Chris Gronkowski comes from the “Gronk” family clan which brings to mind an athletic acumen, grueling workouts along with a party hard reputation. Vanity Fair called his family “America’s first family of jocks.”
His company, Ice Shaker, offers an insulated, spill-proof, stainless-steel cup for the reusable bottle market. He secured Before appearing on "Shark Tank," Ice Shaker bottles were only available in a 26 oz bottle, per its website. The company has since expanded to over 140 bottle selections, selling tumblers, jugs, and sports bottles in a variety of sizes.
Guest Shark Alex Rodriguez and Mark Cuban both invested into Ice Shaker, where Rob Gronkowski later bought Rodriguez's stock in the company as it was thriving from their expansion into retail in The Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, and Lifetime Fitness locations.
Chris co-owns three businesses with his four brothers: InSite Media Services, which manages Rob’s brand and negotiates all his sponsor deals; Gronk Bus, which leases two party buses in the Boston area; and Gronk Nation, an online promotional vehicle for the family.
He focuses on applying strategies from football and applying them towards business on a daily basis. He spends alot of time learning from past experiences and successes to make the ice shaker successful.
Some takeaways are:
Taking success from on the field to off the field and translating it to business strategies.
Sports teaches you how to be smart and competitive, how to lose together and then rebuild and win together
00:30 Intro
08:06 Shameless Plug
02:23 Welcome
02:45 Buffalo, New york
03:45 Putting it all on the line
04:07 Internal drive
05:15 The value of a dollar
05:56 Two for six years
08:13 Building a business
10:05 Amazon
11:46 Learning from our mistakes
12:17 Bad Hires
15:24 Making the team
15:45 Delegating
17:17 Training
18:19 Hospitality in the DNA
19:30 Mission
20:00 Fullback
21:32 Training people to adapt
22:18 a dying breed
22:43 Shark Tank
23:07 50 X
24:50 Putting you out of business
24:14 The Pitch
26:09 An undrafted rookie
26:57 Mr. Wonderful
28:32 Working for no salary
32:07 A great team
33:03 Calendar
34:58 Not compromising
39:57 Accountability partners
41:41 Relentless pursuit of excellence
45:21 Constant distraction
47:01 Turbulent times
49:19 $500 per pound per day
50:10 Mental and physical grind
57:33 Incentive for Motivation
58:09 Team Goals