Still Standing LLC
Still Standing LLC is the personal speaking and publishing business of John Kriesel, a retired SSG and Iraq combat veteran who delivers resilience-themed keynotes and sells his award-winning memoir 'Still Standing' to corporate, educational, and community audiences across the United States.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersBayport, Minnesota, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Still Standing LLC does
Still Standing LLC is a privately held Minnesota LLC that operates as the personal speaking and publishing business of John Kriesel, a retired Minnesota Army National Guard staff sergeant who lost both legs in a December 2, 2006 IED attack in Iraq. The company generates revenue through two streams: keynote speaking engagements booked via johnkriesel.com for corporate events, conferences, schools, and community organizations (quote-based fees plus travel reimbursement outside the Twin Cities), and sales of the award-winning memoir 'Still Standing: The Story of SSG John Kriesel' co-authored with Jim Kosmo, distributed through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Itasca Books in print, eBook, and audio formats at $19.95 plus tax.
The business is a sole-deliverer services venture with no technology products, software platforms, or recurring software revenue; differentiation rests entirely on Kriesel's personal narrative, his credibility as a former Minnesota House member, current Director of Veteran Services, and KFAN Radio personality, and on the book's eight national awards and 11th-printing traction. Customer acquisition relies on direct website booking, organic social media, NSA professional membership, and the book itself as a marketing vehicle. Notable enterprise customers include CHS, Target, Thomson Reuters, and the Minnesota Wild.
Operationally the firm is small (1-10 employees, single Twin Cities base), horizontally segmented across corporate, educational, and community buyers, and dependent on the principal's personal availability for revenue. There is no external funding, no institutional ownership, and no disclosed expansion beyond nationwide United States keynote engagements and multi-channel book distribution.
Still Standing LLC firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Still Standing LLC
- Legal name
- Still Standing, LLC
- Website
- https://johnmkriesel.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Still Standing LLC is the personal speaking and publishing business of John Kriesel, a retired SSG and Iraq combat veteran who delivers resilience-themed keynotes and sells his award-winning memoir 'Still Standing' to corporate, educational, and community audiences across the United States.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Still Standing LLC industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Professional Speaking Services
- NAICS
- Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (711410)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Conferences & Sales Kickoffs (MPAGAGAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Corporate Meetings & Conferences (Internal/External Business Events) (MPAGAHAA)
Keywords
Where Still Standing LLC is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bayport, Minnesota
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Still Standing LLC business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Keynote Speaking Engagements: Primary revenue stream from keynote speaking engagements at corporate events, conferences, schools, and community organizations. Fees vary based on event location and travel requirements.
- Book Sales: Sale of the book 'Still Standing: The Story of SSG John Kriesel' co-authored with Jim Kosmo, available in print, eBook, and audio formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Itasca Books. Book can be signed and personalized for events.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom Speaking Fee |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Still Standing LLC product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Still Standing LLC provides keynote speaking engagements delivered by John Kriesel to corporate events, conferences, schools, and community organizations across the United States, with fees customized based on event location and travel. The company also sells the memoir 'Still Standing: The Story of SSG John Kriesel' (co-authored with Jim Kosmo) in print, eBook, and audio formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Itasca Books, including personalized/signed copies at speaking events.
Product overview
Still Standing LLC is a service-based business operated by motivational speaker John Kriesel. The company offers keynote speaking services for corporate events, organizations, schools, and community groups, as well as John Kriesel's memoir book titled 'Still Standing: The Story of SSG John Kriesel'. This is not a technology product company—it is a personal speaking and publishing enterprise without software products or platforms.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- John Kriesel Keynote Speaking Engagement Custom keynote speaking engagement delivered in person by John Kriesel to corporate events, sales kickoffs, conferences, schools, community organizations, and veteran-related groups across the United States. The presentation focuses on resilience, gratitude, and choosing joy, told through the speaker's personal story of surviving a combat injury in Iraq. Fees are quote-based and vary by event location and travel requirements; host organizations cover travel expenses outside the Twin Cities metro.
- Still Standing: The Story of SSG John Kriesel (Book) Memoir book by John Kriesel, co-authored with Jim Kosmo, that recounts the author's survival of a 200-pound IED explosion in Iraq on December 2, 2006, the loss of both legs, and the long recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Available in print, eBook, and audio formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Itasca Books, priced at $19.95 plus tax. Signed and personalized copies are available at speaking events and by pre-order. The book has won eight national book awards.
Companies that use Still Standing LLC
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Still Standing LLC technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Still Standing LLC partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Itasca BookscorePublisher of 'Still Standing: The Story of SSG John Kriesel' - distributes book through ItascaBooks.com and handles book orders for events. Book available in print, eBook, and audio formats.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Still Standing LLC competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Mel Robbins: Bestselling author and one of the most-booked motivational keynote speakers in the corporate market. Operates in the same horizontal corporate keynote segment with a broader portfolio (books, podcast, courses) and greater institutional backing.
- Lisa Nichols: Motivational keynote speaker and bestselling author focused on personal transformation, with extensive corporate event history. Comparable audience and use cases (corporate teams, schools, communities) but a much larger platform and speaker bureau footprint.
- Brendon Burchard: High-volume motivational keynote speaker and author with a full agency and course ecosystem. Competes for the same corporate resilience/performance speaking budgets but with significantly broader product and revenue diversification.
Direct peers
- Marcus Luttrell: Former Navy SEAL and 'Lone Survivor' author who, like Kriesel, monetizes a combat-survivor narrative through keynote speaking and a multi-award memoir. Operates an identical two-stream business model (speaking + book) targeting corporate audiences.
- Nick Vujicic: Motivational keynote speaker and author who built a global speaking brand around overcoming physical adversity. Directly comparable in using an authentic personal-overcoming-adversity narrative to win corporate and school speaking engagements.
- Wes Moore: Combat veteran, bestselling author ('The Other Wes Moore'), and public servant who speaks on leadership and resilience. Comparable as a veteran-author-keynote hybrid with a similar positioning and audience profile.
- J.R. Martinez: Iraq war veteran who suffered severe burns and built a motivational speaking career, also authoring a memoir. Highly comparable on the 'wounded warrior keynote speaker' niche and corporate event audience overlap with Still Standing.
- Tim Tebow: Athlete-turned-motivational keynote speaker and author. Competes for the same enterprise sales kickoff and corporate inspiration slots, with a comparable one-person speaking + published book business model at greater scale.
Others
- Itasca Books: Independent book publisher that publishes 'Still Standing' and operates as a channel partner/distributor for the company. Adjacent ecosystem participant — not a competitor — included to reflect the published-book side of the business.
Emerging players
- Tom Bilyeu: Motivational keynote speaker and content entrepreneur (Impact Theory) targeting resilience, mindset, and performance themes. Overlaps with Still Standing's corporate speaking positioning while leveraging a digital-first media platform.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Still Standing LLC social profiles
Digital presenceStill Standing LLC financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Still Standing LLC leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Still Standing LLC funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Still Standing LLC M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Still Standing LLC
What does Still Standing LLC do?
Still Standing LLC provides keynote speaking engagements delivered by John Kriesel to corporate events, conferences, schools, and community organizations across the United States, with fees customized based on event location and travel. The company also sells the memoir 'Still Standing: The Story of SSG John Kriesel' (co-authored with Jim Kosmo) in print, eBook, and audio formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Itasca Books, including personalized/signed copies at speaking events.
Is Still Standing LLC a public or private company?
Still Standing LLC is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Still Standing LLC founded?
Still Standing LLC was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Still Standing LLC based?
Still Standing LLC is headquartered in Bayport, Minnesota, United States, in the North America region.
How does Still Standing LLC make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Keynote Speaking Engagements are the primary driver. The others are book Sales.
Who are Still Standing LLC's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Mel Robbins, Lisa Nichols and Brendon Burchard. Direct peers are Marcus Luttrell, Nick Vujicic, Wes Moore, J.R. Martinez and Tim Tebow. Itasca Books is listed as an others. Tom Bilyeu is listed as an emerging player.
Does Still Standing LLC have an API?
No public API is recorded for Still Standing LLC.
What industry is Still Standing LLC in?
Still Standing LLC's product category is Professional Speaking Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGAGAC, Corporate Conferences & Sales Kickoffs, with a secondary code of MPAGAHAA, Corporate Meetings & Conferences (Internal/External Business Events). Its NAICS code is 5131 and its SIC code is 2731.