John Hennessey’s passion for cars began as a child, sitting on his father’s lap as he drove and feeling the thrill of shifting gears. What started as a love for fast cars grew into a pursuit of speed and performance. Despite limited finances, John’s entrepreneurial drive led him to start a car modification business with no formal training. Through trial and error, he founded Hennessey Performance Engineering, known for the Venom F5, the world’s fastest car. In this episode, John shares how passion fueled his success, how he navigates criticism and competition, the role of branding in building a powerful business, and his mission to mentor future engineers through Tuner School.

John Hennessy is the founder and CEO of Hennessey Special Vehicles and Hennessey Performance Engineering, known for high-performance, custom-built vehicles. Under his leadership, Hennessey Performance has become a recognized leader in automotive innovation, specializing in speed, power, and precision.

In this episode, Ilana and John will discuss:

(00:00) Introduction 

(01:30) Falling in Love With Cars as a Kid

(04:51) Lessons from Early Jobs and Entrepreneurship

(09:38) Racing Adventures and Early Successes

(17:37) Turning His Passion for Cars into a Business

(20:09) Leveraging Media Relationships to Build a Brand

(29:15) How YouTube Helped Scale His Business

(32:58) Overcoming Challenges to Build the Venom F5

(38:09) Financial Management and Business Growth

(40:46) Embracing Haters as a Sign of Relevance

(42:44) Building a Brand on Authenticity and Value

(45:13) Training the Next Generation with Tuner School

(49:00) Lessons From 35 Years of Entrepreneurship

John Hennessy is the founder and CEO of Hennessey Special Vehicles and Hennessey Performance Engineering, known for high-performance, custom-built vehicles. An engineer with a passion for speed, John created the Hennessey Venom F5, a hypercar designed to exceed 300 mph. He also founded Tuner School to train future vehicle engineers and tuners. Under his leadership, Hennessey Performance has become a recognized leader in automotive innovation, specializing in speed, power, and precision.

Connect with John:

John’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/john-hennessey-9645a0b

John’s Instagram: instagram.com/john_hennessey_texas

Resources Mentioned:

Hennessey Performance: hennesseyperformance.com 

Tuner School: https://tunerschool.com 

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