Hill Climbers Turns Into Real Life and Increases Headcount 100%, with Sam Huntington and Franco Martins

A few months ago I introduced a Hill Climbers ride in Austin for folks to connect with each other over some soft pedaling, in addition to some hard pedaling. All of a sudden, our little Hill Climbers brand that had a digital presence, had a REAL WORLD presence! Crazy, I know. This brand extension is just as thrilling to me as shipping new episodes and he best part is providing an IRL platform for new friendships and business connections. I dive into how this IRL initiative dictated a new path for Hill Climbers, one that includes live audience podcast tapings, happy hours and of course, continued weekly Thursday morning group rides.

But that's not all. My buddy and guest on this bonus episode, Franco Martins, has come on board to co-produce the show, a THRILLING development for this humble brand. Franco is wildly overqualified for the job, coming off three years 3D printing housing communities (you read correctly) with ICON, Austin's buzziest unicorn. Tune in to meet the new guy, and survey blueprints of what the future holds for Hill Climbers.

Hill Climbers is more than just a podcast, it's a growing business network for cyclists. You can tap into our event by following our Linkedin and Instagram, and subscribing to our newsletter.

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Theme Music: Summer Vibes by Rizik

Transcript

0:10

Alright. So we are here on a a bonus episode of Hill Climbers, and we've got a couple really big announcements that I'm super excited about. If you're if you're watching the podcast here, we have Franco Martins, as a a guest this week. And, not only is he a guest, Franco has also expressed interest in helping out produce the show, and and I have very very willingly, with a lot of excitement and fanfare, you know, said yes. I I have, never necessarily wanted to do all of the podcast production and and marketing and content myself. So when Franco raised his hand, I thought, man, this this is a blessing and and timing is is really so good because I think we've had a couple years of producing the show and we've kind of established what it is, and and what a what a perfect time to bring on a a partner like Franco. And we we definitely wanna introduce Franco, so I guess just to kick it off, can you can you share about where you're where you're from and and, I guess maybe how you arrived in Austin? For sure. Yeah. So I'm originally from Brazil, grew up in Florida all throughout many different places. My parents were very entrepreneurial, and so that took us from Miami to West Palm Beach to Orlando. I went to school up in the northeast. And then as I was about to graduate in 2019, really wanted to look for a a young, you know, vibrant place, and Austin just had, everything that I could have possibly wanted. So I enjoyed the heat. I enjoyed Austin on a couple of visits, leading up to graduation. I was gonna start my career in construction, and there was a a job opportunity lined up here. And so, yeah, late 2019, moved down here and, never looked back. And I guess you're you're used to the heat in Brazil and and then Florida. Right? So that I'm I'm envious of you. I don't think I'll ever really love love the heat here. But can you tell us about your the job that you took and and what you've been up to for the last few years? Yeah. For sure. So originally, when I moved down here, I started at, DPR Construction. They're a large commercial general contractor originally based out of Redwood City, California, actually, but offices nationwide, one of the top 5 in terms of volume commercial builders. I started as a project engineer there. So, like, on the project management track, helped build the Charles Schwab domain campus. And then really something I was excited about was to build the Waterloo Park project. It's a performance pavilion right next to the capital, has 68,000 individual plants, all over. It's beautiful, host concerts all the time now. We built it during COVID, so that was a hell of a ride for sure. And, yes. That's originally what drew me to Austin. I, after a couple years there, went to Icon Technologies, a construction technology company. They built giant robots that 3 d print homes. We use AI and software and other things as well, but found my career going in the operations route. So I was the director of operations for that, company, and we built the first 100 home three d printed neighborhood up in Georgetown. Georgetown is, like, 35, 40 minutes north of of the city here. So, yeah, just a a 3 d printed neighborhood, right, you know, right basically 30 minutes away. So wanted to ask you about this because ICON is one of the, like, buzziest startups in in Austin. And I guess how much how much capital has been raised? What's the do you know the valuation off the top of your head? Or Yeah. So the the company started in 2018. They did a big round, in 2020, 2021. So we've raised about half a $1,000,000,000. That was a couple years ago now, and so we're still working through that capital, scaling, building. And the company is doing really well. Cool. Yeah. And, I guess, can you share a little bit just about your experience there and and what what led you to to take some time off? Yeah. As I mentioned, I started my career at DPR and then, was really looking for the bleeding edge, the cutting edge. I'm obsessed with innovation and kind of, like, the super intense, environment. And so ICON is the was the perfect place. And, yeah, like, I was there for just over 3 years, you know, 9 to 5, throw that out the window. It's it's like a passion project more than anything, all day long. And when you're not there, you're thinking about it. So like you mentioned, Georgetown is 30 minutes away. I was there before 7 AM for maybe a year in a row. And so it really takes a toll in terms of, like, the grind set that that you have to have in order to succeed at a a company like that. I wouldn't have changed anything. I've, I've already made lifelong friends and plan to continue making them at that company. And, like, it was awesome. But, certainly, a hard grind. I had a couple health issues here couple months ago, and that was a a big spark for me to say, hey. Wait a second. I've gotten a little bit away from my roots. Wasn't exercising as much as I wanted to be. I wasn't sleeping as well as I should have been. I wasn't giving the time and and energy to my wife that I wanted to be giving. And so a combination of a lot of those things and, you know, the goodwill of the company and the team that I was surrounded by at ICON offered me the opportunity to take a couple months off and and do a reset. So, it's been now 3 weeks that I've, been on a little sabbatical here and, hence, the reason why I reached out to you, Sam, and was looking to spend some time doing something that I felt like I could get really passionate about and, was very different than, you know, managing a team of a 150 or so people. So, that's a little bit of the journey there and why I'm taking a little bit of time. Thank you for for sharing. And and just to, put in perspective what what Franco and those a 150 people were doing, I think you mentioned you you guys could 3 d print a house in, like, 72 hours. Depends on the the shape configuration of the house. Right? We had some, like, tiny homes we could probably print in that duration if we were just chugging 247 and things were working well. But I think for context here, like, a 2,000 square foot home, which is what we were printing out there in Georgetown, we are printing all the exterior and interior walls. So the slab was traditional, and then after we printed the walls, you know, you'd come in with plumbers and roofers and things like that. But that wall system for a 2,000 square foot home, we could print in about 7 days, and that's not working 24 days. Okay. Yeah. 7 days is is remarkable. And, yeah, I mean, from from what you shared, it just it was all systems go for for 12 hours a day. Right? So Yeah. And it was actually 15 hours a day, and it was a hell of a journey. Like, the beginning, of the project, we had one printer out there. By the end of that project, we had 12 systems up and running full force and printing things in 7 days. So, like, the learning curve was pretty relentless. And by the time we finished that project, we really felt like we had a product that we could scale with, which is really what the company is up to right now. Great. Yeah. And and I wanted to ask you also, this is a great story, how how, you got into bike riding. It was it was sort of circuitous. So can you share that story as well? For sure. Yeah. So I know I ran track and field, and cross country in college. I I was obsessed with running. I was obsessed with competing and getting better every day. So I first got introduced to cycling as kind of a a punishment. You know, when I'd get injured, when I'd get hurt, might have to watch my friends run by me as I was stuck on the stationary trainer in the depths of winter, really wishing that I was out there with with the team. So never really gave it a second thought. But as I graduated and and got into the real world, you know, life gets hectic and, you know, exercise kinda was deprioritized for me. And I was really struggling to find the joy in in running, because as a competitive person, I always knew that it'd be incredibly difficult for me to achieve the the PRs and things that I had, in the running arena. And and I gotta I gotta, I gotta interrupt. Your PRs in the 5 and 10 k, plea please share them with with the audience. Yeah. I ran 1408 for the 5 k and just about 30 flat for the 10 k. So Yeah. So this this is no no slouch. Right? Right. Right. For sure. So yeah. I'm sorry. No worries. I so I'm getting down, you know, try trying to find exercise that really made me enjoy it again and found found cycling, mostly through the community. I actually was racking my brain before this conversation of how I got to know breakfast club, which was really my introduction to cycling here in Austin. And I can't figure it out, but it was before the pandemic. It was when there was maybe 8 or 10 people, that would meet up at the Carpenter Hotel just downtown. And, I actually went for the first time with my wife, now wife, a girlfriend at the time. So we're we're talking we're talking, like, literally the first Breakfast Club before before the pandemic hit. So that that is, that I mean, it would have been a handful of people. Right? 8 or so people. And we showed up, and the first hill, we got dropped instantly. And that's the minute I knew, like, hey. This is something I really wanna get good at. This is something that I like. What has now been kind of like a 4 4 ish year long, like, dream. And again, now that I have a little bit more free time, I'm finding myself digging even deeper and getting even more obsessed. So gravel, the community, all kinds of aspects of cycling really are interesting to me, and I'm falling in love with. Awesome. And, and Franco is definitely joining us on on our Thursday Hill Climbers group rides, which are which are all about getting faster. So, that's that's part of the the addiction, that I I think most of us have. Well, great. I mean, Franco has has already jumped in to start, you know, adding adding to the website, already creating more content. We've we've 2 x ed our our manpower here. So, I'm just so so excited, for for what what that means, what the what the future holds, the, you know, the potential. And I think this is a really good transition to to just start sharing what what my vision is for for the show moving forward. And, a a lot of a lot of my time that that, that I had, over the summer. My family went to Vermont. And, you know, in Vermont, we're we're literally 30 minutes from the Canadian border. You can't get much further north. It's extremely rural, and it really lends itself to unplugging. So, it was, pretty intense getting up there and and exhausting with our with our infant. But when we finally did, things really did slow down. And one of the books that I had brought with me happened to be Noah Kagan's book called $1,000,000 Weekend. And Noah is a a buddy here in Austin who also joins the the Thursday group rides almost every week, and he's got a a fantastic story. He sort of built a influencer brand on his on his career, and and the first couple of missteps that he had. He got let go from Facebook. He was the 30th employee, so his, stock options, even working there for a year, would have been worth probably 100 of 1,000,000 of dollars at this point. And had similar, another one or 2 career miss missteps where he was early employee at Mint. But he he really has a massive social media following because he creates content that, you know, that speaks to and speaks to and encourages founders and and people, in sales, and, he's just got a great voice and and great messaging. So I picked up the book and I basically, what what he's writing about is is the ability to create a business, a business idea, a a revenue generating business with within a weekend and and kind of goes through the steps of quickly derisking that. So as I was reading this and and thinking about hill climbers, I I'd had this this nagging, critical notion that when I would create the show, post social teasers, obviously, ship the the episode, I I would I would really get overly concerned with the metrics, you know, impressions, likes, comments, downloads, you on YouTube streams. And the the nagging part was it just wasn't in line with the reason that I'm doing the show. And the reason I I thought a lot about this in Vermont as I I'd unplugged. I I had stopped checking all my apps. The reason I'm doing the show is to connect with people in a really material way, and I just started the the the group ride, the weekly group ride a couple months ago, and that, I just thought was was a really, perfect manifestation of what I'm what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to get people together and start conversations and and network and, build friendships and build build business connections. So as I was thinking about this, you know, became very clear that it's not about creating a show for for likes or for comments or downloads. It it really is, creating, creating community. So, I thought a little bit about the best way to do that. And in in tandem, concurrently, I just connected with a guy named Scott Baldwin in town, who has started Front Pack Sports. He literally just just launched it within the last couple months, and it's a social media network for endurance athletes. So, you know, Strava is great for what it does well, which is basically posting rides and and social content generated specifically around that. But but what what about everything else? I mean, what about, you know, improved messaging and and, kind of a a more robust more robust community features? So I thought what what better way to support Scott by having him on the show and and start a dialogue and create real connections? What better way to do that than to have a a live audience in the in the podcast taping? So, that is one reason I haven't I haven't done a show within the last 6 or so weeks. Usually, I'm more consistent doing them monthly, because I I really think this is a fantastic new avenue for for the show to, I I think, do things a little bit differently. And what I'm talking about is really doubling down on community building, not just online, but but in real life. And I think the the show's brand, the the show's name thrust becomes so much stronger when we have a real, you know, real life community here in in Austin. And when folks visit, a lot a lot of folks, visit Austin for South Buy, for ACL, for a ton of different conferences. I I would love for people to be able to tap into our our community here, on a business perspective. If you wanna just show up and do the group ride and and, you know, meet Franco and I, that's fantastic. But, yeah, that is a a very long winded way of of saying I wanna start doing more in real life with live audience tapings, and we'll continue to to do the weekly group ride and and see what else comes from it. When we met for the first time and I expressed some interest in trying to help you out, I was certainly curious the direction that you are taking the podcast. You know, there there really are just a lot of cycling podcasts out there where people have maybe more resources, more experience, and things like that. And so when you told me that your moment was to do these in person events and really lean into the, like, personal connections and community building aspect, that's really what sold me on on wanting to help you out. And, like, something that you said that resonated with me was, you know, the golfing community has this. Why doesn't cycling? And so I really also hope that, as you build on this idea and we start to have larger and larger kind of live audiences mingling, happy hours, things like that, more and more people trickle into the the Thursday rides and, you know, the community just builds over time. So I think you explained it very eloquently, and, I'm really excited to see, it happen. Thanks a lot. And and, yeah, I think just to just to add on to reflecting on the last year, year and a half, it's been you know, it's going on. It's almost 2 years we I've been doing this. People people do trickle in. I mean, you know, every week, we're getting new new, faces on the group ride. These are folks that are that are, you know, definitely curious and and hopefully coming back to to ride with us and, and engage with the with the content. And then and then the show itself. I mean, really, I think one thing that I have confidently proven is that there there is an audience for this. And and now that we have, Franco on board, there there's so many more people that we can get in in front of with with the the hey. You know, the notion of, hey, golfers have been doing this since the since the sixties. Why is there not more of an opportunity for for cyclists who have such a a common bond? I mean, such a strong common denominator to to, just share share experiences and and, you know, whether that's business or or any anything at all. The the shared passion is is so strong. Yeah. Do you wanna get into, like, explaining a little bit of the logistics of what these live in person audiences are gonna look like, at least the first one? Yeah. So for for this first one, there's a fantastic studio in, in East Austin on on Fifth Street called Just Push Record Studio, and we've gotten a green light to have a small handful, and I and I I really do mean very small handful, of guests to to come in and and, sit in for for the live taping. The the second part, which which is arguably more exciting, is that in the in in the vein of getting people together, we're gonna piggyback a happy hour onto the the show. So, the studio is right next to Brew and Brew. The plan is to just get people together for a happy hour. Once the show wraps, everyone can meet. And and once again, Scott Baldwin from Front Pack Sports is gonna be our our first live audience guest. So, yeah, everyone can meet Scott. He can share a lot more about his business and what he's building. And, yeah, just a great opportunity to do something we we haven't done before. I I will say this. It's one thing to know a cyclist that you see, you know, weekly and their helmet and and Lycra and and their glasses where you can't see their their eyes. It's a very it's a very different thing to to, opt in to, spend time with with that person when you're you're wearing, you know, civilian clothes. And and it's something I I get such a kick at, and I think it's a hue and and I've been riding and meeting people in 3 different cities over the last 11 years. And I think it's a missed opportunity that, you know, you you don't get past the the high, you know, how are you doing, and and don't go a little bit deeper with with people you you end up spending a lot of time with on a bike. So I am very excited about this idea. Can't wait to see, yeah, who who shows up and and how it's received. And we'll do our best on the first one, and and we'll improve. You know, we'll we'll continue doing it. You mentioned, a couple times how, like, this first one, it's gonna be coming up here in a couple weeks. It's gonna be a relatively small audience. Do you wanna speak a little to the future of what you see in terms of, like, larger and larger audiences from a venue perspective and any, Easter eggs that you have hiding that you wanna share with the pod? Yeah. Ideally, this this grows, and there's real interest for what we're doing and and, obviously, the get get the guests that we have for a live taping. And the idea would be to to take on a bigger venue where we can have a bigger audience than, you know, a small handful of people, and really, like, activate with with brands. And and, yes, we definitely have a very notable local venue in mind, and I don't wanna get out over my skis and say too much, but it's super exciting. It's it's it's got perfect synergy with with the entrepreneurial spirit and subject matter of hill climbers, and the vibe is is just right. So so, yeah, I mean, that that we're we're gonna start here with the first one on October 9th and learn a lot and, and see what what can make sense to, you know, for for the next one. With that said, Scott is is really doing something very, very exciting, so don't don't wanna downplay that at all. I I think it'll be a a fantastic interview. So, Franco, did did I miss anything, or do do you have any questions about, the this notion and and new direction? You wanna talk about some of the asks, Sam? So, like, from a sponsorship perspective, gifts perspective, how are you thinking about that? Yeah. With the podcast, and Franco and I have already talked about this a little bit just as far as what what my approach has been. Try not to be too precious. We don't have a ton of resources to have all the bells and whistles. So like I said, it's gonna be a small audience initially. There there's definitely an opportunity for sponsors to, you know, product placement. If if there's anyone listening that wants to volunteer some, you know, beverages, snacks, whatever, that is that is welcome. And then, yeah, I mean, we'll with with Franco on board, I think we're gonna get more serious about bringing you on sponsors for the for the show more broadly. So, you know, anyone that wants to partner with us in all the messaging we are putting out across mostly LinkedIn and and Instagram and YouTube, moving forward, we're we're gonna kick off a newsletter. So, yeah, a great great opportunity to, to partner with us and get in front of what I think is a very desirable demographic with a lot of expendable income. I think, you know, like you mentioned, the the newsletter is something that we're gonna be working on. We already have such great content, Sam, from the 10 or so episodes you've already produced that, like, we're gonna be cutting through those episodes, posting them a little bit more broadly on social media. A big ask, I think, is gonna be to collect emails. And so if you know people that you wanna refer or recommend the podcast to, help get them to the website, help get their email in our inbox. The newsletter is gonna be a great kind of first touch point and then more and more opportunities along the way. I hope that this community is gonna be one that really reflects what Sam's been talking about. Another conversation I remember having that resonated was like, hey. Is it founders? Is it, entrepreneurs? Is it leaders? How are we gonna talk about this? And, like, I thought you put it very eloquently when you kinda said it's it's all in the whole bag and and more. Right? So it's people who are super passionate, people who are super engaged, people who recognize the value of helping others, and that always comes back around to help you. Yeah. You you mentioned, you know, in some of the messaging initially, I've mentioned that the guests are founders, authors, artists, and a lot of folks, not not just Franco, have asked me if that's a little bit too exclusive. And for the for the podcast, I thought it was it was important to be very specific and and have a a specific niche, you know, so so that we weren't like every other podcast, and we could appeal to to a specific listener. With with live tapings, I'm excited to open it up because, to Franco's point, this is an opportunity to to engage with other people, just as an example, like executives as opposed to to founders. We wanna hear their stories. If they're a connector, if they're inspirational, if they're someone and again using Austin as an example, if there's someone that's a luminary in this community, by all means, we we wanna have them as a guest and and maybe even create a a live taping around it. So I so I'm very ex I was always looking for an avenue to broaden the the guest list, and and this is our avenue. I I would love to talk a little bit more about the group. Right? I think that's something I'm super excited about. Great. So, yeah, I haven't shared that story yet. The group ride is Thursday mornings leaving the

meteor here in Austin at 6: 25:55

45 AM. We have changed that a number of times. For for now, it's

6: 26:03

45. You you can you can take that to the bank. And the ride is inspired by the time I spent in LA. I'm I moved there only a couple years after I had started riding, so I was still pretty fresh. And LA has this incredible cycling community. It's a big city, obviously, so there there are thousands of cyclists, and there are some some very fit fast ones. And there have been, group rides for every single day of the week and essentially Monday through Sunday that start at a specific time that have been going on, a lot of them, for for decades. So so probably since the eighties. And the deal is that each day of the week has its own specific course. So you know what you are getting when when you show up. It is the same ride every time, every week for for decades. When I when I showed up to LA, I was new. Frankly, I didn't know how I stacked up. I I didn't know how strong I was. And the way that I ended up both meeting people and getting fit was I would clock riders that were stronger than me, a little bit stronger than me. Every week, I would just try to stay on their wheel for a little bit longer. So, again, I knew I knew what the course was. I knew that last week, I got dropped before the wall. This week, I wanna get halfway up the wall before I get dropped. And it was just it was a total blast, and it's it's you know, Franco and I were talking about this addiction. Very, very addictive. It motivates you to to get up at quarter of 6 to get to get to the ride, on a on any given so what I saw in Austin was that there was a lack of, group rides where consistently and I and there are some, so I'm not saying there are none, but folks don't typically get together to to race in the mornings before work. I don't think there are many options to get up early, you know, get sort of spicy and competitive, and and then shower up and go to work. So that is the the inspiration behind our our Thursday group ride. We meet at the meteor and kind of slow pedal, little warm up going out to Lost Creek. You know? And and there's that's a decent workout. It's a good warm up because there are some hills. And then Lost Creek is basically it's about a a 10 minute segment, you know, 8 minutes if you're if you're pretty fast. And very hilly, there's there's 3 and a half hills, so it's a great just punchy segment to compete against people that show up. And and, hopefully, there's a couple people that are a little bit faster than you. So, you know, if they're if they're showing up 1 week and the next week, you can try to stay on their wheel for a little bit longer. So, yeah, I I love this this model of group rides. If I'm if I'm talking about the main reason I ride, it's it's, sure. It's it's social, but I I also love to get work out and love to push the pace, you know, competing with people, and it checks those two boxes. So then when we get back, I love when people can mingle, you know, get coffee and tacos and and hang out. And that is another opportunity to make new friends, make new business connections, and you never know who's who's gonna show up. Yeah. And it's the perfect, combination of socializing, you know, warm up pedaling, really pushing yourself, and then, like you mentioned, getting those tacos and coffee at the end of a hard workout is, it opens up the the aperture for what you can talk about. You know, when you've been suffering next to somebody for 10, 15 minutes, on the segment, you really know what they're made out of. You know? And, that's been a really fun part for me is, getting to chat with people after the ride and learning about their stories, learning about what job they're going to or what they're up to that day or that week. One aspect you didn't talk about is, some bagel prizes. So you're known to have the best bagel in Austin. Do you wanna talk about, how that came about? Yeah. Thank you for that reminder as well. During COVID, I was underemployed, and I went down a rabbit hole. A a friend who had also recently moved to Austin from New York was complaining about not being able to find a good bagel in town, and I I had a lot of time on my hands, Franco. So I took it upon myself to start making bagels, and this was actually, right when I moved to to Austin's, end of 2020, beginning of of 21, and also dovetailed with Breakfast Club really getting momentum and becoming, all the rage in in Austin cycling. So Franco actually mentioned to me that that he remembered when I did a collab with Breakfast Club. Basically, it was it was a bagel contest. We did I forget which segment it was, but it was an opt in. If if you showed up for the group ride that was that was reported in Strava, you were put into a raffle to win to win bagels, and so I raffled, you know, a lucky man and lucky lucky woman got bagels. So, yeah, fast forward to present day, and I still have the recipe. I still make a really delicious bagel, and, Franco and I are gonna offer them up as prizes to to try, you know, to try to make things a little bit more more interesting on Thursday mornings. So our first winner was Stephen Cunningham, who has been showing up a whole lot. He's someone I've become very good friends with recently over the last couple months, and he he made it to Barton Creek first. So he gets, I have not made his bagels yet, but I but I promise I will. And and something I I remember we talked about as well related to this group, right, is, like, the intimidation factor of it being erased. Right? So, like, some people really shy away from putting themselves out there and especially when there's such strong riders, Sam, like yourself and Steven and others that show up to the group right every week. And so, personally, I wanna encourage anybody that is passionate about cycling to show up and and try their hand. There's no shame in coming in dead last. That happened to me multiple times already. So you don't die. You just get better. And surrounding yourself with people that are pushing themselves and up ahead, is is motivating if you really dig deep enough and and find out. So that's something that I also thought was neat about the ride and that we talked about that I wanted to share. Such a great great reminder. Like, the the race segments are 10 minutes. So the rest of the ride is an hour and 25 minutes. You know, and, and it's no drop. We're we're gonna go at at everyone's everyone's pace. The the slowest riders, we're we're gonna go at their pace. And, like Franco said, it it really we wanted to be more about showing up and and meeting a bunch of friendly people and less about

2: 32:58

10 minute segments. Yeah. I think about if you draw it back to the golf analogy, right, there's those people with a plus a 1,000,000,000 handicap, and there's a people that shoot par. You can drop a ball next to a friend. I I see it similar to that. Right? Like, the race segment, like you mentioned, is just a very short, stint of the hour 40 ride. So, don't be intimidated. Show up. Let's ride. It's it's fun. It's just fun. It's a it's a fun group. Yeah. Well well said, Franco. And then I I think we can