Playing Business with DeShone Kizer and Dan Gardner

In the first season of Playing Business, former NFL Quarterback and CEO of One of None, DeShone Kizer and Co-Founder and Chairman of Code and Theory, Dan Gardner sit down with professional athletes from the NBA, NFL and MLS, sports commentators and one of the world’s most prolific climbers to ask the question, can success in sport translate to success in business?

In Season One, DeShone and Dan were joined by NBA’s Spencer Dinwiddie and learned what it takes to compete in one of the world’s toughest leagues while building multiple business empires at the same time, and the NFL’s Kelvin Beachum who leverages his influence and social capital and applies it to his work as an investor. The hosts also sat down with an X-Games commentator, Selema Masekela whose entire career was shaped by a single spiritual moment when he first stood on a surfboard at age 16. They also spent time with Conrad Anker, one of the world’s most successful professional climbers, who learned how to take massive failures in stride and a former professional lacrosse player turned league owner, Paul Rabil who instinctively understood the power and importance of niche communities in business. Also featured in Playing Business, former MLS player Kyle Martino, who gave up his lucrative career as a TV commentator to pursue a business idea he just couldn’t give up on.

During each of these intimate and illuminating conversations, the hosts asked the question: What can business people learn from professional athletes about what it takes to give everything to be world-class, and what can athletes learn from icons in business about how to build and operate a successful company?

“Why in sports do athletes say all the time “it’s just business”, but in actual business it seems harder to be that direct?  Professional athletes are built differently, and so are successful entrepreneurs.  DeShone and I felt that there are stories about athletes and business that aren’t being told in the headline driven news.  It’s not a podcast of the obvious sport clichés of just hard work creates success.  It’s not just a podcast talking about innovative ways to just slap one’s likeness on a sponsorship deal.  It’s a podcast about personal stories from professional athletes’ journeys around their high-level ability and how they are approaching the business world.” – Dan Gardner, Host of Playing Business.

“From a very young age, I aspired to become a businessperson. This ambition has been a constant in my life since childhood. My journey from being a QB at Notre Dame and the NFL to now founding a tech startup has been unique, filled with unexpected chapters in a story that’s still unfolding. My experiences in the locker room, and now in the business realm, have deepened my curiosity about the unique stories of other professional athletes and their relationship with playing sports and doing business.” – DeShone Kizer, Host of Playing Business.