How he Grew Outway from 0 to 8 figures in 5 years (Nobody Teaches This)

KEYPOINTS

• 01

  Resilience comes from a personal mission, not from being taught it.

  Fraser thinks you can only learn resilience by going through hard things for a goal that matters to you. When the goal is bigger than the pain, quitting isn’t even an option. Without a mission, you don’t push as hard. He believes success in sport and business both come from enduring over long periods; hacks may produce a quick win but not longevity.

• 02

  His drive came from always being the first kid cut.

  An overweight child in a hockey family, he tried out for every team and was always the first person not to make it—close enough to taste it. His younger brother was a natural Triple-A hockey player. Fraser wanted acceptance and to make his parents proud. When he found cycling and realized he was good at it, he went all in, wanting to be great rather than good. He admits the drive has destructive tendencies, but every failure was a choice to push forward or be held back.

• 03

  Competitive sport is better business training than business school.

  Over about 10 years and five national teams, Fraser won maybe once or twice in 10 races a year. He managed himself: negotiating sponsorships and booking worldwide logistics. At 16 he declined a World Championships spot in Italy because of school until his parents told him to go. Sport taught him that ‘everything is earned, not owed,’ that plans rarely survive, and how to perform under pressure.

• 04

  Preparation and positioning beat talent.

  A downhill mountain biker from Pickering, Ontario, with no mountains, he competed with ‘BC kids’ by building 10–15 second replicas of course sections on the hill by his house. That trained precision and execution when it mattered. He studied courses in advance because under pressure, talent collapses without preparation. He once taped a broken wrist to his handlebars before one of the year’s biggest races.

• 05

  Ask what happens if it goes right, not just if it goes wrong.

  He started the company with a classmate because it would be fun—‘the world’s worst reason’—with $1,000 each, no shareholder agreement and no discussion of values. When the business hit multi-six-figure revenue in year one, Fraser became obsessed while his partner didn’t share the ambition. After a messy split, Fraser bought him out in March 2019 for about $150,000, gathered through credit cards, a line of credit and loans co-signed by his girlfriend, until his future father-in-law offered a loan he repaid within a couple of years. He calls it his $150,000 MBA.

• 06

  Brand is essence, not name—which made a forced rebrand survivable.

  The day millions in investment hit the account, a cease-and-desist demanded he stop using the company’s name. Fighting could take about two years per country and up to $1 million, so he rebranded within six months. He thought of a brand as a person: name, appearance and essence. Changing the name doesn’t change who you are. Because customers bought for the product, Outway kept its logo and look, brought customers along in a YouTube series, and has since sold more than ever under the new name.

• 07

  To get more, subtract.

  Everyone suggested underwear, but that means different supply chains, gendered sizing and psychology. Fraser compares adding a business line to leaving the lead pack to join another race and ending up mid-pack in both. Socks are a $50 billion market Outway has barely scratched; every stumble came from chasing silver bullets outside its circle of excellence. Coach Jack Skeen asked whether shoes would be ‘enough’—Nike was just shoes for years.

• 08

  Burnout comes from misaligned work, not long hours.

  Fraser can work 80–100 hours on things he loves and feel energized. Eighty hours of legal fights drained him, and he let his health go—the second arrow. He now has a recovery protocol for high-stress periods, like an injured athlete. He rejects work-life balance for entrepreneurs, but counts health and relationships as part of the work.