The Entrepreneur Experiment

In this episode of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Gary Fox sits down with professional heavyweight boxer and Thirst co-founder Thomas Carty to unpack how he built one of Ireland’s fastest-growing hydration brands while pursuing a career in professional boxing.

The idea began with Thomas’s own search for a convenient electrolyte product to support his training. When the brand he relied on stopped shipping to Ireland, he decided to create his own. Within just ten weeks, Thomas and his business partner had developed and self-funded their first 300 boxes—but producing the product was only the beginning.

After pharmacies, health shops and supplement stores refused to stock them, Thomas loaded the boxes into his car and began selling them one at a time to coffee shops and saunas across Dublin. Today, Thirst works with more than 20 distributors and is stocked across Ireland in hundreds of cafés, vending machines, gyms, forecourts and major retail groups.

Thomas shares the reality behind that growth: the uncomfortable early sales, the importance of moving quickly, how founder-led content helped build trust and why the right business partner allowed him to balance building Thirst with training up to 11 times a week.

If you have an idea you’ve been waiting to launch, this episode is a practical masterclass in product development, distribution, founder-led marketing and getting started before everything is perfect.

🎧 Show Notes:

In this episode, we cover:

🥊 How Thomas’s Olympic ambitions led him into professional boxing
💡 The sauna conversation that sparked the idea for Thirst
🤝 Finding a business partner with complementary skills
⚡ Developing and self-funding the first product in just ten weeks
📦 Starting with 300 boxes across three flavours
🚪 What happened when pharmacies and supplement stores refused to stock the brand
☕ Creating a new route to market through coffee shops and saunas
🚗 Driving across Dublin to sell one box at a time
📱 Using social proof and founder-led content to build trust
🎙️ The podcast appearance that created a major spike in sales
📈 Growing from one distributor to more than 20
🛒 Designing packaging specifically for convenience and retail
🏪 Expanding into hundreds of cafés and vending machines across Ireland
⏱️ Why speed has become one of Thirst’s greatest advantages
🧠 Balancing a growing company with 11 boxing and training sessions each week
📓 The physical diary Thomas relies on to manage his life and workload
🌍 Why export—not launching a canned drink—is the next priority
📣 Why social media remains the most powerful free tool available to founders
🚀 What Thomas would do differently if he were launching Thirst again
🔥 Why blind faith and hard work form his personal formula for success

💬 “The secret sauce is graft. There’s no secret.” – Thomas Carty

🔗 Links & Resources:

Thirst: https://thirstlife.com
Thirst on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirst.life
Thomas Carty on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_thomascarty
Thomas Carty on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-carty-775516162
Book recommendation – Relentless by Tim Grover: https://timgrover.com/relentless/

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The biggest opportunities in your career rarely arrive with a perfect plan.

In this Mentor Moment, Mark Breen, founder of Safe Events Global, shares how saying yes, staying open to unexpected opportunities and being willing to follow where the work led helped shape his career.

It’s a powerful reminder that progress is not always linear. Sometimes, the next step only becomes clear after you take it.

🎧 Listen back to Mark’s full conversation in Episode 463 of The Entrepreneur Experiment for more on his journey, the growth of Safe Events Global and the lessons he has learned along the way.

Follow and subscribe so you never miss a Mentor Moment.

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In this episode of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Gary Fox sits down with Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E, the electric motorsport championship that has grown from no established fan base to more than 400 million fans worldwide.
Jeff takes us inside the rapidly expanding business of global sport and explains how Formula E is combining close-combat racing, world-famous manufacturers, sustainability, social media and entertainment to build the next generation of motorsport.
He shares the unconventional story of how he moved from leading Virgin Media O2 into Formula E, what he discovered during his first month as CEO, and why he keeps a game of Snakes and Ladders behind his desk as a reminder of the realities of running a scale-up.
Jeff also reveals the leadership principles that shape Formula E’s culture, including the three qualities he looks for in every team member: energy, optimism and accountability. He explains how obsessive behaviour can become a competitive advantage, why leaders must focus on what they can control, and how Formula E uses immediate post-race debriefs to turn lessons into action.
From managing his energy while travelling for six months of the year to balancing competition, training and recovery, this is a fascinating conversation about leadership, performance and building a global sports platform.
For founders, CEOs and anyone trying to scale an ambitious organisation, this episode is packed with practical insights.
Show Notes
In this episode, we cover:
🏎️ How Formula E grew to more than 400 million fans worldwide
💰 How the business of global sport actually makes money
📱 The role of creators, social media and entertainment in growing a sport
🔥 Why obsessiveness can become a competitive advantage
🪜 Jeff’s “Snakes and Ladders” approach to leading a scale-up
⚡ The three traits behind high-performing teams: energy, optimism and accountability
📝 Formula E’s “I like, I wonder” post-race debrief system
🔋 How Jeff manages energy, travel and recovery as a global CEO
🚀 Why first-mover advantage still matters in business
Links and Resources
Connect with Jeff and Formula E
Formula E official website (https://www.fiaformulae.com/)
Formula E on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/formula-e/)
Jeff Dodds on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jedodds/)
Formula E on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiaformulae/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/@FIAFormulaE
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ou don’t need a huge budget to prove that an idea can work. You need creativity, resourcefulness and the willingness to start.

In this Mentor Moment, Ryan Casey, founder of C11 Recovery, shares how he began building the brand with limited resources by creating recovery boxes, tapping into his network and finding smart ways to test demand before scaling.

It’s a practical lesson in building momentum without waiting for perfect conditions, using partnerships to create opportunities and proving the concept before making bigger investments.

🎧 Listen back to Ryan’s full conversation in Episode 462 of The Entrepreneur Experiment for more on the story behind C11 Recovery and the lessons he has learned building the business.

Follow and subscribe so you never miss a Mentor Moment.

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In this episode of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Gary Fox sits down with Stephen Cluskey, CEO and co-founder of Mobility Mojo.
At 18, Stephen broke his neck in a freak accident and was paralysed from the neck down. After years focused on rehabilitation, a six-hour wait for an accessible taxi inspired his first business and ultimately led to the creation of Mobility Mojo.
Stephen shares how the company survived with just €237 left in the bank, adapted when Covid shut down the hospitality industry and evolved into a global workplace accessibility platform used by major organisations.
This is a powerful conversation about resilience, purpose, product-market fit and why the people who survive are often those most willing to adapt.
🎧 Show Notes
In this episode, we cover:
🔥 The accident that changed Stephen’s life at 18
🎯 Using small goals to navigate recovery
🚕 The inaccessible taxi experience that sparked his first business
💶 Reaching just €237 in the company bank account
🌍 The conversation that transformed Mobility Mojo’s business model
🦠 Pivoting when Covid shut down the hospitality industry
🏢 Building a global workplace accessibility platform
📈 Raising investment and winning major enterprise clients
♿ Why accessibility goes far beyond ramps and bathrooms
⚖️ Combining social impact with a profitable business model
👥 The importance of team, perseverance and adaptability
💬 “It’s not the strongest that survive; it’s those that adapt.” – Stephen Cluskey
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