Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City

GO FOR A WALK

Too many meetings happen in conference rooms. There are great examples of leaders who have meetings by going for walks. Steve Jobs immediately comes to mind as an example. One of my most significant mentors, Len Fassler, taught me this approach. Whenever Len and I had something serious to talk about, we went for a walk. The numbers of times he poked his head into wherever I was working and said, “Hey, Brad—let’s go for a walk,” are too numerous to count. And, in the evening, after everything had settled down, if we were together we’d often go for a walk and talk while he smoked a cigar.

I’ve adopted this approach and often walk when talking. I have a treadputer in my office (a treadmill from Steelcase with a computer on top) and walk two to four hours a day when I’m in the office. When I’m on the road, I’ll often walk during my phone calls, especially in cities like New York where I’d rather walk 30 minutes from one meeting to the next than hop in a cab.

I’ve adopted this in Boulder. Whenever I want to have a long discussion with a CEO or founder who I’m working with, or need to work through something with someone, we often walk out the door of my office and make a loop around town. More and more, I see other entrepreneurs walking and talking to each other, working through whatever is on their mind, while changing the context from a small conference room to the great outdoors.

Walking isn’t the only thing to do. Seth Levine is a huge cyclist. He regularly hops on ...