Gustas Germanavicius has only been competing in Ironman events for 15 months, but he’s already become the top-ranked athlete in his home country of Lithuania (a title he lost in the time between his interview and publication; he’s in the top 7% globally). The two-time founder told Fortune that he approaches it the way he approaches his business: always on. “It’s just like in business, you have to, consistently, every day, show up and don’t have any excuses for poor performance.” He said that not all his Ironman training days are great, but he has to make sure he follows his plan. It aligns with how he works.
“Basically I work in marathons and sprints,” Germanavicius said, describing something far beyond the typical “996” workload of 9am to 9pm, six days a week. For Germanavicius, it’s more like two months on and two weeks off. “Two months I work, 24-7, seven days a week, then two weeks off. This two weeks off doesn’t mean that I’m fully offline, but I try to relax and put a lower gear.”
The 27-year-old is proud that his current business, InRento, is on course for its third profitable year. And even though his first business, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup named WellParko, did not work out, he’s proud that one of his investors made a profitable exit, and that they both backed his current venture. “Actually, last month, I bought out two of their funds, so they made a serious profit, because we are at this stage that we are growing profitably.” But Germanavicius was quick to add that he doesn’t exactly enjoy being his own boss.
