Episode 26

The Dark Side of Athletic Competition

Hosted by Alex Smith, Ravi Gupta, Shane Battier

02.20.2025

Who are you competing against? Diving into personal stories and insights, Alex, Shane, and Ravi examine the evolution from external to internal motivation across different phases of life and careers. Their competitive drives are on full display, from Shane’s fear of an unknown competitor to Alex tracking his Elite 11 peers in high school. The conversation takes an introspective turn as they discuss parenting, the challenges of transitioning from pro sports to business careers, and the importance of defining what game you're really playing. The Glue Guys give an honest look into how top performers think about finding purpose beyond competition and the value of being intentional about your goals.

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Show Notes:

(00:00:00) Learn About Ramp

(00:03:15) Defining Success: Internal vs External Competition

(00:05:44) High School Rivalries and the Drive to Prove Oneself

(00:07:42) The Evolution of Competition: From Peers to Self

(00:11:39) The Fear of the Unknown: A Powerful Motivator

(00:23:22) Adapting to Change: The Journey of an Aging Athlete

(00:37:12) Fatherhood and Internal Motivation

(00:39:17) The Unique Path and Role Models

(00:42:21) The Impact of External Motivators

(00:49:02) Parenting and Internal Motivation

(00:54:23) Defining Personal Goals and Competition

(01:00:28) The Power of Visualization and Goals

Show notes

02.20.2025

Hosted by Alex Smith, Ravi Gupta, Shane Battier

Show notes

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Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast

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Introduction

Shane
We are back. New setup. So impressed by the organization of the Glue Guys, the evolution.

Alex
We're leveling up, Shane. Leveling up.

Ravi
2025.

Shane
What's next? Hologram? Give me a hologram to be with you guys and then I will be thoroughly impressed.

Ravi
It's coming. There's no stopping AI Shane. At some point we're going to be in the metaverse and it's happening.

Alex
That's our next growth round. That's our Series C. We're not quite there yet. We're still early on.

Ravi
We're bootstrapped.

Shane
The feedback I get from our podcast is that you guys seem such good friends. You're super close and we are, but we're bi-coastal.

Ravi
On the setup, I'm actually pretty optimistic if this is like the new base case. Because if two of us are together, we were always worried that it was going to make the other one not on equal footing. We got Battier on a huge TV, basically life size right now. The setup works very well with what we got.

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The Dark Side of Athletic Competition

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