When Steven Pivnik recently returned to Clermont, Florida, to compete in the 2024 Ultraman Florida triathlon, he had some unfinished business to attend to. Pivnik, who is an advisor, author, and speaker as well as an endurance sports athlete, had journeyed to Clermont a year ago to compete in the 2023 race, but things didn’t go nearly as well as he had hoped.
Pivnik had trouble in the challenging 6.2-mile swim portion of the triathlon as well as other portions of this extreme race which led to him receiving a DNF (Did Not Finish) for the race. The failure was disappointing, but it didn’t derail Pivnik from his mission. In fact, before leaving Clermont he snapped a picture of himself by the finish line as a souvenir to help him envision what he would achieve in the future.
Overcoming setbacks with perseverance
As Pivnik explains in his new book “Built to Finish,” success — whether in business, triathlons, or life in general — ultimately has everything to do with perseverance.
“It is hard to predict ups and downs,” Pivnik writes. “You have to roll with the punches, welcoming in the good days but always remaining prepared, mentally and physically, for the difficult ones. Take time to mourn the losses, but remember that you have no choice but to carry on. We are who we are because of our experiences.”
That attitude has carried Pivnik through a good deal of challenges, including an immigrant journey that brought his family to New York from Russia where they were threatened because of their Jewish heritage. Pivnik and his family worked hard to establish themselves in their new country, instilling in him a valuable lesson about the power of perseverance.
“The grind can be tough,” Pivnik shares in his new book, “but anything that has real value results from effort, dedication, determination, and resilience. The grind is perseverance.”
Pivnik’s worth ethic ultimately led him to establish Binary Tree, a technology company that was named to the Inc500 — an honor awarded to the fastest-growing companies in the US — and was included on the Inc5000 list seven years in a row. Part of the success Pivnik experienced at Binary Tree included closing multi-million dollar licensing deals with IBM and Microsoft.
It was during his time at Binary Tree that Pivnik became an endurance sports athlete.
“Steven the businessman and CEO became Steven the Triathlete,” Pivnik recalls in the book. “Persistence, discipline, resilience, and drive became the bedrock for my success as an athlete just as they had been the bedrock for my success in and out of the boardroom for many years.”
In the years that followed, Pivnik eventually grew Binary Tree to a company with more than 200 employees in 12 countries before orchestrating a successful exit to its $4 billion competitor Quest Software. He also became more involved in endurance sports, competing in over a dozen full-distance IRONMAN® triathlons, including the IRONMAN® World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, and eight New York City Marathons.
Pivnik’s return to Clermont
Pivnik left the 2023 Florida Ultraman with a commitment to train more consistently and more intensely in preparation for the 2024 triathlon. He now had a taste for the grueling event, which is among the most taxing competitions any athlete can undergo.
On the first day of the Ultraman, participants must swim 6.2 miles and cycle 90 miles, completing both legs of the race in less than 12 hours. Last year, Pivnik wasn’t able to complete the swim portion of the race. This year, however, he finished the swim in just over 5 hours, and the first bike leg in 6 hours, ultimately qualifying for day two of the race.
Day two of the Ultraman requires participants to complete 170 miles of cycling in less than 12 hours. Pivnik completed it in 11 hours and 43 minutes, even though an equipment failure slowed him down.
On day three, Pivnik had trouble. His challenge for the day involved running 52.4 miles — two full marathons — in under 12 hours. He made it to 42.5 miles before his body refused to carry him further. Once again, he was not able to finish.
“My performance greatly improved,” Pivnik reports. “In fact, I set a personal record for each phase of the race. While I received an overall ‘Did Not Finish,’ this was a massive win in my book. And I’ll be back to claim an official finisher medal.”
Pivnik’s response to what many would view as a failure reveals an attitude that echoes throughout his writings and the counsel that he offers as a business advisor and keynote speaker on resilience.
“Not finishing is not failure,” Pivnik says. “Not finishing is just not finishing — nothing more and nothing less. Failure is falling short of your goals and never endeavoring to go after them again.”
Pivnik may not have achieved redemption in Clermont in 2024, but he’ll be back to achieve his goal of becoming a Florida Ultraman finisher.
