Please answer our short Moneywise listener survey! (Very, very short): https://forms.gle/EaS5NUt4Akb7wddt9 JOIN HAMPTON:This episode came directly out of conversations happening inside Hampton, a private community for founders and CEOs with $3M+ in revenue or $10M+ exits. Members range from $5M net worth to billions. They wrestle with these same questions off the record. Apply at http://joinhampton.com/mw. CHAPTER MARKERS00:00 — Intro: Two trash bags and $3,000 in LA 02:15 — Austin's background: 10 years broke, restaurants, and the fitness world 07:52 — Gold's Gym, 1,000 employees, and the "building someone else's empire" moment 10:15 — The 203K loan, LA real estate at the bottom, and how it funded everything 12:41 — Buying one Bitcoin in 2013 at $700 and forgetting about it 15:37 — The Kickstarter: $445K raised, $150K in the hole, and 62 countries of shipping chaos 22:50 — Scaling to $35M and deciding to sell 25:23 — The $25M sale: deal structure, taxes, and what he actually walked away with 31:43 — Thrasio's collapse and buying the company back for $2M 37:48 — First thing he did with the money: retiring his parents and handing them a blank check 40:23 — Money, happiness, and why optionality is the real product 43:28 — Estate planning: why his son gets nothing until age 35 49:02 — Would you take $1 billion to walk away from everything? He sold his company for $25M. The buyer went bankrupt. He bought it back for $2M. Austin Wright moved to LA at 19 with $3K and two trash bags. He spent a decade broke, waiting tables, sleeping on an air mattress, sharing a car. Then he spent another decade grinding his way up to regional VP at Gold's Gym, overseeing nearly 1,000 employees and opening gyms across Southern California. Then he quit to build something of his own. What followed was a pop-up playpen that raised $445,000 on Kickstarter against a $20,000 goal — and nearly bankrupted him because he didn't account for international shipping. He dug out, scaled the brand to $35M in revenue, and sold it to a private equity firm called Thrasio for $25 million in 2021. In this episode, Austin breaks down the real numbers: what he walked away with after the sale, how he structured the deal, where his $13–14M net worth actually sits today, the one thing he'd do differently with his money after the exit. Topics covered: - Growing up broke in LA and 10 years in the fitness industry- How a $199K North Hollywood fixer became the seed capital for a gym business- Buying one Bitcoin in 2013 at $700 and forgetting about it- The Kickstarter that raised $445K and lost money- Scaling California Beach Company to $35M and selling for $25M- The Thrasio collapse- Net worth breakdown: real estate, crypto, liquid vs. illiquid- Estate planning and why his son won't inherit a dollar until he's 35- Why Austin would turn down $1 billion HOW FOUNDERS ARE BUILDING WEALTH:How much do founders actually make, spend, invest, work, and keep in net worth? Hampton surveyed founders directly and put the answers into one report. Download it for free here: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr
