Cycling makes you rich

From yesterday's FT - Cycling is the new golf in Silicon Valley.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/51e936b2-073...b5df10621.html
Take the road to success on two wheels

By Kevin Allison

Published: May 21 2007 03:00

In January 2005, Rahul Sood, the founder of VoodooPC, was trying to
attract the attention of potential acquirers when a friend gave him a
hot tip: buya bike.

In July, a gaggle of Silicon Valley tech executives would be making a
pilgrimage to Europe to follow the Tour de France on their bicycles.

"He mentioned that some people from Hewlett-Packard would be there,"
says Mr Sood, whose Calgary-based company makes souped-up computers for
game enthusiasts and other power users.

"We were at the point where we needed a partner and HP was our number
one choice."

Sensing a life-changing opportunity, Mr Sood wangled a spot on the trip,
and began to make preparations. "I had never been on a road bike," he
says. "I spent day and night training on a stationary bike at the gym. I
went to France looking like a total poser with a shiny new helmet. I
didn't know what I was doing."

But the trip paid off. In September last year, Mr Sood sold VoodooPC to
HP for an undisclosed amount. He is now head of HP's new gaming division.

Mr Sood's story is emblematic of the increasingly important role cycling
plays in Silicon Valley's social hierarchy.

On any given weekend morning, scores of spandex-clad rainmakers converge
on coffee shop parking lots across Silicon Valley to prepare for a
morning climb up the roads that wind their way through the nearby hills
that separate San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean.

"Being in Cupertino, we are surrounded by some of the best cycling in
the world. It's a beautiful thing to ride 20-30 miles around here," says
John Roberts, chief executive of SugarCRM, an open-source software
company (the company is named after Mr Robert's mountain bike). "You can
ride all year round."

For many Silicon Valley executives, cycling is more than a way to keep
fit or to take in the countryside. It is also an opportunity to network,
think up ideas, even to recruit talent.

"For us, at a high level, you look [for] the attributes of cycling:
you've got endurance, strength, power and intensity," says Mr Roberts.
"It's also a very social sport. Instead of doing 18 holes of golf, you
go ride with 30 people. As you're going through the peloton [a pack of
cyclists] you can meet a lot of people."

Mr Roberts says cycling has been good for business. When SugarCRM began
sponsoring competitive rides in San Jose, he was surprised by the
response. "We used the rides as a recruiting event and we got some great
resumes," he says."We've ended up hiring a lot of cyclists."

Mr Sood, an avid cyclist since his auspicious trip to France, says
cycling offers a rare chance to get away from his BlackBerry and other
office distractions. "It clears my mind completely," he says.

In a land of engineers, cycling's technical aspects - gears, brakes and
composite frames - also lend geek appeal. "There are a lot of gear-heads
out there," says Deepak Kamra, a partner at Canaan Partners, a venture
capital firm.

Mr Kamra rides three times a week, for the exercise: "It's just like
running, except it's a lot easier on the body. You can socialise a lot
better."

Many local cycling clubs organise trips abroad. "I've been to Europe
five times now to follow the major races with my club," says Mr Kamra.

Closer to home, a common route runs up Old La Honda Road, a narrow
ribbon ofasphalt that climbs into thehills separating Palo Alto from the
Pacific. From the top,riders can choose from a series of stunning routes.

Here, a typical ride can last between an hour and a half to four hours;
plenty of time to talk with fellow cyclists about the Valley's Next Big
Thing.

"We'd never admit that we're doing it for the networking," says Mr
Kamra. But he volunteers: "The people I ride with are basically tech
execs. People talk business, but that's not themain objective."

--
Tony

"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell