#411 Joel Runyon: How Endurance Prepared Him to Fight a Billion Dollar Company
Joel Runyon is the founder of Impossible, a performance brand built around pushing physical and mental limits through endurance, entrepreneurship, and mindset. From running ultra-marathons on every continent to building tools that help others tackle the "impossible," Joel embodies high-agency living. He’s also the underdog in a multi-year legal battle with Impossible Foods over trademark rights—one that’s testing everything he’s built.
Joel Runyon joins the show to unpack how he built the Impossible brand from scratch—starting in his parents’ basement with nothing but a list of goals that felt out of reach. He shares how endurance sports shaped his mindset, how he turned a blog into a movement, and what it's been like facing off in court against a $2 billion food tech company. This is a deep dive into high-agency thinking, resilience in the face of adversity, and the mindset it takes to defend what you’ve built when the stakes are high.
What we cover:
- Starting Impossible from his parents' basement
- Turning a blog into a global brand
- Being sued by Impossible Foods
- Lessons from endurance applied to business
- Managing stress while building under pressure
Go check out what Joel is building at his websites:
Impossible.co and Impossible.org
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