Framework
Stack wins to compound confidence (Tim Grover's Winning)
Nick cites Tim Grover's book Winning: each win, however small, builds a little confidence, so you set a larger goal, win that, and repeat. Over years the compounding leaves you believing you can do anything.
“but in Tim Grover's book Winning, he talks about achieving your first win. And when you achieve that first win, no matter what it is, it builds this little ounce of confidence. So then you set out to achieve another win, but that win is larger and more ambitious, and it requires more work, more effort. But when you finally get it, builds more confidence and you keep applying this thing over years and years and years”
Steal thisSequence goals so each completed one is slightly more ambitious than the last to compound your confidence.
Take
You don't need 2 hours a day — 45-60 min split is plenty
Nick says the biggest fitness misconception for busy entrepreneurs is needing an hour of running plus an hour of lifting. He argues 45-60 minutes a day split between strength and endurance gets a really solid workout.
“I think most people think that they need to spend like an hour running a day and an hour strength training a day. So everyone thinks they have to spend like 2 hours training a day. I think you could easily split that 45 minutes to an hour a day split between strength and endurance training and get like a really, really solid workout.”
Framework
The 80/20 cardio split: mostly zone 2, some HIIT
Nick's prescription for cardiovascular conditioning: 70-80% in aerobic zone 2/3 (walking, hiking, jogging) to build an aerobic base, and 20-30% high-intensity interval work (Barry's, SoulCycle, sprints) to raise the lactate threshold.
“So like, I'd say a split between, you probably want just talking about cardiovascular conditioning, 70 to 80% of that training being your aerobic zone, whether that's zone 2, zone 3, which is like lighter. So you're walking, hiking, jogging, something like that. And then 20 to 30% of your cardiovascular conditioning is more HIIT.”
Steal thisSpend 70-80% of your cardio in easy zone 2 and only 20-30% on hard intervals.
Story
Nick's marathon arc: from a 3:57 'dumpster fire' to 2:39 at 195 lbs
Nick details his progression: a 3:57 first marathon as a 225-lb bodybuilder with no program, then internet trolls doubting his sub-3 goal, a blown-up 3:24 attempt, then 2:56, 2:48, and finally 2:39:20 (6:05/mile) at 195 lbs in December 2023.
“Actually did a real prep this time, had a really solid coach, Jeff Cunningham, and I ended up running a marathon a year later in 2 hours, 56 minutes, 27 seconds. So that was the first time I went sub-3. Then a year later, I did the Buffalo, New York Marathon in 2:48, and then just recently, December 3rd, 2023, I ran a 2:39:20, which is a 6:05 per mile pace.”
Take
Nick built a $60M brand on gut, not the P&L
Nick says he made most BPN business decisions on intuition — never looking at the P&L or balance sheet, just spending and hiring when he felt momentum — until he hired a CFO and CEO to put guardrails around it.
“I never looked at the P&L. I never looked at the balance sheet. If I had this feeling that it was working and I could feel momentum and I had a pulse on it, I was just like, keep, keep spending, keep hiring. Then finally, at one point, I, I hired operators, a CFO, a CEO, and they're like, hey, we got to put some, some guardrails around this.”
Number
Nick's training app costs $19.99/month
Nick prices his Nick Bare Fitness training app at $19.99 a month, and notes he makes much more money outside BPN than he personally makes from the supplement company.
$19.99
App subscription price · USD/month
“It's $19.99 a month.”
Story
Nick took zero money out of BPN for its first 5 years
Nick ran BPN cash-flow poor: no draw for the first 5 years. 2017, when he left the Army and hit his first 7-figure revenue year, was the hardest of his life — he knew nothing about financing inventory, leveraging debt, or supplier terms, so cash flow was a nightmare.
“It was the first year we hit 7 figures in revenue. And it was also like the most challenging year of my entire life because I didn't know anything about financing inventory. I didn't know anything about leveraging debt. I didn't know anything about taking out business loans or utilizing lines of credit. Cash flow was an absolute nightmare. The only money I thought I had to spend was the money that was in the bank account. We had no terms with manufacturers.”
Story
Soldier-YouTuber bootstrapped a supplement brand from $20K to 8 figures
Nick Bare started Bare Performance Nutrition in college in 2012 knowing nothing about business, joined the Army, completed Ranger School, and used social media to scale the brand. He went from $20,000 in first-year revenue to a track for 8 figures.
“Started it in 2012, I was studying nutrition. I started Bear Performance Nutrition, which is a sports nutrition dietary supplement company, knowing absolutely nothing about business and thinking that I knew it all.”
Story
One 'Day in the Life' video added 50K subscribers in 30 days
Nick Bare's YouTube channel crept along for two years, then a single 'Day in the Life of an Infantry Platoon Leader' video hit a million views and pulled in 50,000 subscribers in a month, taking him from 30K to 80K.
“that million view video gained me like 50,000 subscribers in 30 days. So my channel went from 30,000 to 80,000 in like a month.”
Steal thisDocument a niche, hard-to-access part of your life on camera; authenticity in an untapped niche converts views to subscribers far better than generic content.
Fact
Build the product first, then manufacture demand
Most creators build an audience and then ask how to monetize it. Nick Bare did the reverse: he launched the supplement company in 2012, realized he had supply and no demand, then started building social media in 2014 specifically to create demand for what he already sold.
“Well, I created the company first, so I created my supply first and then I realized, okay, well, I have no demand for the supply. How do I create demand? So 2014 is when I started building social media platforms out.”
Story
Three flat years at $20K before the supplement brand took off
Nick assumed sending free pre-workout to fitness YouTubers would drive sales, but launch day brought essentially zero. The company did $20K in revenue in years one, two, and three with no growth before it eventually scaled to 8 figures.
“So year 1 was $20,000 in revenue after just offering like 50% off discounts all the time to start, because I had bills to pay. Year 2 was $20,000 in revenue. Year 3 was $20,000 in revenue. So there's no growth first 3 years”
Number
Supplement contribution margin: ~60% after COGS and shipping
Nick Bare says his supplement products run roughly 60% profit margins after cost of goods and shipping, before payroll and marketing overhead.
$60
Gross/contribution margin on supplements after COGS and shipping · percent
“Yeah, we can have roughly 60% profit margins.”
Story
South Korea deployment: 5x revenue in 90 days by cutting all leisure
On a 9-month rotation in South Korea making $2-3K/month, Nick banned himself from TV and movies, taught himself marketing, video editing, and coding, and rebranded the company. Within 90 days revenue went from $2K to $10K a month.
“Every waking moment outside of work with the military was going to be spent learning how to market, how to create videos, how to edit. I taught myself how to code a website. I read books, listened to podcasts. And within the first 90 days of being in South Korea, we went from $2,000 a month in revenue to $10,000 a month in revenue.”
Story
Growing 750% created a cash-flow trap: sell out in a week, wait 11
After growing 750% in 2017, Nick had to pay for inventory upfront with 12-week lead times. He'd sell out in 5-7 days then wait 11 weeks for restock, constantly out of stock and starved for cash despite being profitable.
“I would get that inventory in, I would sell out of it in 5 to 7 days, and then it would be 11 weeks until I had more inventory. So we were constantly out of inventory, we were pissing off all of our customers. Cash flow was like, I was pulling my hair out at night”
Story
Growing 750% created a cash-flow trap: sell out in a week, wait 11
After growing 750% in 2017, Nick had to pay for inventory upfront with 12-week lead times. He'd sell out in 5-7 days then wait 11 weeks for restock, constantly out of stock and starved for cash despite being profitable.
“I would get that inventory in, I would sell out of it in 5 to 7 days, and then it would be 11 weeks until I had more inventory. So we were constantly out of inventory, we were pissing off all of our customers. Cash flow was like, I was pulling my hair out at night”
Number
An upsell experiment became the best seller: 8,000 units/month of greens
Nick added Strong Greens to his sports-nutrition line expecting it to be just an upsell. It quickly became the brand's best seller, moving 8,000 units a month, as the health/wellness side of the business outgrew the original sports-nutrition core.
$8K
Strong Greens units sold per month · units/month
“Well, it quickly became our best seller and we'll sell through 8,000 units a month of Strong Greens.”