Do More Faster India, 2nd Edition

Chapter 81Get Out from Behind Your Computer

Seth Levine

Seth is a partner at Foundry Group. He has been a Techstars mentor since 2007.

One generally pictures the world of business primarily taking place in offices—people working diligently behind their desks, either on their computers or on the phone, and taking meetings in conference rooms. Heading out of the office has typically meant traveling to someone else’s office for a meeting or heading to lunch to talk shop. In recent years, I’ve been experimenting with expanding this notion of out-of-office meetings to include some places that, while not typically thought of as business settings, have proven to be both very productive and, as a side benefit, extremely enjoyable.

My experimentation with out-of-office meetings has primarily taken the form of bicycle rides in and around the foothills of Boulder, where I live. While I typically do this with others, I’ve also found that over the course of a lunch ride alone I’ve gained clarity on business issues that had often been percolating with little result for days or weeks. In the case of heading out with colleagues, the casual nature of a hike or ride is the perfect environment to catch up on business.

My efforts at lunch rides and meetings started with Ari Newman, the cofounder and CEO of Filtrbox, a Techstars 2007 company. The idea was purely social. Ari is an accomplished rider and we thought it would be fun to head out together for a ride. I quickly realized that to keep up ...