The Birth of GOAT

Here is my original post from VoxDigitas from May 2011.

Time to Get Off Our Collective Behinds

I used to be in decent shape. I worked out… I ran 10K races ~five times a year… I even did a few triathlons. And then I became a startup entrepreneur… and I quickly got out of shape. Our days are filled with meetings, airplanes, whiteboards… and of course lots of computer screen time. I know a LOT of entrepreneurs who just don’t make the time any more to get active. Recently I started doing six-mile-ish walks on the weekends and it’s been great. Turns out that walking a mile and running a mile burns about the same number of calories and is amazing for reducing stress, lowering blood pressure and improving the cholesterol math… and it doesn’t beat up the joints like running does (which is really important for us big guys.) I’ve decided to expand my walks into the work week and will be inviting a bunch of startup founders to join in if they want to.

I admit that “Geeks on a Trail” is a rip off of one of my most favoritest tech event names ever, “Geeks on a Plane”. I haven’t asked Dave McClure for permission to plagiarize (sorry Dave)… but I think he’d be cool with it. You’re cool with it, right Dave?? And, Dave, if you’re ever in Seattle then I hope you’ll join us for a walk (I’m just sayin’).

If you’re interested in getting some solid activity built into your week then please feel free to join in. There’s no requirement to socialize… do whatever you want while you’re walking. Listen to your iPod, make phone calls, hold an executive teem meeting, catch up on email… whatever justifies you making the two-hour investment in your health. I’ll be trying to be as productive as I can; in fact, I’ve already decided that I’m getting a tablet computer just so I can be more productive while I walk.

If you want to get added to the invite list and the calendar reminders, first have a look at the requirements for joining — the requirements are the same as the requirements for Startup Haven and Startup Poker 2.0. If you still think it’s a good fit, then send a note to goat{@}startuphaven{dot}com.

Hope you can join in.

Bob

PS. These are invite-only walks are for tech startup founders, execs and investors only… so please no service providers unless you are invited by a GOAT walker.