255 - "I Raised $98M To Build a BIG Fighting Business" | Khalil Zahar, CEO of FightCamp

Khalil Zahar, CEO of FightCamp, reveals how a personal frustration with the lack of performance metrics in boxing led him to build a hardware and software platform that evolved into a $98 million-funded fitness empire. What began as a lab project in Montreal to track punches with motion sensors—using clickers and Excel sheets—pivoted into a full-fledged subscription-based training platform after Y Combinator. The company grew rapidly during the pandemic, only to face a four-year 'hangover' as post-COVID demand waned and revenue dropped. Despite cutting staff from 98 to 15, Zahar kept the business lean and financially healthy, now poised for renewed growth. He shares hard truths about founder mindset: the danger of clinging to 'family culture' too long, the illusion of market size, and the real cost of not fixing the right problems. With investors like Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather, and a vision to become an omnipresent brand in combat sports, FightCamp is now expanding beyond home fitness into gym-focused hardware, live event integration, and heritage-driven apparel—proving that a startup’s most powerful pivot isn’t just product, but identity.