Three companies. Two exits. One thread: community.

Jannis Bandorski built XLETIX from zero to market leader and sold it to Infront. Then built ARRtist and exited again. Now he is building PACE RACE, an urban running event that combines competition and community in a new format.

A trademark dispute he lost turned out to be one of the best accidents of his entrepreneurial career. CrossFit sued over the original name KrassFit and won. What felt brutal at the time became the starting point for a stronger, more international brand. First lesson: clarity creates productivity. Not as a motivational phrase, but as a real working principle.

In the middle of the pandemic, Jannis made a decision that hurt financially: XLETIX refunded 100% of all ticket fees, no conditions, no vouchers, no delays. That decision built more trust than any marketing campaign before it. And it shows what building companies actually means to him: not just scaling, but taking responsibility.

The question of when to let go comes down to two simple criteria that have surprisingly little to do with money. And then there is what years of happiness research at the University of St. Gallen honestly leave behind: consistency beats intensity, deep connections beat bank balances.

In this conversation you'll learn:

- how losing a trademark dispute made a company stronger

- when the right moment for an exit is — and how to recognize it

- why Jannis refunded 100% of tickets during the pandemic

- how to maintain a strong co-founder relationship over 17 years

- what happiness research says about money, consistency and comparison

- why microhabits and routines outperform intensity

- what makes PACE RACE a different kind of running event

Timestamps:

00:00 — Intro
01:02 — Introduction: McKinsey, PhD, obstacle runs — who is Jannis?
01:45 — Courage or calculation? The leap from consultant to founder
03:34 — How personal training became an event business
06:45 — The CrossFit trademark dispute — and what was learned from it
11:29 — Höhle der Löwen, rebranding, and why clarity creates productivity
14:10 — Community as a common thread: XLETIX, ARRtist, PACE RACE
16:03 — Building trust: say what you do, do what you say
19:21 — Commercialization vs. community — not a contradiction
25:45 — March 2020: the decision to refund all tickets in full
29:00 — How to work well with a co-founder for 17 years
31:01 — How an exit really happens — and why no bidding process
34:40 — When is it time to let go? Jannis' two criteria
41:50 — Happiness research: what the St. Gallen PhD left behind
51:29 — Consistency and microhabits: the compounding effect in daily life
56:01 — Weekly planning, top 3 and focus as a system
58:12 — PACE RACE: vision, Berlin premiere and the million-participant mission