In 2014 Derek Belch was working as a football coach at Stanford University while getting an MBA in business, but what he didn’t know at the time was that his Master’s thesis would change his life forever. This week we had the pleasure of speaking with Derek, founder and CEO of Strivr, and he had a lot of great stories, advice, and wisdom to pass on to current and aspiring entrepreneurs. You will get to hear how he went from a football coach to an extremely successful entrepreneur, as well as the challenges he faced along the way. Today Derek leads a team of 140 employees and his customers include Walmart, JetBlue, and Verizon. Strivr was named one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces of 2019 and it was on the list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2020. In this episode of the podcast we explore: How Strivr was started and where the company is today What it was like raising money for the business and the biggest lesson Derek learned about the process The impact Covid-19 has had on the company How Derek manages his time as a husband, father, successful business owner, and CEO Derek’s advice for people considering entrepreneurship The biggest challenges he faced when starting his business