“Perfect is the enemy of the good”, “Shut up and code” , “We treasure the climb”.
If you visited our spaces in San Francisco you cannot have missed those signs, mixed up with worn out couches, foosballs and ping-pong tables.
In those we believe. But in particular the latter exemplifies our credo. And my life. Front and center.
There is something exhilarating in identifying the top of the mountain as our target, and start working day and night in the pursue of it.
It’s startup life. Find the right target and sweat it to the top. One step at the time, no matter how long it takes.
Make no mistake. The most difficult step is identifying the right peak. Working for months, years, building the wrong thing can be the most frustrating experience (other than a waste of time).
The dedication to move one foot after the other, against all odds, is what really makes the difference between a (potential) achiever and the rest.
Reaching the top can be really rewarding, but, overall, the real achievement lays in the climb itself.
It’s also for these very reasons that when Francesco Rovetta (biz development @ Paypal and MTB mentor) shared his plans to climb the highest peaks in the world with a bunch of like-minded Silicon Valley execs, we couldn’t pass on it.
But Francesco (a.k.a. Franz)’s Summit Stories project is more than this. While gathering the right group of folks for every peak, he aims at supporting a different NGOs operating in the surrounding area, with particular focus into education. So the climbers, in addition to getting their stuff together to avoid passing away during the climb, commit to raise a significant amount of funding for the select no-profit.
So after the Aconcagua (6,962 mt) in Argentina , Franz is heading the next summit story group to Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro (“only” 5,895 mt) forming the so called “kilitechTrek“.
So, a week from today, I’ll be headed, together with 7 other fellow-climbers to Tanzania, while supporting the Amani Children organization.
MTB will be highly represented with Lucrezia (MTB and only woman in the group), Simone (MTB mentor), Francesco (MTB mentor) and I holding hands through the top.
Climb, philanthropy, camaraderie , even product testing and launching will become the explosive mix of the adventure.
In fact, a few brands have expressed their interest in using those groups to launch some of their products with this group, on top of some 20K feet mountain…
It doesn’t happen every day. But in Silicon Valley, it kind of does.
Ah, you can (meaning you should) donate here. It’s easy. 10 bucks can do wonders.