Trust Agents, 10th Edition

2Make Your Own Game

Poster Child?

Mark Fisher was a New York City actor who wanted to work out. He knew his way around a gym, but he never felt quite at home in one. With that thought as a start, Mark set to work deconstructing and rethinking what a gym experience would look like for people who weren't exactly gym people.

In 2011, out popped Mark Fisher Fitness. It appealed to people who wanted to get in serious shape, but who couldn't stand the culture of a gym. Basically, he made a haven for misfits and weirdos like himself.

Instead of members, you become a ninja. It's not atypical to see someone working out with a unicorn horn strapped to their head, or a fuzzy feather boa. The people who come there are as weird as he is and love this place like it's their own.

But that's the thing. Mark didn't have to open a franchise of someone else's gym. He created his own way, his own style, his own philosophy, and has changed the lives of thousands and thousands of people, one sparkly pair of purple sunglasses at a time.

He's not alone. Sam Walton was running a Ben Franklin store, but the corporate entity kept getting in the way of his profits, so he started Walmart. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak didn't think everyone wanted mainframes, so they created their own type of computer. Richard Branson does it all the time, most recently by deciding that he should make commercial space travel part of his game.

But making your own game is not just about trying to find innovative ways to improve ...