The DMN8 Vortex
The DMN8 Vortex
A Hard Workout, Positive Vibes and an Amazing Community
Since I’ve lived in LA, if you’ve spent anytime with me, you would have heard me talk about DMN8 (pronounced Dominate).
DMN8 is the world’s best outdoor fitness workout located in beautiful Santa Monica, California.
I will never forget on my second day in LA, my girlfriend, Elana, and I were talking on the boardwalk right by the Santa Monica pier when we were approached by Ian, a DMN8 trainer.
Ian told us about DMN8 workouts, the community and the vision they had.
Elana had just arrived back from Australia and was very into fitness. I knew building a fitness routine in LA was going to be important so I was intrigued to hear the pitch.
After receiving a DMN8 pamphlet, we overheard Eddy the founder of DMN8 leading a class. He had an Australian accent which immediately resonated with both Elana and I. It was a big move for Elana to leave Australia (she loved it there), so it was dope to see Aussie in LA.
I started going to the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) classes at DMN8 and got to know the trainers (who all rock!).
Working out on the grass right by the beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean makes for a special scenery. The workout is also incredible. I work way harder in those 50 minutes than I ever do working out by myself.
But believe it or not, the workout is just part of DMN8…
The true DMN8 offering is the full health and wellness experience which goes beyond just physical fitness.
DMN8 is unique in that it creates an emphasis on positive vibes and a loving community.
This may sound cliché, but I can’t express how real this is.
Now more than ever, people need positive energy and community.
Positivity is a skill. It’s a mindset that can be developed. Positive people tend to associate together, and positive people can have better lives.
By creating a community of positive people centered around health and wellness, you’re not only providing a unique space for individuals to tap into a needed aspect of their lives, but your making the world a better place.
As the the founder of DMN8 Eddy likes to say:
On a mission to make the world a fitter, healthier & happier place!
DMN8 has easily got me into the best shape I’ve been in since high school football when I was actually an athlete. I really do love the workouts, but DMN8 makes it easy to come back and be physically active everyday because of how amazing the space they created is. I’ll give you an example:
When my friend Gali came into town, I told him about how important DMN8 was to me. DMN8 helped me workout nearly 5 days a week and I never felt stronger in my body and in my mind.
Gali and I went to a class together and he saw the hype I was talking about.
Gali stayed in LA for about a week, and we attended 4 classes over that time.
You can see Gali’s experience with DMN8 on his YouTube channel.
DMN8 was directly improving my life as a customer and I was a very proud of that.
But I put my entrepreneur / investor hat on, and got interested on the business side of DMN8 and how this could scale and impact more people.
I started to talk with Eddy more about DMN8 and how he built the business.
I learned about his vision for creating major health and wellness festivals at stadiums.
Think about marathons or obstacle courses and how they do these major fitness events. But these aren’t typically started by young, savvy people who are looking to revolutionize the health and wellness experience.
Now think of DMN8 launching a festival with tons of workouts going all day long, great music, wellness products available, a bunch of like minded people looking to connect, and mini-events to help facilitate community and conversation. IT WILL BE A WHOLE NEW VIBE!
I was completely sold that something like this needed to exist as I knew that I would be an attendee and I am sure others would too.
As I continued to drill Eddy with a million questions about the business (users, founding, next steps, etc.), I asked him if he was raising money.
They were just about to raise a $100K from the community to start. They have a bunch of high profile tech, entertainment, and young professionals that attend the workouts and what better way to raise money than from people who love your product.
I was proud to get the opportunity to own equity in something at the earliest stage before many people had a chance to experience it.
DMN8 was my first direct angel investment and I have continued to see DMN8 thrive since I invested just a few months ago. With the pandemic behind us, DMN8 is able to take in more users and have more equipment. They’re innovating on the workout experience, offering memberships to create reoccurring revenue, and launched weekend community events. On Saturdays and Sundays they have mini fitness festivals with hundreds of attendees and a marketplace of wellness products sold by local vendors.
The pace of innovation and vision that DMN8 has makes me extremely bullish both from what I’ll get to enjoy as a user, but also as an investor.
But what convinced me the most from an investors perspective was Eddy. Eddy is the perfect person for the job. He was a professional athlete, fitness trainer and tech entrepreneur. He sees what Peloton and Tonal are doing but has conviction that in-person / community workouts are what the people want.
His ability to not only survive but thrive during the pandemic (even after just launching DMN8 a few months before the COVID outbreak), speaks to the foundation of the DMN8 community.
Eddy has built an incredible team of trainers, that is designed more like a tech company than a gym by incentivizing everyone with equity.
The pace at which DMN8 is innovating makes me extremely excited on what could happen if things continually go at this pace.
I can’t wait to watch the DMN8 story unfold and I am honored to be apart of it.
Follow DMN8 on Instagram to watch the community develop!