains his steps crossing checkpoints, maintaining nutrition levels, making connections with his crew, and beginning to knock out the many miles of the course.  The course had 13 checkpoints over its 50 miles (traveled twice), and Nick had 7 drop bags placed at checkpoints where he would possibly if not certainly be unable to see his crew.  He shares with listeners about the meals he chose to maximize helpful calories and keep his fluid and electrolyte levels high, the short time windows he allotted for stops, and about his plans to handle GI issues and prevent issues with injury or weariness.  Nick also explains how he felt at different points in the race, and how he paced himself. Listeners will hear about Nick’s fall and bloodied hands, decision to refill water at a mountain stream, and shock at finding crew members at a mountain summit checkpoint.  They will also  hear about the toll the high altitude took as the end of the race drew near;  Nick found himself - with fresh shoes, a pacer, and only 38 miles to go - struggling to breathe.  He started to really feel the previous miles, and knew he just needed to get to the end.  He just needed to go one more.  And one more.  And one more.  Through a temperature drop, a bout of uncontrollable shaking, a transition to a new pacer, and

Nick kicks off the conversation with a brief introduction of Matthew and his tendency to be “as cool as the other side of the pillow”—acting quickly on the next practical step while maintaining calmness. Asking Matthew to share about his book, Green Lights, Nick appreciates Matthew’s ability to be present in the moment. Learn how this aspect of Matthew’s life has evolved over the course of his various achievements as he has learned the importance of putting his head down to work hard, rather than worrying about the minute-to-minute results. Listen to the importance of having “joy in the doing” and why you should stop anticipating the ending of things. Matthew shares how perspective and experience build maturity and wisdom, and how he fights against the addiction for immediate results and chasing false summits. The conversation shifts as Nick asks Matthew to share about false peaks and points in his own career—times when he felt like he couldn’t continue moving forward. Matthew shares about the importance of a balanced understanding of gratitude, and how complacency can lead to people living off the ‘glory days’ and looking in the rear view mirror for too long. Looking at a story Matthew shares in Green Lights, Nick asks him to chat about what roots him as a man with so much success. Listen in on having a value based life and taking a look at the history of time to see how nothing matters—and everything matters—all at the same time! Through belief, trust, and faith, Matthew works to perform his very best at the one shot he gets in this life! Having faith in yourself is important, but some level of doubt also proves helpful. Matthew tells us about moments where he doubted himself and why he works to process an understanding of why something succeeded or failed. Nick and Matthew both enjoy movement and running to freely process. Turning the conversation towards Hollywood, Nick asks Matthew about his view on expectations. Matthew’s surprising perspective of compartmentalization and going into everything with high expectations has helped him to trick himself to successfully stay in the chase. Why does Matthew dislike the term “unbelievable”? Diving deeper into this word, Matthew says we ought to give more credit to both the good and the bad when they occur—extending the bandwidth of what is believable and giving credit where it’s due. People have more capacity and internal power to self-determine than we give the credit for. In considering risk, Matthew says that the crucial denominator of going all in, and the importance of over-committing. Learn about the largest career risk he ever took and how he worked to challenge the vitality of his own life by un-branding. Nick asks about the most challenging role Matthew has held and how his need to be obsessed with every role he plays has impacted his family. They discuss the challenges of different genres and how he battles to keep integrity in his roles. As this episode draws to a close, listeners hear about Matthew’s ‘Less impressed, more involved’ motto and the unique community in Austin, Texas. Learn about the persona that Austin has and how they work to be trailblazers, marked by optimism and hospitality. Growth and change are happening, but the basic value systems are not changing. You can be who you want to be in Austin, TX! Thanks for tuning in and please remember to leave a review and share with a friend! Timestamps: 1:01 - Podcast introduction 1:43 - Matthew McConaughey welcomed on