DailyCamera.com hosted an online chat Monday, Feb. 25, with Ted Kennedy of CEO Challenges. What follows is a transcript of that chat.
MODERATOR:Welcome to today's Business Plus chat with Ted Kennedy of CEO Challenges.
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:Thanks for the opportunity to tell you a bit about my company, CEO Challenges.
MODERATOR:Hello Ted, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us a little about CEO Challenges and how you got started with it?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:While working for Ironman North America in 2001 I came up with the concept of a 'race within the race' at Ironman USA Lake Placid for CEOs. It worked so well that we offered the program every year after that, and I left Ironman NA in 2005 to launch the company.
MODERATOR:How many different CEOs participate in your program and how many events is CEO Challenges invovled with?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:This year we will have over 120 CEOS take part in our CEO Ironman Challenge events at eight locations around the world, including the CEO Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. We will also offer CEO Challenge programs in Sailing, Cycling, Tennis, Golf, and few other sports that CEOs enjoy.
MODERATOR:Is CEO Challenges involved with the training process as well? I can imagine how busy a CEO's schedule must be.
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:Yes, we have partnered with a new training company run by five-time triathlon world champion Simon Lessing and Darren De Reuck. Each CEO that signs up for one of our Ironman, triathlon or running programs receives a 4-week training schedule, plus the opportunity to upgrade to longer term coaching or even one-on-one personal coaching for CEOs that are either new to the sport, or have a very distruptive travel schedule.
MODERATOR:Are there any local CEOs who participate?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:Actually, the winner of the 2007 CEO Ironman World Championship, and 'Fittest CEO in the World'. is Scott Binder, CEO of Comcast Colorado in Denver. Two other CEOs from Denver are also signed up for events in 2008, but no one from Boulder....yet.
MODERATOR:Can you describe how this career shift was for yourself, going from executive positions to entrepreneur? What did you learn from the process?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:It has been fantastic. I was in the corporate world for 20 years (sales and marketing for Quaker Oats and Best Foods), and I don't miss it all. I really believe I was born to be an entrepeneur, and love the fact that the only limit is my imagination, and how hard I am willing to work. It's been a fantastic career move for me - I get out of bed every morning looking forward to what the day will bring.
MODERATOR:In the endurance sports and sports media industries - and we have a nice hub here -- have seen some consolidation as of late. It hit home recently last week with Inside Communications being purchased. Would you expect more consolidation to occur? (And Falconhead, purchaser of Inside Communications, to buy more local firms?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:Absolutely. Falconhead has realized that the endurance sports industry is one of the last industires run almost entirely by entrepeneurs. They are on the leading edge of consolidating these businesses for efficencies and mass, and I believe will continue to look for more endurance sports related companies to purchase. And, as you mentioned, we have a number of great companies in this field located in Boulder.
MODERATOR:Acquisitions sometimes can appear to be double-edge swords. An idea can get the funding it needs to flourish, but innovation sometimes can take a back-seat in a larger organization. Do you think these acquisitions are a good thing and would you consider selling your business?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:I personally have no desire to once again work for a corporation. However, I suspect some of the other company owners in town would be willing to sell their business for the right price. I heard that Elite Racing sold their business for over 9 times earnings. We would all be crazy not to look at an offer - everything has it's price.
MODERATOR:Going back to your company ... For the executives participating in your program, how has participating in CEO Challenges translated to the professional world?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:We have many, many examples of testimonials from CEOs that illustrate the benefits to the companies from competing in endurance events. An hour of running is really an hour of uninteruppted brain-storming for the CEO, with no phone ringing, no Blackberry, and no one knocking on your door. Many CEOs have told me that when they have a sticky problem to work out, they go for a run or bike ride, and the answer very often 'presents itself' by the time they are finished.
MODERATOR:Have you had any female CEOs participate yet?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:Yes we have, and as a matter of fact, Kim Nelson (CEO of Royal Containers in Toronto) won our CEO Triathlon Challenge in St. Croix last year - beating all other 15 CEOs! Typically we will have 5 - 7 women CEOs take part every year, and we would love to find a way to get more to take part.
MODERATOR:How has your company expanded as of late with either new events, sponsors, promotions?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:We just signed a title sponsorship deal with AIG Private Client Group (the insure high net worth individuals), which wil add great value to the events, and the experience of the competing CEOs. Plus we just completed a deal with Business Week magazine (1.3 million circ) that will give us at least 3 full page Ads, with a value of $400,000. Things are obviously really starting to take of for us!
MODERATOR:What are your hopes going forward with this company? Do you have specific goals to the number of CEOs you want to have participating, the number of events and the size of the company?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:New events this year include a CEO Cycling Challenge with George Hincapie, CEO Sailing in the British Virgin Islands, and CEO Fly Fishing here in Colorado. Plus we are in talks with a couple of the major marathons, and the AVP about a CEO Volleyball event in Chicago. Lots going on...
MODERATOR:We'll be wrapping this up shortly. If you have questions or comments for Ted Kennedy, please feel free to send those to the moderator. Thank you.
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:Yes, our business plan shows doubling the business every year. We currently have just over 100 CEOs taking part in our events, and two full time people can handle this (with help brought in at the locations). So, as we grow, add events, and add competing CEOs we will need to begin to hire new people to look after the needs of the CEOs. We should be over $5 million in revenue by 2010.
MODERATOR: Is there a company size qualification to participate in the CEO Challenges?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:Yes, for established events, participants must be CEOs, Presidents or company owners of a business with at least $2.5 miilion in annual gross revenue (C-Suite executives of $5 million companies are also allowed to take part). For new events, we set the size of company at $1 million.
MODERATOR:Ted, thank you very much for participating. Is there a way people can contact you if they have any questions and a way for them to find out more about CEO Challenges?
SPEAKER_TedKennedy:Our website is www.ceochallenges.com and includes info on our company, a calendar of events, profiles of each CEO signed up, and registration information. Any questions can be sent directly to me at Tedk@ceochallenges.com.
MODERATOR:Thank you for participating in today's chat! A full transcript of the conversation will be posted this week at http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/transcript-ted-kennedy-chat/.
