The Money Mondays - Why So Many Millionaire Athletes Lose Everything (and How to Avoid It) 🏋️‍♂️ EP145

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

In this episode of The Money Mondays podcast, Dan Fleyshman sits down with Chip Paucek to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by professional athletes after retirement. Chip shares how his organization, ProAthlete Community (PAC), described as “YPO for pro athletes” helps athletes transition from sports to successful careers and investments through mentorship, education, and connection. The conversation dives deep into the mindset shifts needed to thrive beyond the spotlight, from financial literacy to finding purpose through charity and community building.Christopher J. Paucek also known as "Chip Paucek" is the co-founder and CEO of ProAthlete Community, an organization designed to support professional athletes in unlocking their long-term potential. Before founding PAC, Chip was the co-founder and CEO of 2U, one of the world’s largest online education companies, which he took public and grew to nearly a billion dollars in revenue. With decades of entrepreneurial experience, Chip is now dedicated to empowering elite athletes to channel their discipline and drive into new ventures, education, and philanthropy after their playing careers end.Like this episode? Watch more like it 👇UFC Michael Chandler & CEO Wes Watson Talk MONEY 💸: https://youtu.be/e2J-QZU3cQE7x Mr Olympia Flex Lewis & Bedros Keuilian's TOP MONEY TIPS 💪: https://youtu.be/LAA-OsePAOQMowing Lawns to Madison Square: The Grind to Pro | Andre Berto 🥊 : https://youtu.be/INn4jL1iRR4NFL Player Turned Real Estate Investor & CEO of RepeatMD w/ Larry English & Phil Sitter 💵 : https://youtu.be/Gk07Zz56MFgWatch ALL Full Episodes Here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs0D-M5aH-0IOUKtQPKts-VZfO55mfH6k---The Money Mondays is a business podcast here to teach you how to make money, invest money, and donate money by showcasing some of the world's most successful people and how they do the same. Hosted by serial entrepreneur Dan Fleyshman, the youngest founder of a publicly traded company in history, this money podcast gives you an exclusive behind the scenes look at how the wealthiest celebrities, entrepreneurs, athletes and influencers make, invest and donate money.If you want to learn more business and investing while you work to improve your financial life, you're in the right place! Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneymondays?sub_confirmation=1Dan Fleyshman,The Money MondaysLearn more here: https://themoneymondays.comWatch all the podcast episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs0D-M5aH-0IOUKtQPKts-VZfO55mfH6kLet’s Connect...Website: https://themoneymondays.comPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-money-mondays/id1663564091Twitter: https://twitter.com/themoneymondaysLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-money-mondays/about/TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@themoneymondaysFB: https://www.facebook.com/The-Money-Mondays-110233585203220/

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Monday Monday's podcast where normally I'm inside of an RV motorhome, but today I'm at the Zeta Global Live Conference. We have over 2,000 CMOs and CEOs downstairs for different brands and executives. One of them is sitting right across the table from me. So I want to make these special edition episodes. Normally these podcasts are around 30 to 40 minutes. These episodes are only 20 to 25 minutes because we're trying to go back to back to back. and there's a live event going downstairs so the speakers, like my next guest,

need to go over to get speaking on stage. As you guys know, we cover three core topics, how to make money, how to invest money, how to give away to charity. This gentleman has not only done it himself, he's inspired thousands of athletes and executives to do the same thing out into the world. So without further ado, Chip, if you can give us a quick two-minute bio, so we get straight to the money. Sure, great to be here.

Chip Poussak, co-founder, CEO, pro-athlete community. It's like YPO for pro athletes. So it's education and mentoring for pro athletes to help unlock their long-term future. They're incredibly elite people that candidly did not actually win because of their athletic ability. I know that sounds crazy. You think, no, they're pro athletes. They actually won because of grit, rigor, drive, resilience, and they just need exposure to new opportunities. And when they get done playing, if they're going the right direction, it's amazing what they can accomplish.

So started it three years ago. The company that I started before that, when I was 30, I'm 50. Now, when I was 37, I started a company called 2U. One of the biggest online education companies in the world. So I took a public, got it close to a billion in revenue, was a public CEO for 10 years. So left to do this. And, you know, I really think long term this will be the most important thing that I do in my career.

Wow. Why is it important for athletes to come together, to learn? We have obviously heard that, you know, the statistic that 85% of NFL athletes end up going bankrupt within five years of leaving the league. Whether that number is 74%, 92%, who knows the actual number, let's just use that as a general number. That's staggering. Even if it's 20, 30%, that would be staggering and sad.

Talk us through why you decide to do it and why it's important for athletes to consider joining groups like this. You know, the community of people we serve, they're remarkable and people don't understand how challenging the setup is for them. So when people hear the story of pro-athlet community, they tend to think of that ESPN show 30-for-30 broke, where it's like, oh, these guys made so much money, and then they lose their money.

The challenge of being a pro athlete, like you're so good at this particular thing, whether it's football or basketball or soccer, you name the sport, and you got really, really, really good at it at an early age, and you get into a lane. And at a very young age, when you're done playing, people tell you at 31, you're retired.

What is that? That's crazy. You're not, I'm 54, and I'm nowhere near done. Right, you're ready to rock. Yeah, exactly. So, but what's, interesting is while they're playing, they also get judged pretty severely for doing anything that isn't that sport. People say, oh, you're not serious. So if you're playing football and you're caught doing some real estate, you're not serious about football. It makes no sense. There's really nothing

else in the world like it. So they're on a stage that is, you know, 80,000 people screaming their name coming out of their tunnel. They're judged pretty severely for every little move. Every little move. And then, you know, when they're done playing, the phone stops ringing. And so bringing together athletes who've had a shared experience in this elite fashion and giving them exposure to new opportunities. You know, one of the people that's here with me today is, you know, unbelievably successful tight end named Julius Thomas, caught a bunch of touchdown passes from Peyton Manning. You know, J.T. got his doctorate in psychology when he was done playing, and he leads a lot of the work at PAC related to athlete transition. Like, it's a really challenging

moment for these pros and for their families because you go from this massive sort of 80,000 people screaming your name coming out of the tunnel to the phone not ringing. You're very young. And what JT would tell you is pro sports will be, if done properly, pro sports is not your last meal. It's your first meal. There's a lot ahead. And so you look at somebody like Julius, you know, he now has a company called optimal performance that's all about high performance coaching. And that's the lane he's now in, but he's doing incredibly well. And so helping these guys and gals, we have a ton of women in PAC also, actually achieve a wonderful long-term future. You know, at this stage of my life, I feel blessed to be doing something where I'm really making a difference. And, you know,

it's also wild to see what happens when you apply that sort of rigor that they have to this, whatever the new thing is. And, you know, being comfortable, being uncomfortable is something that we spend a lot of time talking about, PAC, because, you know, they, as I said, they got so good at their sport. It's like they weren't just the best athlete in their hometown. They were the best athlete in their state. Right. You know, it's crazy.

Right. 1% of 1% and 1% and 1% and 1%. And so giving them the, the push to go, into whether it be, you know, nonprofit, go get a great job. You know, the other thing is I have a bunch of founders that come to PAC. Some guys are, some of the people like Julius are going to found companies. Some people are going to get out and just go get a great job. I mean, PAC member Justin Tuck, great example. He left the league. Now he's at Goldman Sachs. He's doing really well at Goldman Sachs. So giving them whatever that inspiration is, is part of our job.

And, you know, the fact that there was no IPO for pro sports kind of blew my mind. So we think we're on to something pretty big. We're getting close to 2,000 pros right now. 2000? Yeah. So if there's a pro listening or someone that's friends or cousins or sons or daughters of a pro, how do they go sign up? How do they become a part of your world?

So if you go to proathletecommunity.com, you can apply. We verify you as a pro and then you're in. You know, I'm very proud to tell you that I'm proud to be the CEO of this company, but I'm not a member. My COO played for five NFL teams. He was a very successful safety. He's a member. You know, like, you have to be a pro athlete to be in PAC.

Now, I bring in a bunch of CEOs to do mentoring. So we've got an incredible event in March where we have something called the pros and CEOs golf invitational. And, you know, bringing together great CEOs and pro athletes, it's a remarkable opportunity for networking both directions. The CEOs and the founders are super excited to be involved with the athletes and vice versa. So we formed a lot of great mentoring relationships, including David Seinberg from Zeta Global, who's been super active inside a PAC. Which is how we met. Yeah, exactly.

So David's been a big supporter of PAC, and we really, really appreciate it. So on the investing side, why is it important for athletes and people in general to learn about investing, whether it's real estate, stock market, cryptocurrency, angel investing, there's so many options. Why is it important for them to learn about it? Well, I mean, you know, at the end of the day, everything's about education. never stopped learning. And, you know, there are so many different options for investing your money. You know, it's been fascinating for me because this is my fourth startup. And sort of what I tell the players is like my lane was startups. And I would tell you, it's a really

tough lane. Like, you know, startups take forever. Many of them don't work. You know, most startups fail. And so you might be 10 years into your journey. Now, my first company, I started when I was 21 and I ran it for 10 years. And we produced a PBS television show and gave a bunch of really famous people their first acting job and the show did well but the business was really hard so we were selling DVDs at the time

it's all pre-internet and we sold 5 million DVDs but ultimately that company you know when I sold it I sold it for a bag of magic beans like I didn't I didn't have the experience that I end up having it to you where I took it public and it got really big

the reason I go there is like that lane of startups is something that is very comfortable to me but as I've gone through PAC I personally have broadened my horizons in terms of my own investment strategies because I'm being educated by a bunch of experts on things like triple net real estate. I never realized there was such a thing that you could pass a empty lot in your hometown and pave it and put up a Chipotle. That was a brand new way to make money for me. I'd never heard of it. So whether you're into stocks, crypto, real estate, whatever it might be, just getting

greater confidence by learning more is a big part of what we do. So we've got all these different experts training them on, you know, some aspects of financial literacy, some aspects of, you know, deeper content like AI or real estate. And that's how you succeed in life. It's like be comfortable, being uncomfortable. Like you, of course you don't know everything, but the more you learn, the more successful you can be. And so it gives me, you know, it gives me pride to to be able to help unlock not just their head and their heart work, but also help them be successful financially. So that's what we try to do. So on the investing side, they got the money, they retired, they're learning, they start to deploy. A lot of times it's the overhead that's

been hurting a lot of athletes. They're taking care of their cousins, their friends, their friend from school, their friends, friends, friends, friends, cousins from school as well. What is it from the mentality perspective that can be done to help them learn as they're growing up to actually lower their overhead. I think, you know, I mean, I think at the end of the day, it's about making sure that there are great people around them. Now, the people that are coming to PAC and that are applying to PAC and that are joining PAC are, you know, they are, they are self-selecting to invest in themselves. Yeah. And so that's one of the things we talk about is like if you invest in yourself, you cultivate meaningful relationships. If you do those two things, you'll elevate

your life and those around you. So, like, that's part of what we believe. And that cultivating meaningful relationships part is really important. So making sure that there are good people around you that have the expertise that you don't have. And, you know, as a successful CEO, I would tell you that, like, I'm very comfortable knowing that I don't know everything. And it's all about putting great people around me, putting the right people around you to unlock you. Well, the opposite is also true. If you have the wrong people around you, it's a rough go. And, you know, my, my, background, you know, my parents are amazing, but I don't come from any wealth. You know, I put myself through school and, you know, when I got to college, I didn't own a winter code, I'd never seen

snow. You know, education completely changed my life and feel very fortunate that, you know, I met my wife in college and we've been together. We just celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. So life is all about these relationships and about making sure that you've got the right people around you to succeed. Athletes are no different. I mean, one of the challenges for them is that, you know, that they're on is so bright and so you know you certainly have some of the wrong people are going to be around try to be around them at times I think one of the reasons why PAC has been successful is that they know that we're not in it to be another person trying to get into their pocket we're in it for community I think

the durable mode of PAC is trust to be honest I think they've I'm big believer as a startup language durable mode if you can really build a durable mode. I actually think the reason PAC is working is that they know that this community is actually about the community. It's not about me trying to get their money to invest or whatever. But, you know, amazing what kind of expertise you can bring in. And that's one of the things that I tell all the PAC members is like, use what you got. And what they have is an incredible career as an athlete and the world wants to be around them. So if you start applying that the right way, you know, it's amazing what rooms you can walk in.

You know, even at this conference, this conference is, I mean, every Fortune 500 company CMO is here. Like, these are big, big companies. And I can tell you, most people at this conference are super excited to meet C.J. Watson and Shane Batti, you know, so it's amazing what, if they apply that mindset the right way, what doors it'll open. On the charity side of the podcast, we'd like to cover that topic. Why do you think it's important for athletes or business people in general?

or also have some charity component into their world? Well, I mean, like, from a purpose standpoint, it's actually fascinating. Something like a third of the PAC membership are super active in their foundations. And, you know, some pro athletes, that is what they end up doing full time. You know, very proud of Antoine Bethay.

I don't know if you know that player, but really successful safety in the NFL, and he came through PAC, and he really unlocked his long-term future by opening up a really incredible rec center in the Norfolk area where he's from, and just watching it grow. Today, Latavius Murray is with me, very successful running back. He played 12 years or something like that in a position in the NFL that you typically don't have that kind of longevity, and he's built a really significant presence in his hometown of Syracuse, New York. And so, like, that's power, you know, that may be what some folks are going to do

as their primary profession going forward. But, you know, at the end of the day, like, how much does money matter? Purpose matters more, you know, so I feel one of the things that's neat about, what we're doing at PAC is the just helping these guys and gals figure out what that long-term you know I always say I'm not going to be able to tell you it's not my job to tell you what to burn for but it is certainly my job to help you figure out that burn just like you had when you were playing and charitable work is meaningful and so it's a big part of PAC we actually have a series of nonprofit experts that actually help them structure it the right way because

That's a place where you can also get in trouble. You know, so helping them with the structure of their charitable activities is important, too. Very cool. All right. So where can people find you? Where can they find the company and tell us all about it? So pro-athlete community.com. You can find us on, obviously, on the Internet, on Instagram.

It's private community. I'm Chip Pousa, C-H-I-P-A-U-C-E-K. You can find me on Instagram or on Twitter. And we would love, if you're a pro-athlete, come join us. It's an incredible honor to have close to 2,000 pros today. And, you know, there's 770,000 pro athletes in the world. Wow. And 300,000 of them in English language. And we actually don't think this will remain just in English. So we have a PAC chapter in Madrid that just spun. We have a PAC chapter in Dubai. And one other thing I would love to say is we did announce

something called PACFluence, which is pretty neat. It's a partnership with Cameo, and it's an opportunity for brands. Where would you go if you're a brand to get 500 players to do an activation of some kind on social media? We think that's a really cool opportunity. Yeah, so we just announced that yesterday. I got some brands for you. Yeah. That's great. I love it. So that's a partnership with Cameo. And then we've got our big flagship event in March. If you're a CEO and you're interested in attending, just check us out at PAC. It's called PAC. accelerate largest collection of athletes, CEOs, and brands coming together. What city is that in?

It's in Phoenix. Very cool. So that's a late March. Very cool. You got to come. I'm in. I'm in. All right, guys.

As you know, we cover these three core topics about money, but it's because we grew up thinking it's rude to talk about money. I think that's ridiculous. We've got to have these discussions, whether it's with athletes, with children, your friends, family, and followers. We have to be able to have open discussions about money is part of our daily lives. Taxes, loans, should I lease, should I buy? What should I do about my rent?

What if I borrow $400 for my friend? How do I, like, there's your questions of our real life things that we need to be able to talk about. And that's why it's important for this podcast. That's why it's important for you guys to talk about it with your friends, family, and followers. So like, comment, subscribe.

I appreciate you guys. Check out, PAC, and everything that Chip is up to. And we'll see you guys next Monday here at the money Mondays.com.