‘Those are fighting words’: Why Weston Bergmann won’t stop until ‘The Blox’ changes every challenger’s life
December 5, 2023 | Taylor Wilmore
With the largest live-in startup competition now available on Amazon Prime Video, the stakes have never been higher and the potential never greater for “The Blox” — a show where the reality TV format is mined to turn entrepreneur education into entertainment.
“The demand to be on the show has exponentially grown, and with it we’ve edited our casting lens,” said Weston Bergmann, the Kansas City-based creator of The Blox docu-series and founder of BetaBlox, which boasts Overland Park headquarters.
Weston Bergmann, The Blox, Season 8; image courtesy of The Blox
“This means the vibrancy of the chosen entrepreneurs has reached a boiling point,” continued Bergmann. “What we’ve learned is that if we correctly vet a big room of the right kinds of entrepreneurs, an indescribable magic occurs.”
Click here to check out The Blox on Amazon Prime.
The show works like this: The Blox features 20 startup founders competing daily in exercises, pitches, and tests to earn points; with themes like inbound marketing, growth hacking, and fundraising shaping the competition.
Coaches and mentors from Season 8 of The Blox; photo courtesy of The Blox
Bergmann acknowledged the show’s evolution, emphasizing the monumental changes in size and scale. With about 100 contestants this season, the demand has led to a threefold increase in coaches, contractors, and support staff.
In its eighth season, the diverse narratives of the participating entrepreneurs come to life on the screen, offering an educational opportunity for the cast and an engaging viewing experience for fans.
“When this happens it’s making our job of teaching the viewer these valuable entrepreneurial principles easier,” said Bergmann.
Watch The Blox’s season 8 trailer, then keep reading.
The Blox goes Prime Video
Availability of The Blox on Prime Video marks a strategic move to enhance accessibility in order to further expand the reality show’s audience.
Bergmann shed light on the decision, feeling that the alignment with Amazon’s services was a smooth transition for the show.
“We use so many of Amazon’s services to empower our entire business incubator,” explained Bergmann. “It seemed natural to look into Prime Video as an option, and we couldn’t be more happy with it as an on-demand option for our viewers.”
New father, new changes
Bergmann has now entered his most important role yet; as a first-time father, he discussed the addition of his newborn baby, Lucy, to his life and work.
“She’s impacted every single area of my life, including every department of my company. So in a way, it’d be hard to answer this without more hours,” said Bergmann.
“That said, I think it’s fair to say that I have to be smarter with my work time than I ever have been before,” he continued. “I’ve got to say ‘No’ to more things. And the things I say ‘Yes’ to need to be better delegated.”
With a newborn baby, balancing family and career also demands the development of more scalable processes like beefed up playbooks, processes, and training to keep Bergmann on track, he said.
View this post on Instagram
Mental marathon of entrepreneurship
The show is no easy task for the competitors, Bergmann said. Filming week can be potentially daunting, as the filming crew monopolizes the entrepreneurs’ day for about 14 hours for six straight days, combined with a lot of public speaking being filmed for the world to see.
Competitors on The Blox cheer in celebration; photo courtesy of The Blox
Bergmann delved into the “mental marathon of entrepreneurship,” recognizing the challenges that early founders go through, such as working long hours with little-to-no pay.
“Our family and friends seldom truly understand what we’re going through. At the risk of being a little melodramatic, starting a company is traumatic,” he said.
The Blox serves as a safe space for unpacking the emotional toll of starting a company, fostering vulnerability among entrepreneurs.
“This aids in high-quality reps and makes them stronger. But it also forces them to be mentally clocked in for an insane amount of hours in a row. It can be daunting,” said Bergmann.
The entrepreneurs are prepped for months leading up to the experience with an online academy so they’re better equipped to take on their advanced lessons. Then, they put their skills to the test all day, every day, until the experience is over.
“Dealing with these things requires a great deal of vulnerability that is challenging for entrepreneurs,” said Bergmann. “But it’s ultimately rewarding to talk about these topics so we can all learn we’re not alone.”
But, with high stakes, comes high reward.
“We aren’t exaggerating when we say if this week doesn’t change their life we’ve failed. Those are big words. They’re fighting words,” Bergmann said.
Jack McCarthy, CEO of Vortex Events: Virtual Team Adventures, celebrates as his season’s grand prize winner on The Blox; photo courtesy of The Blox
BetaBlox and The Blox evolves
BetaBlox — Bergmann’s flagship business incubator that functions as an extended coaching program — is currently taking applications.
“It’s an aggressive multi-month coaching program followed by more passive years of mentorship and community,” said Bergmann.
Previously limited to in-person services within driving distance of Kansas City and Tulsa, Betablox has now transitioned to an entirely remote program, allowing Bergmann and his team to assist entrepreneurs from anywhere in the country.
Expressing his vision for The Blox’s future, Bergmann sees continual evolution for the show, with a primary goal for 2024 being to achieve “more.” His main focus is the commitment to make entrepreneurship education more accessible for all.
“I want to introduce entrepreneurship education in a more digestible way through the lens of entertainment,” he said. “The Blox is entrepreneurship education, scaled — and I won’t stop until it’s known as the most effective tool of its kind.”
Taylor Wilmore
Taylor Wilmore, hailing from Lee’s Summit, is a dedicated reporter and a recent graduate of the University of Missouri, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism. Taylor channels her deep-seated passion for writing and storytelling to create compelling narratives that shed light on the diverse residents of Kansas City.
Prior to her role at Startland News, Taylor made valuable contributions as a reporter for the Columbia Missourian newspaper, where she covered a wide range of community news and higher education stories.
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Focused on KC, the Lean Lab welcomes five new ed tech startups
The Lean Lab, a Kansas City-based education tech accelerator, is returning for its fourth year with a new approach that aims to be more community focused and sophisticated. During a Tuesday event, the Lean Lab announced the five new startups in its 2017 cohort at a breakfast at the recently renovated Corrigan Station. Katie Boody,…
Innovation coach Diana Kander: Failure is an option
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Yes, you could fail, and it would be embarrassing. People would talk about it. People you know. But let’s be honest, they’re only trying to reassure themselves about the risk-averse choices they’ve made. Yes, you could fail, and it could get you fired. I’m…
Smart City update: Living Lab set to launch, TV show may highlight KC innovation
Bob Bennett, chief innovation officer at the City of Kansas City, Mo., said Kansas City has championed itself as a leader in big data and smart city tech for years now. But now the city is reaching an inflection point to leverage the data at a significant scale, he said. “The bottom line is that…
From homelessness to national TV, Fishing Caddy founder to appear on ABC
The Fishing Caddy has reeled in a big opportunity with a national television show that will feature its device making anglers’ pursuits a bit easier. On July 16, Fishing Caddy founder Joe Pippins will hop on Steve Harvey’s Funderdome, an ABC show in which inventors compete for cash to help accelerate their businesses. The Fishing Caddy…