Adventures Of A Lifetime...

Good morning from Tuscany…

If you follow along here you know I take a few trips a year with friends cycling around Europe.

Here is the backstory to it all…

Way back in 2016, my friend (and LP) Michael Kinsbergen invited me to the Alps to ride with a group of his friends. I did it (fun read). I was out of shape and over 200 pounds (now 180) but the invite woke me up and appealed to me. I was way unprepared for the July snowstorm and the brutality of the climbs, but it was an incredible adventure and Michael looked after me on the mountains.

His pal Uli became a great friend (also an LP) and joined Michel and I this year for the Tuscany week of riding. He is hysterical and a beast. Here we are having a laugh (Uli on the left).

In 2020, my friend Mike Dean invited me into another group (with his buddy Ali Benham and Michael Morell) that did very hard bike trips in Europe organized by Filipo and Biko Adventures. I joined and we have had incredible adventures.

Over the last four years I have melded these groups of friends and we have all added a few new friends that has led to some amazing experiences. We all continue to pay the network, the adventures and experiences forward

On this trip the mix is very different as Ali, Mike and Michael could not join. They are missed, but the Biko tours live on.

This year is probably the most diverse and international of of our trips. I am Canadian, Uli is German, Michael is Dutch, Farhad is born in USA but lived in Iran until he was 19, Sam is American (Irish), Filipo is Italian (lives in Prague), Roy is Israeli and American (LA) and Raja is American living in Dallas (family is from India).

I am lucky that everyone is also an LP of ours at Social Leverage. Everyone in the group is an entrepreneur and the conversations are always fantastic. History, religion, politics, food, family, investing, startups, marketing and on this trip a lot of soccer. Michael Kinsbergen was the CEO of Ajax so it is like having the CEO of Dallas Cowboys or The Boston Celtics at your table. Sam runs technical recruiting at LIghtspeed Ventures so we can dive deep on how to build teams and hire. Farhad founded Tubi.tv (the largest free movie and streaming service in the USA) and he has incredible marketing and strategy stories and insights. I have endless notes for founders in our portfolio and google docs being shared. We are not working but working.

Mostly though we are riding, laughing and eating. Today we ride around the hills of Luca and Pisa.

Have a great day.