Entrepreneurship Is Not a Marathon or a Sprint -It Is a Cycling Grand Tour.

I am transitioning back into the startup scene after welcoming our second son. In this time I have been doing two things, reflecting on how to maintain balance with two small kids, and watching the daily highlights of the Tour de France.

As I have been thinking about balance with two small kids I thought about how to set our family up for success in a marathon context. This is a common #startuphustle refrain but I realized that it is not an accurate metaphor. In a marathon you see a single person running a race against other individuals - maybe they use different strategies to pace themselves but it’s all the same race, and there is not much to be said for the team.

This is where I had to reflect that a cycling Grand Tour race is a much better comparison. In a Grand Tour it’s all about the race within the race, and the importance of the team is clear. It’s the same within entrepreneurship.

Let’s start with the team. In a Grand Tour there are support riders on the team riding ahead to defensively create space for the main cyclist, and to expend energy riding in front to cut down on the drag and energy use of the main cyclist. Each person has a role to play and part of it is allowing people to conserve energy when it doesn’t make sense for them to be going all out.??There’s also the team car that has extra equipment, mechanics, nutrition supplies, and first aid supplies- all to allow the cyclists on the road to focus on what they are good at: riding.

In the startup context, founders, in particular, can get caught up in the idea that they need to do it all and be it all, and burn themselves out along the way (myself included). Even if they thought they paced themselves for the marathon, after years of long hours and needing to be in three places at once, there’s just nothing left. Realizing that you are on a team and that you are there to support them, and they are there to support you, allows you to let go a little bit and let others go ahead to reduce drag if you need to catch your breath and offer you a snack should you need one. It’s physically required to depend on others to win a Grand Tour, and I think the same should be said for startups and entrepreneurs.

The other fun feature of a cycling grand tour for the uninitiated (or recent initiates like myself) is that each day multiple races are happening. There are teams going for points on uphill climbs, teams going for points on sprints, teams aiming to win the stage and get a spot on the podium that day, and teams hoping to win the overall tour. Each team knows which race they are riding, and strategizes accordingly. In entrepreneurship this is happening too- it’s just not always as clear which race a company is in.?

This is why I think this race within the race?is such an important concept. Some companies are starting to scale up quickly and sell, some companies are setting up to be sustainable lifestyle businesses, and some are aiming to IPO someday. These outcomes require different strategies around how to grow and what the team should look like. As a fellow founder or competitor, you do not know which race they picked, so an IPO-intended company might try to compete with a company looking for a quick sale and get off their own race plan. Even more challenging is getting distracted by companies that “won the stage” by taking in a big venture round- and confusing that for winning the race- and again, getting taken off your strategy for your own race.

With the Tour de France wrapped up and the world celebrating Tadej Pogacar, I thought it was a good time to reflect and learn some critical lessons for entrepreneurship. It’s crucial to build a good team and to actually rely on them because entrepreneurship is a team sport and not a marathon. It’s also critical to know which race you are competing in and keep the team focused on your race- and not the next company’s.