This F1 Driver Got Cut, So He Built an AI Company | Ep. 413 with Jack Doohan Co-founder and CEO of Meuze

Founder's Story

Formula One driver Jack Doohan was sidelined after six races, prompting a pivot from racing to co-founding AI company Meuze. Drawing on his elite athletic discipline and high-pressure experience, he built a business root

Key takeaways

• F1 taught me extreme mental and physical preparation

Transcript preview

You know I've dedicated this whole 20 years of my life to this sport where I thought my future was going to be and at six races into my Formula One career I was sidelined. This is Jack Duhan. He took everything Formula One gave him. The access, the obsession, the discipline and built something the industry has never seen. I remember saying my mom or you know I'll never have to go to university because I don't need to go to university be a formula one drivers so I knew that I knew that I didn't need to go to university be a formula one so I knew so I knew so I knew so I knew so I knew so I knew so I knew so I knew just sit on my hands and hope that something happens because I never really structured my life that way. If it doesn't happen, it's because of... I have to say, probably one of the fastest growing sports that I've seen over the last few years has been F1. Every time I've been to an F1 race, it's like a huge party. I went to Monaco two years ago, F1. I didn't even see the race, because there was so many yacht... parties and all this stuff happening. I'm like blown away by what it's become. I always wondered though when I saw those cars which I can barely even see the car going around the race when I was there. What is going through the mind of the driver? You know I think it's very adaptive right when you're going at 110 kilometers on the highway or for you 60 miles, 70 miles an hour you know things things feel fast you go 160 miles an hour you go and class cars they're doing 50 mile an hour you feel fast you feel right and it feels that things are coming quicker at you. But it's strange how quickly your eyes and your body adapts to going at a faster speed. But for a good example, what really does make things feel quick is when you are in a circuit like Monaco, like you mentioned, or in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia where they're street circuits, you really then do feel how fast are going when you can see the objects so close by. And that's where, for example, in Monaco, it being not so much of a physical physical physical physical, circuit with it being more slow speed, less high speed corns, which means less lateral force in the body. But because things are so close, there's so much more risk, you sweat and stress and are more on edge than anywhere else, just from a point of a mental exertion. So the sensation, when you're in the middle of Mexico, you know, Mexico City, you're driving down the long main straight and there's, you know, so much room on the left and right of you can be doing 360, 370 and it kilometers on the highway. I think it could be doing 150 down in the straight in Monaco and it feel like you're going at the speed of light. So it's definitely perception based, but it's very interesting how quick the body can adapt. So obviously if you're in a team sport like basketball, there's a lot of people that can help each other. I know behind the scenes you have a lot of people, but in the end of day, you are the only driver. If the driver messes up, it's over, right. How do you mentally prepare for that. I think people in business, they can learn something from this, right, from this high stress moment. How do you mentally prepare to go out there knowing that everything is relying on you? Yeah, I think it comes down to your mental, your physical preparation, things you've done with the team, which puts you on a friend of mind to know that at the end of the day there's aspects as well from a machine perspective that you are driving a mechanical being which can break, which can have problems, which can have problems, you know issues then you're also with 19 other drivers or now 21 of the drivers on track that also you don't have control over like when you're out in the real world driving your car so there is aspects out of your control that can contribute to your own result or to the either success or defeat of your of your session or race but for yourself I think from being in the mental aspect of having everything under control and believing yourself that you're going to not you know let's say make a mistake or do things wrongs comes down to your preparation and really how much you are in control of what you've done and I think that comes when you've done the right things you've been training properly, sleeping properly, eating properly, preparing with your engineers mechanics to the best your abilities, you're giving yourself the best chance, right? It's like if you're a basketball player and you've been practicing a thousand-point-point-to-you-point-point-point-point-you-you-point-you-you-you're going to happen. I imagine, right, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's, it's like, it's, it's like, it's like, it's, it's like, it's, it's, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's, it's like, it's, it's like, it's, it certain people is is how strong is your mindset because your skills might be similar you might be honing them but if your mindset is slightly off what's the craziest thing that your body has to go through either in training or during a race I think training comes down to the amount that you want to you want to push it right so you could be we're coming into the you know European season now where depending on races let's say in Barcelona even in Silverston, the UK in summer, even though the UK has some miserable weather, it tends to always be 35, 40 degrees whenever we're there in July. But you're looking at sometimes you're 38 degrees, 37 degrees Celsius. I don't know what that runs in Fahrenheit. But then when you're in your fireproof, you're suit over, or you're fireproof under your helmet, and you're sitting there baking inside, it's obviously an extreme exertion position to be in plus the stress that the stress that comes with it comes in it comes with it. So we can lose anywhere from two and a half to four g's over a race of, of body, you know, of, you know, of body water and fluid. And then in training, you know, what you can do to prepare that, we get your sort of boxing sweatsuits, or if you don't have that your hoodies and your rain jackets and get out either on the push bike or out running in this heat for typical time zones of one hour to one and a half hour to try to replicate those sort of situations. I got this last 10 pounds I need to lose Jack. It kind of reminds me of fighters because they got a drop weight really quick. They got to go in there and it's only up to them. They may have had a team to get them there. But if they have a bad fight day, it's over. You only get one shot. I could see why there's such a fatuation with F1. F1 has just become this, it's way bigger than a race. Long time ago, I went to the Daytona 500 race. that is a great experience. Completely different ballgame. It's very different. So when you think about this race, all the things that you mentioned, how did that prepare you to be in business and something that MBA could never teach you? I think not only are we let's say at racing driver, but you're also, you know, unfortunately, you know, fortunately and unfortunately are, you know, are to you're also an employee at the end of the day. So you know you have a lot of people either working for you or that you're working for and you're communicating with that have contracts, clauses, limitations, a lot of middlemen that are either trying to screw you over or acting your interest, figuring out who is really in your corner, who's not. And a lot of pros and cons along the way that either you know you learn from various various. hardly because of the mistakes you've made. Today's sponsor, Cheers, went from a Shark Tank rejection to over a hundred million dollars in sales. That is