Silicon Valley Bank hosted a hike up Mt. Sanitas followed by happy hour at The Rio yesterday evening. The turnout for happy hour far exceeded the hike (not a big surprise) but both events afforded me the opportunity not only to connect with some of the SVB folks, but also with fellow Techstars.

The hike was attended by me, Andrew Hyde, Peter Zhang of BuyPlayWin, and Andy Smith of Gyminee. Frank Amoroso supervised his team of hikers, which included Molly from Access Ventures, Ryan, Ryan, and Kevin. Several others attempted the climb but felt the pull of Rio margs very early on and succumbed. Frank will likely remind them of this weak showing well into the future.

The hike itself provided some of the most impressive panoramic views of the entire Boulder Valley as well as downtown Denver in the distance. It was a pretty hard core climb early on which was great because it kept your heart rate up - and a pretty steep decline after we reached the summit. Lots of Boulderites run the trail (including Andrew Hyde) which I think is a little much, but perhaps worth it if you can manage not to fall on your ass on the way down.

Happy Hour was a blast and several of the Techstars (won’t mention any names) managed to con the waitress into exceeding the ‘three margarita’ rule. Topics of conversation varied, including the perfect type of bbq (meat on or meat off?) as well as our scariest moments ever….ask Vikas Reddy about shark bites.

All in all it was a great evening. A great big thanks to Frank and the SVB group from Techstars!

On a side note, TripDoor just opened a business account with them - - they are offering great deals for all of the Techstars companies. Contact me if you’d like more info. :)