Don Panoz, Legendary Entreprenuer

In this episode we revisit Edwin's 2018 conversation with legendary entrepreneur Don Panoz.  Don Panoz had an amazing career as an entrepreneur and innovator. He started out in pharmaceuticals and is credited with inventing the technology behind the nicotine patch.

After retiring from pharmaceuticals, Don took his innovative mindset and entrepreneurial spirit to the automotive world.   Along with his son Dan, Don created Panoz cars which makes limited edition custom sports cars. Don also got into motor sports racing, and founded the American Le Mans series. He founded the 10 hours petit Le Mans race in 1998 which is a major even held every fall at Road Atlanta in  Braselton, GA. His race cars have won the 24 hours of Le Mans, Sebring and the petite Le Mans . At one time Don owned race tracks including Road Atlanta and Sebring. 

In this episode we talk to Don about his start in pharmaceuticals, his transition to motorsports racing, getting the 1960 World Series champs to invest in his first company, the time he thought he killed Mario Andretti and his philosophy with regards to business and entrepreneurship.  You can watch the video, and get more information about this and other episodes at https://techrides.io. Subscribe to our member list to stay in touch with all of our content. 

Don Panoz passed away a few months after the recording of this episode. On the day we filmed he said he was not feeling well, but gave us no indication of his battle with pancreatic cancer at the time. Don Panoz was a family man, a true innovator and a kind and remarkable person. Don will be remembered for leaving this world much better than he found it.