Seven-time Tour de France winner, Cancer Survivor, Podcast Host, Endurance Athlete, and Managing Partner, Next Ventures (Venture Capital)
Lance Armstrong
Speaking Fee: $50,000 to $75,000
Travels From:
Primary Topic Category: Inspiration / Motivation / Overcoming Obstacles
Lance Armstrong At A Glance:
One of the most iconic athletes and recognizable names in the world, Lance Armstong’s incredible journey has a massive impact with audiences. Learn what it takes to be the best, to win at all costs (and then pay the cost). Lance’s story of grit, tenacity and overcoming Stage 3 testicular cancer to win 7 consecutive Tour de France races is fascinating. Lance founded the Livestrong Foundation, raising over a half billion dollars for cancer research. His story of redemption and reinvention is powerful and he shares with the audience what happened, how it happened and that he is 100% accountable for his journey. He continues to focus on health, athletics and raising his family. Lance leads WEDU, the global content and media platform and hosts two hugely popular podcasts, The Move and the Forward. Lance is also the Managing Partner at Next Ventures, the investment fund that focus on human optimization, wellness and athletics.
Lance Armstrong is no stranger to early success. After turning pro in Triathlon at the young age of 15 and earning the title of Road Race World Champion not many years later, he’d only just begun to write his story in the world of endurance sports.
As a cancer survivor, Armstrong founded Livestrong and would see $500 million raised to serve over three million people during his tenure with the foundation. Additionally, through the sale of 80 million wristbands and the strength and solidarity they came to represent, the immeasurable contribution made can still be seen today. Armstrong also spearheaded the effort to create the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) through a $3 billion bond initiative, and served two terms on the President-appointed President’s Cancer Panel. His contributions to cancer research through Livestrong, it’s $50M donation to the Dell Medical School (University of Texas, Austin) and CPRIT, have had a significant impact in the fight against cancer.
Combining a talent for spotting incredible founders with his lifelong passion for investing, Armstrong founded Next Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on maximizing growth opportunities in the health, wellness, healthcare and–as we like to say–Whole Person Health. Prior to founding Next Ventures, he was an active angel investor in companies such as Uber, DocuSign, Active.com, Honey Stinger, Athletic Brewing, Waterloo Water, Wheels Up and Rev Gum.
Through his creation of the media platform WEDU, Armstrong is host to THEMOVE and The Forward. The audience between these two chart-topping podcasts has grown exponentially to north of 10M impressions annually; and is on the rise.
Regretful about the past, but with eyes firmly fixed on the future, Armstrong shares a story of resiliency and hard-learned lessons that resonate with multiple audiences. Speaking with total candor and making no subject off-limits, he champions the power of mental endurance to overcome any failure, challenge or obstacle. “I’ve landed on my feet,” Armstrong says. “I have five beautiful kids and I’ve been given another chance. I’m extremely grateful for that.”
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FROM HERO TO ZERO TO HUMAN: HOW TO BOUNCE BACK FROM BIG MISTAKES
How do you come back from your biggest mistakes? When confronted with losing everything, some people give up—while others use those setbacks as inspiration to reach new goals. In cycling, Lance Armstrong was the “comeback king” when he overcame testicular cancer to win the Tour de France seven times. In the process, he became one of the most well-known athletes in the world. However, his biggest comeback was not athletic but personal when he came back from the doping scandal that stripped him of his Tour de France titles. After going from hero to zero, he worked hard to take responsibility for his mistakes, learn from them, and rise again with his new podcasts and organization WEDU. In this revealing talk, Lance tells stories from his career and shares what it takes to come back from your mistakes. Audiences will learn that you need to be honest, vulnerable, and stay positive in order to come back even stronger than before.
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WINNING AT ALL COSTS IS NOT TRUE LEADERSHIP
The key to leading a team is honesty. While Lance was doing all the right things to win as a team —working hard, good tactics, great teammates—he was doing the worst thing you can do as a leader: lying. He lied to himself, his team, and his supporters. His win-at-all-costs mentality eventually lost him his cycling titles and resulted in his banishment from the sport. He learned how the decisions you make as a leader can have an impact on everyone—from your team to your fans to your family. In this brutally honest talk, Lance shares what he learned about himself, winning, and leadership as he had to confront his wrongdoing. Audiences will come away with what it takes to lead and work as a team: communication, persistence, and most of all honesty.
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CORPORATE ATHLETE
How do you become—and stay—resilient in your body and mind? Lance Armstrong became one of the best-known athletes in the world for his hard work and mental strength as a cyclist. He learned from the best coaches and athletes how to stay healthy and mentally strong. While today Lance no longer competes and is just happy to finish a race, he still practices what he learned as a professional athlete to stay fit. In this candid talk by Lance, audiences will come away with world-class coaching on how to train effectively, improve their health, stay mentally strong, and maintain their fitness throughout life.
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FIRESIDE CHAT
In those no-holds-barred, no questions off-limits fireside chat, Lance Armstrong will answer anything audiences want to know about his entire career. Interviewers can go deep on any topic. You can learn how Lance overcame cancer, his time as a professional cyclist, his experience with the Livestrong charity, his banishment from the sport, and his new activities as podcast host of The Move and The Forward or his Next Ventures investing.
Lance also talks about redemption and reinvention and now is a successful advisor and investor in health care start-ups. Embracing his past mistakes with an endurance athlete’s tenacious mindset of powering through pain, challenges, and adversity; Armstrong’s inspirational talks champion resilience, integrity, leadership, and the ability we all have to overcome challenges and rise up from defeat.
