Jun 29, 2026
What if a self-taught coder and waiter became one of the most active healthcare venture capitalists in the country – and could teach you everything about reinventing yourself, embracing the incubation period, and finding massive opportunity in the chaos everyone else is running from?
Join Nick Lamagna on The A Game Podcast: Real Estate Investing For Entrepreneurs for one of the most raw, real, and inspiring conversations we’ve had – Marcus Whitney, co-founder and CEO of Jumpstart Health Investors, 3x IBJJF Masters World Champion, soccer team co-owner, podcast host, hip hop head, and creative rebel who went from broke waiter in Nashville to venture capitalist disrupting the entire healthcare industry.
This isn’t just a business episode – it’s a masterclass on identity, reinvention, critical thinking, and what it really means to build a life worth living on your own terms, whether you’re in the grind, on the mat, or in the middle of figuring out what the next chapter looks like.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur trying to raise capital, a Jiu Jitsu competitor questioning your next move, a real estate investor looking for your edge, or just someone trying to figure out who they are when the title gets stripped away – this conversation will change the way you think about failure, freedom, and what it actually means to bring your A Game.
Marcus went from dropping out of college and showing up to a restaurant in uniform asking for a job on the spot, to building, scaling, and selling multiple companies and running one of the most active early-stage healthcare VC firms in the US. Now he’s opening up about the lessons, the losses, and the season of life nobody talks about – the incubation period.
While most people only talk about the climb, Marcus breaks down the real game:
✅ Why standing still is the riskiest move you can make in today’s economy – and what entrepreneurship as “full contact economics” really means
✅ How to separate your identity from your achievements so failure never has the power to break you
✅ The difference between the Hustler and the Hacker – and why you need both to create outsized performance in business and in life
✅ What waiting tables taught him about people skills that no MBA program ever could
✅ Why the incubation period isn’t failure – it’s the most important season of growth most people never give themselves permission to experience
✅ How surrounding yourself with the right people (and cutting back on the wrong ones) is the single biggest lever you can pull for your future
✅ Why hope is the most underrated weapon an entrepreneur has – and how to use it to survive the seasons when nothing seems to be working
✅ What Jiu Jitsu, venture capital, and going back to white belt in Mexico City all have in common + more
Connect with Marcus:
Connect with Jumpstart Foundry:
Jumpstart Foundry on Instagram
Connect with Jumpstart Health Ecosystem:
Connect with Nashville Soccer Club:
Nashville Soccer Club on Instagram
Nashville Soccer Club on Facebook
Nashville Soccer Club on YouTube
Nashville Soccer Club on LinkedIn
Nashville Soccer Club on TikTok
Nashville Soccer Club on Twitter
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