Tracy Benson is the CEO and co-founder of Obsesh, the sports marketplace platform connecting consumers to top athletes, and empowering athlete entrepreneurs to manage, merchandise, market, and monetize their fans online. Previously she was Global Chief Marketing Officer at Seek Thermal, Global Chief Marketing & Product Officer at Monster Inc. (maker of Beats by Dre and Monster headphones), Head of Marketing at Best Buy, Hyper-Growth Market leader at The Home Depot (where she developed the first athlete-work program for Olympians) and Sales & Marketing Manager at AT&T. Tracy was an All-Conference NCAA volleyball athlete at Western Illinois University before becoming a professional beach volleyball player. She earned an MBA in Marketing & Finance from the University of Notre Dame.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Steve Kerr American basketball coach
When business started difficulties overcame:
“the biggest thing I had to overcome starting up Obsesh was actually my own hurdles. I need to have some sort of validation for myself that this was a problem that still wasn’t being solved… So, the biggest thing I had to do was really look at this and say what am I willing to risk? What am I willing to give up? And how important was this mission? And I think it was the first time in my 15 to 18 years of career… that it was really about a personal mission that I felt needed to be solved and I had the skills and know-how to do it ”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- Steve Kerr: Lead with Love: How Steve Kerr Turned the Golden State Warriors Into the NBA’s Most Dominant Team Book by Jackson Carter
- Jeff Bezos 100 Lessons Leaned (cannot find the book)
- High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups From 10 to 10,000 People book by Elad Gil
Favourite Quote:
- “Nothing replaces hard work” Gary Vee
- “Stop hanging around people who don’t want to win”
- “It’s easy to dream but it’s much harder to execute” Gary Vee
Recommended Online Resources:
- Podcasts
- The a16z Andreessen Horowitz Podcast discusses tech and culture trends, news, and the future — especially as ‘software eats the world’. It features industry experts, business leaders, and other interesting thinkers and voices from around the world.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“Fear can kill growth. You can’t be afraid, stay focused, understand your why, put your story out there, don’t let fear get in the way. Your job is to solve a problem as an entrepreneur. Don’t give up to early. Rarely is it a honeymoon other ride rarely but if you have got your purpose and you understand your story keep telling that story keep focused on that story. The journey of how you will solve your problem is going to change because we are in this changing environment”…[Listen for More]
More About Tracy Benson:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
Other Quotes From the Chat with Tracy Benson:
- “I can also appreciate the grit and resilience it takes to get through it. And most often those entrepreneurs that I really respect are the ones that have failed a lot and then figured it out”
- “I learn everything new every day. I believe we all in this company become smarter every single day. I talked all of the time to my team like oh my gosh we are smarter this week about this one point than we were last week because we experienced it, we tried it, we tested it, we understood what was working and what wasn’t working”
- “I think in a start-up the secret to success really comes down to making sure you are solving a problem that needs to be solved. If you are not solving a problem everything else could be a fad… If you’re not solving the problem, you’ve run a really big risk on being an entrepreneur that can sustain and have a business that can grow over time. And I see it all of the time with entrepreneurs”
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