Why I Never Took Outside Capital
Owning the risk forced a level of execution I couldn’t fake
“The single greatest decision I’ve ever made in business:
Putting real, belt cinching skin in the game.
No investors.
No trust fund.
No outlet.
My own capital.
Nothing drives urgency, quality, & execution like knowing that if you shit the bed, you’re in serious trouble.”
-Ray Zingler on X
When I was a kid I always had this goal of making $100,000 “when I grew up”.
That 6-figures they always talked about.
It was considered “making it”, at least in the upper middle-class part of the country I was raised in.
And in my 3rd year of business at 21-years-old, operating in my (parents) basement gym with hand-me-down equipment, I reached my goal.
I beat my goal I was thinking I could possibly achieve in my 40s, by like 25 years.
Things were great and I felt like I was doing the damn thing.
But I also remember feeling like I was stealing, because deep down I knew I didn’t have much skin in the game other than the time I was putting in.
I remember the next year going to buy my first house.
I had the money to put down 20%, but $35,000, in one swift punch?
Because I didn’t have the maturity or understanding of how mortgages worked, I played it safe and went the FHA route.
And I paid the penalties, too (higher rates, PMI, etc.)
But then I noticed as I took more risk, I received greater rewards, (putting down the initial 17.5% bought down my interest rate and got rid of the PMI.)
It was scary at first, but I took the leap.
Next came the need to relocate Zingler Strength.
My parents basement I was grateful for was maxed out.
I needed to buy AND upgrade another location.
Remember that $100,000 goal, I thought I was going to reach in my 40s?
At 25, I now needed to put that much down to keep my business going.
Ouch.
At that time in my life, it was a massive number to just stroke a check on.
It scared the shit out of me.
It kept me up at night.
But per the advice of my mentors.
I did it.
And it was the single greatest risk I ever took.
It forced me to go all in and operate in a way that somebody playing with house money could never understand.
There is no better way to elevate yourself than putting substantial skin in the game and owning the risk.
It’s changed my entire life.