This story comes from my conversation with Wes Bergmann on The Entrepreneurial Journey Podcast.
Wes Bergmann has been an entrepreneur since kindergarten.
While most kids were trading baseball cards, Wes grabbed a wheelbarrow, dug up dirt from the local playground, sifted out the rocks and weeds, and went door-to-door selling “clean dirt” to neighborhood gardeners.
It sounds like child’s play, but the truth is—his entrepreneurial DNA showed up early. That spark turned into lemonade stands, car detailing, bar ownership in college, and eventually into the creation of BetaBlox, a business incubator that now supports hundreds of startups and is trending toward helping its portfolio hit a billion dollars in sales.
The Reality TV Shadow
Most people know Wes from MTV’s The Real World and The Challenge. Two decades on screen made him a household name. But here’s the twist: entrepreneurship was always the main act.
“I’ve been on this path for a very long time,” Wes told me. “Reality TV wasn’t the plan—it was a detour. And honestly, it probably slowed me down more than it helped”.
That honesty is refreshing. It’s a reminder that shiny distractions can pull any of us off course. Even when the world sees you as “successful,” you might be quietly asking: Am I building my dream—or someone else’s?
Sacrifice Before the Spotlight
Wes doesn’t hide the grit it took to build BetaBlox. Early on, he and his wife moved back into his parents’ house—dog and all—so they could pour every dollar into the business. He bartered office space in underground caves in Kansas City for four years of free rent.
It wasn’t glamorous. It was frugal, scrappy, and humbling.
But that sacrifice built the runway. And the runway built the legacy.
No One-Night Stands in Business
One of Wes’s most memorable lessons comes from an analogy he shares with entrepreneurs in his incubator. Too many founders, he says, treat customers like one-night stands: chase them hard, promise the world, close the sale—and then disappear.
But retention, not seduction, is where real growth lives.
It’s cheaper to keep a customer than to land a new one. And it’s smarter to fulfill your promises than to spend all your energy making them.
That’s not just customer service—it’s sustainability.
The Lean Startup Mindset
Even after 17 years in business, Wes keeps coming back to the same principle: never stop testing.
“The Lean Startup is just the scientific method for business,” he said. “Everything you believe about your business is just an educated guess—until you test it”.
That humility—being willing to be wrong, being willing to test fast and cheap before betting big—is what separates entrepreneurs who burn out from those who keep building.
Lessons We Can Take Away
- Entrepreneurship is often less about big wins and more about scrappy, humbling sacrifices.
- Don’t mistake exposure for momentum—success isn’t about being seen, it’s about building.
- Treat customers like long-term partners, not one-night stands.
- Stay gritty, stay curious, and keep testing. Even 17 years in.
Final Word
Wes might have jumped out of helicopters on reality TV, but his real legacy is the thousands of entrepreneurs he’s helped through BetaBlox. His advice to them—and to us—is simple:
Don’t overthink it. Don’t wait. Test fast. Fail cheap. Learn quicker.
Where in your business are you still treating assumptions as facts—when you should be testing them instead?
You can watch the full episode here:
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