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October 15, 2018

Jesse Itzler Dazzles In ASI Power Summit Keynote

The founder of Marquis Jet and co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks delivered an inspirational message that encouraged entrepreneurs to differentiate themselves and push past perceived limits.

By  Theresa Hegel

In a wide-ranging keynote address at the 2018 ASI Power Summit on Monday, keynoter Jesse Itzler told attendees to figure out what their “brownie” is.

The ultra-marathoner, co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks and founder of Marquis Jet coined the term during his college career at American University. As he faced graduation, Itzler was considering starting a business selling delicious brownies made by his friend’s Aunt Franny. As he was pitching the idea and trying to articulate his “point of differentiation” during a class presentation, his professor stopped him and said, “Son, there are a thousand brownies that come out every single day. If you want to make it as a brownie, you’d better be a different brownie than everyone else.”

That “$160,000 lesson” changed Itzler’s life. He dropped the brownie scheme and went all in on the music industry, realizing that being a white rapper in the early 1990s was the perfect point of differentiation. Despite having no music connections, Itzler scored his first record deal by creating a demo using his telephone answering machine. He would give his dorm number out to record companies and producers and then record a different rap on his machine, until he finally sparked someone’s interest.

He recorded one album, but never got a second one and was dropped from his label. “I took my foot off the gas pedal,” Itzler said. In search of his next “brownie,” Itzler started writing theme songs for sports teams and turned that idea into a new business, which he later sold to SFX.

A trip on a luxurious private jet with SFX executives sparked his next business venture: “What if we could offer people all the benefits of flying privately without the responsibility?” In that, the idea for Marquis Jet was born. The company allows people to buy time on a private jet, spending hours in flight like a debit card. Though Itzler and his business partner were basically laughed out of the office during a first meeting with NetJets, the Warren Buffet company that sells shares in private jet ownership, Marquis Jet quickly grew into a $5 billion company. Itzler ended up selling the company to NetJets in 2010.

Keynote Speaker - Jesse Itzler - ASI Power Summit 2018 from ASI Marketing on Vimeo.

Eventually, Itzler settled down. He got married to Spanx founder Sara Blakely and started a family. “I was in a routine,” he said. “Routines are great, but routines can also be a rut. You can’t get better doing the same thing every day. We get one shot at life. I don’t want to be the 80% version of me.”

That realization led Itzler to make a radical decision. He invited Navy SEAL and world-class endurance athlete David Goggins to live with him for a month and be his personal trainer, so Itzler could learn Goggins’ secret sauce. Itzler told a story of Goggins encouraging him to do 100 pullups over two hours (after initially only being able to do about four). It led to the realization that “the limitations we put on ourself are self-imposed,” Itzler said. “If I’m leaving 100 pullups on the table, what other areas in my life am I underindexing?”

The key is to remember the 40% rule, Itzler said. “When your brain says you’re done, you’re only 40% done. Whenever you experience pain or discomfort on any level, our brain taps us on the shoulder and tells us to stop. When you ignore this and keep going and tap into the reserve tank, that’s the difference between success and heroic success,” he said.

Itzler also encouraged Power Summit attendees to craft a personal mission statement to help bring clarity and goal-setting. “Nobody here’s in the first chapter of your life,” he said. “You have to learn to say ‘no’ so you can focus on the things that make you feel most alive.”