How Physical Activity Can Be A Networking Tool

London founders gather after a high itensity workout session

Rally

We’ve probably all been there. A nondescript conference hall playing host to an industry event. After a long day of panel discussions, speeches and presentations, the time finally comes when delegates can finally let their hair down and press ahead with some serious networking.

Well, maybe. While this is an opportunity for some, the chances are that a fair number of attendees would rather be catching the train home. While those who know each other already huddle into tightly knit groups, the rest take a collective deep breath and attempt to initiate conversations with total strangers. Even the moderately extroverted can find this difficult.

Oliver Fitz-Gibbon has a healthy alternative. As co-founder of Rally, he is offering founders a means to meet and talk around regular high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions and runs. The idea is that a common interest in fitness is a great ice-breaker, paving the way for friendships and business relationships to be forged. Equally important, everyone involved gets fitter, healthier and perhaps better equipped to cope with the stresses and strains of running a company.

Having started with a group of around 20 people, Rally has grown to a community of 1,000 participants and in addition to its activities in London, it has launched similar operations in Los Angeles and Munich. Talks also underway to launch the brand in Dubai, New York and San Francisco.

Fitness As A Catalyst

As Fitz-Gibbon acknowledges, the idea that sport and fitness can be a catalyst for building relationships is by no means new. “Deals have been done over golf courses and squash courts since the beginning of time, but we saw a space to modernise that,” he says.

Fitzgibbon and his co-founders – brother, Frederick Fitz-Gibbon and Louis Fearn – also saw a gap that was opening up in the London tech ecosystem in terms of the lifestyle and behaviour of founders and investors. He recalls being invited to eight events in a ten-day period, signing up for all of them and attending none. This, he says, is a common experience. Members of the Generation Z cohort don’t tend to drink as much as their predecessors. Meanwhile, those who are slightly older often have children and tend to go out less. Within the VC funds, GPs and partners have made their contacts already and are less attracted by the allure of industry events.

“So we had a lightbulb moment,” Fitz-Gibbon says. “We said, why don’t we bring industry folk together around a shared interest or experience and kick start a community?”

Rally’s events are carefully structured. Those attending HIIT sessions are broken up into groups of four. “As you go around the five stations, you are set targets. While you’re doing that. You talk to the people next to you, and you talk to the other groups. As you move around you are high-fiving and smiling.

Fitz-Gibbon stresses that no one is talking about work at that stage, but potentially, relations are being built. “When your endorphins are high, you are in a much better mood and more willing to connect.”

As Fitzgibbon sees it, it’s all about finding common ground. “It’s the same in your personal life. You are more likely to connect with people with whom you have shared interests and shared experiences with,” he adds.

Does it work in practice? Fitzgibbon cites his own experience. In addition to running Rally, is Head of Platform at corporate investor InMotion Ventures. “There is a real overlap between what I do at InMotion and the people I meet through Rally. We invest in climate, energy and enterprise software. I get to meet founders.”

It is perhaps surprising that a comparatively simple idea has resonated internationally. Fitz-Gibbon puts that down to the method, which he says has been fine-tuned to deliver as much as possible to participants and fit in with their other commitments. Armed with the methodology, scaling has been a matter of finding suitable gyms and sponsors in each city. Rally has also paid attention to branding. “Our caps are all over London,” says Fitz-Gibbon, “If you wear a rally cap, it signifies you are ambitious, building a company or investing in one and that you take your health seriously.”

Beyond Networking

There is of course, another aspect to sport and fitness that extends beyond networking. Founders – unless very lucky – face huge strains as they strive to grow their business in the face of intense competition and the twists and turns of the economy. Being fit and healthy can play a hugely important role in helping leaders cope with the stresses thrown at them by life. Equally, the disciplines of competitive sport can translate directly to the mental resilience and competitiveness needed to run a company.

Certainly that’s the view of Murvah Iqbal, CEO of Hived, a Manchester-based electric vehicle parcel delivery company. A former player for Manchester City Football Club’s youth team, she sees that experience as an important part of her mental makeup.

“Sport is an incredible opportunity for anyone to build character and resilience,” she tells me in response to emailed questions. “I feel like it really gave me a head start in my founder journey as I was accustomed to the sacrifices needed for training.”

Equally important, her experience reinforced her belief that the status quo can be challenged. “Football, and sport in general, is famously male-dominated. I grew up playing football with a ‘if they can do it, why can’t I attitude’ towards my brothers, which I have for sure taken into the workplace,” she says. “The logistics industry itself is heavily male, and on top of that there aren’t as many female entrepreneurs. I’ve seen a really positive shift on both fronts in recent years, and it feels good to be a part of that step change.

Natalia Shahmetova also sees her sporting background as a key component of her entrepreneur persona. Born in Belarus, he was steeped in orienteering as a child. Later, having moved to Ukraine, she switched to trail and endurance running. Now living in Warsaw, she is CEO of puppy training app Woofz by Nove8. She sees parallels between her approach to business and her sporting career.

“I prefer to think about business as a long distance run with some checkpoints or milestones,” she says. “At each checkpoint, you stop and assess the strategy. Sport has also helped with the overview. I have a goal and I know what to achieve.

This approach offers a template for coping with difficult periods and market challenges. “You don’t get stressed or fall apart because the conditions change. You have a straight line to focus on.

It’s perhaps flattering for startup leaders to compare themselves to athletes, but the parallels between sporting and business performance are real if not exact. Sport can provide a meeting place for founders, but also a source of reslience and inspiration when the going gets tough.