Do you find it difficult to locate recreational activities to do with friends? Blood, Sweat & Cheers aims to provide a ‘fun fitness’ solution. The company’s free daily email aims to recommend one essential activity, workout, event or product subscribers need to know about to live a fit, adventurous and fun lifestyle.

 

In 2012 Canadian born entrepreneur, former editor and writer, Jonathan Ages started the company to fulfill his personal passion for thrill-seeking adventure and fitness. The company releases two daily editions: a national email to help subscribers discover fun activities in their backyard and around the world; as well as a New York edition to reveal urban adventures and turn ‘Gotham City’ into a playground for you and your friends.

 

When Ages is not working 16-hour days to build his ‘fun fitness’ movement, you’ll likely find him running, cycling, playing basketball, skiing and (occasionally) losing at bar trivia. It was this zest for adventure that led Ages to start his own company. “I created Blood, Sweat & Cheers to make it easy for others to find fun, and timely social activities,” Ages explains.

 

Publishing emails for profit is serious business. Startup Digest explains, “First you need to figure out exactly what content you will be serving and exactly the community you want to reach. You need to be uniquely passionate about this community of people.”

 

Ages idea to connect with active men and women, like himself, who strive to be fit and adventurous has caught traction. Blood, Sweat & Cheers has been featured in Bloomberg Television, AdWeek, Glamour magazine, FOX & Friends, SHAPE magazine and other national media outlets. Earlier this year Blood, Sweat & Cheers was recognized as a 2013 Webby Awards Honoree in the email newsletter category — a distinction that was granted from a pool of 11,000 entries.

 

Learn how Jonathan Ages identified his niche within the recreational fitness industry and why he believes entrepreneurs must build something they truly care about.

 

Company:  Blood, Sweat & Cheers

Founders:  Jonathan Ages

Location:  New York, NY

Industry:  Recreational Fitness

Startup Year:  2012

Startup Costs:  Undisclosed

 

 

How I Got Started

 

Blood, Sweat & Cheers is an idea I came up with after losing a dodgeball game. I was battling against the last person on the other side. I turned around to pick up a ball … and I got hit by a sneak attack.

 

Smack! I was out!

 

So I drank away my sorrows with my teammates afterwards. We ended up hanging out with the other team too. I eventually realized that dodgeball – this goofy game from my childhood – was one of the most fun things I had done all week. I loved that I’d get in a workout without it feeling like “work.” Meanwhile, I was having fun with friends and meeting like-minded people. And, I’d get to throw stuff at people — really hard!

 

I was having fun playing dodgeball once a week. But I asked myself, “What was I doing the other six days of the week?” So, I started digging for more fun, social activities. Eventually I found a bunch of activities to join including a 5k footrace on a JFK Airport runway and a 500-person pillow fight held a few blocks away from my apartment.

 

The problem was this: I would find out about these events and activities after they had already happened. That did only one thing: it pissed me off!

 

So I created Blood, Sweat & Cheers to make it easy for others to find fun, and timely social activities. That way you can fit them into your schedule and get tickets before they’re sold out.

 

We wanted to keep things quick and easy. So when you share our recreational tips with a friend through email or social networks, it is packaged in a way that your friend will immediately respond with, “That’s awesome! Let’s do it!”

 

The point behind creating Blood, Sweat & Cheers was to make it easier for people to live healthy, have fun and meet others who do the same.

 

Oh yeah, and remember that person who knocked me out of the dodgeball game? She’s now my wife.

 

 

Best Success Story

 

I am tempted to say our best success story was the day we passed 50,000 daily email subscriptions or the first time we deposited a check from a major advertiser. But I think it’s the little successes that are more important and gratifying.

 

Our biggest success came when I realized I was receiving an email a day from another stranger who wanted to tell me – thoughtfully – that Blood, Sweat & Cheers was making their ‘date night’ more fun and interesting or reinvigorating their fitness and health. We love getting those comments so much that we post many of them on our office walls as inspiration. Reading them is like drinking rocket fuel.

 

 

 

Biggest Startup Challenge

 

It is so hard to find the right people to join the Blood, Sweat & Cheers team. I read somewhere, “It’s better to have a hole on your team than to have an a**hole on your team.” That’s one of the most important things I’ve learned.

 

So we dedicate a ton of time and effort to recruitment. Because when you add a great teammate, it’s like adding another gear to a car.

 

One of the things I’m most proud of is that we’ve built a team of incredibly smart, driven, and talented people. I feel honored to be working with our gang of misfits.

 

 

 

#1 Tip for Entrepreneurs

 

Build something you care about. If you don’t absolutely love what you’re creating, then you’re not going to push through the many, many boring and arduous steps involved in bringing it to life.

 

It’s really hard to sustain those 16-hour days and keep sending out thousands of rejected or unanswered messages if you don’t truly believe that you’re doing something important and meaningful.

 

Connect with Jonathan on Twitter.

 

This interview has been edited and condensed. Interview by contributing writer Katherine Burks.