Ninja HQ Get your free preview
About Ninja HQ

Built by ninjas. Backed by decades of business technology.

Ninja HQ was started on September 13, 2026 by Derek Cardinell, known on the course as Demolition Ninja: a competing ninja athlete, a ninja parent and a technology consultant who has spent more than twenty years helping companies make their biggest technology and business decisions.

Read our story Meet the team
Why we built it

We saw the problem from the competition floor

Every weekend, ninja families drive hours to compete. Then the results land on a different website for every league, and nobody can see the whole picture: not the athletes, not the parents, not the gyms that host them.

Behind the scenes it was the same. The gyms we trained and competed at were stitching together a website builder, a booking app, a waiver service, a registration form, email tools and spreadsheets. Each one cost money, none of them talked to each other, and none of them were made for ninja.

At Peak Beyond, that is exactly the kind of problem we solve for large companies: too many systems, no single view, and decisions made without the facts. Ninja gyms deserve that same thinking, without hiring a consulting firm. So we built it for them.

What we bring to the sport

  • Independent advice, not a sales pitchPeak Beyond recommends what fits the business, not what a vendor wants to sell. Ninja HQ is built the same way: one platform that does the job, so gyms stop paying for tools they don't need.
  • Business thinking for small gymsThe strategy, data and technology discipline large companies pay consultants for, built into the tools a gym uses every day.
  • People who live this sportWe compete, we coach our kids from the sidelines and we know the gym owners. We build what we would want as athletes and parents.
The team

Two technology leaders. One ninja family.

Ninja HQ combines Peak Beyond's experience advising companies on technology and business decisions with a real passion for the ninja community.

Derek Cardinell laughing on the competition floor in his Demolition Ninja shirt

Derek Cardinell

Founder · “Demolition Ninja”

Derek is a Partner and Chief Technology Consultant at Peak Beyond, where since 2018 he has helped companies turn complex technology and business challenges into results. Before that he was Chief Magento Officer at Red Rook (2012 to 2018) and Chief Technology Officer at Northeastern Business Systems (2005 to 2012), building commerce, point of sale and business systems for retailers. He studied at Cornell University.

On the course he is Demolition Ninja: 46 and chasing the dream on the road to American Ninja Warrior, training every day by one simple rule: failure, then progress, then the buzzer.

On the course

  • 10th in World Ninja2026 World Ninja League (WNL) World Championships
  • Championship competitorFINA and UNAA championships
  • FinalistUSA Ninja World Cup

Watch his 2026 American Ninja Warrior submission video (opens in a new tab)

Ninja runs in the family: Derek's son, Max Cardinell, competes in Teens and is on the pro team at NYX Training Center.

Instagram @demolition.ninja (opens in a new tab)LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

Troy Lynch

Troy Lynch

Partner · Founder of Peak Beyond and Outwaves

Troy founded Peak Beyond in 2011 and Outwaves, the company behind Ninja HQ. He has spent his career leading technology companies and advising the people who run them.

  • Chief Executive Officer, TradeCentricB2B commerce automation, as President and then CEO (2019 to 2023)
  • President, Metanet (Seoul)Grew a portfolio of 13 consulting, technology and digital companies to over $1 billion in revenue
  • President and CEO, eOn CommunicationsTook the company public on NASDAQ and grew it worldwide
  • Chief Technology Officer, Access Beyond and HayesLed research and development for remote internet access

Troy brings that experience in strategy, growth and building companies to every gym and league on the platform.

LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

How it started

From a rankings idea to a platform for the sport

Ninja HQ began as a weekend project to answer one question every ninja parent asks: how is my athlete doing across all the leagues? It grew fast once gyms saw what one connected platform could do.

  1. Ninja HQ is started

    • Results from the World Ninja League, FINA, UNAA, NSC and regional leagues brought together in one place for the first time

  2. The first gym website

    • A preview of NinjaFit's new site in Dallas, Georgia, with competition registration built in

  3. NinjaFit goes live

    • The first gym on Ninja HQ, on its own domain

  4. Ninja HQ opens to gyms

    • ninjahq.ai launches with free previews for any ninja gym

  5. The first league website

    • The Women's Ninja Association launches its new site on Ninja HQ
Where we're going

Stronger gyms. A stronger sport.

We want every ninja gym to grow, every league to be easy to follow and every athlete to be seen. If you run a gym or a league, we'd love to show you what we've built.

Get your free preview See how gyms rise together