Prefontaine Theory of Business: Run to Win
When running a company, it's about guts.
Last month over dinner, a tech CEO I admire was detailing the chaos of leading a scaled company: stacked calendars, customer pressure, employee wellbeing, shifting markets. Every sentence sounded like a sprint through fire. But after listing each challenge, they paused, reset their face, and said with calm conviction:
“…and that’s how it is.”
I’m not here to idolize executives, but I pay attention when someone still shows up swinging after years in the ring. When I asked how they do it, the answer was simple:
“You don’t start a company if you don’t have the guts for it.”
Personally, I have alluded to the fact that regularly finding the time to write for me dissolved as the amount of demands increase as a company scales.
To quote ex-Heroku Product Manager Craig Kerstens: “The reward for eating a pie eating competition is more pie.” As I try to square away the demands for my job, I was trying looking for examples of people who “eat bitterness” and get on with their lives. I was hoping that the dinner would lead me to some answers on how some people could continually get punched in the face, and then still show up with a smile.
While the conversation at the table continued, the topics darted back to product development. In an ideal world, you don’t pass on your company troubles onto the customer. That’s not what a customer pays for despite how chaotic any start-up, company, or government is.
The CEO, when explaining how they try to make sure they always deliver, spoke about it like a team that is doing everything to win.
He opened that companies in his mind aren’t running a marathon, to them, that sets the implication that completing the distance is more important than the time. In his eyes, urgency was equally as important, everyone should be gassed at the end of it, but what matters is the time on the board.
That’s when I blurted out:
“Like Prefontaine.”
The CEO nodded immediately. - and luckily the CEO got it. They understood: “like Prefontaine” they affirmed.
If you’ve ever laced up spikes, you know the name Steve Prefontaine. Before his tragic death at 24, he held every American outdoor distance record between 2,000 and 10,000 meters. But what made him legendary wasn’t just the times—
It was how he ran.
Known for his cock-sure personality, extraordinarily fast mile times, Steve Prefontaine was known for brash running style. He ran fast, all the time, as much as he could.
To give some insight about the status quo about the state of Athletics or called Track and Field in the United States - post WWII, Track and Field still upheld many of the race and decorum standards set forth from the UK even in the late 1960s. In many rulebooks, any form of overly gratuitous celebration was banned. …and the personalities who ran on the track weren’t as loud as outspoken as Pre was.
Runners at this time were more carefully strategic, it was common for runners to aspire for even lap paces. Usually for runners to try to start at pace, and then finish at pace. Steve Prefontaine broke that. Prefontaine ran with reckless aggression. He didn’t wait. He dictated pace. He dared the field to keep up, and more often than not, they cracked. Where others calculated, in his mind, he was making art.
Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's style. It's doing something better than everyone else. It's being creative.
The result?
A 5000M American record at 13:22.8 on 1972
A 1500M American record at 7:42.6 on 1974
A 2000M American record at 5:01.4 on 1975
To get there?
A training regime set by his coach Bill Bowerman with an easy/hard alternating schedule. Hundreds of miles, day in, and day out with long runs no more than 12 miles at a 6:00 minute mile pace.
Races at the get that would bewilder his opponents that would astound the field. Pre didn’t win every race, but nearly every opponent regarded Steve Prefontaine as difficult opposition and respected them as a competitor. Despite the occasional showboater.
What does this got to do with business?
If you were to look at Steve Prefontaine’s interviews, before and after the races. There was a somewhat bohemian perspective that he would offer to the race previews. (Maybe typical of the 1970s) He would offer quotes like:
A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they're capable of understanding.
(You’d think someone like Steve Jobs would say something like that.)
In between the grueling training regimens, Prefontaine was someone who viewed their work as an art.
Back at that dinner table, I realized that the best leaders I know carry the same fire. They’re not trying to just “last”. They’re not pacing themselves to some abstract finish line. They’re here to matter.
When reflecting on this, I think about the companies who have been able to make it past their initial years. What they had in common was an extremely focused mission, and a purpose that let the leader and by extension the team tackle fires, wake up the following day, and then deliver. This work is meaningful. This team matters. The product is worth it.
Running a business at times feels like running an extremely difficult mile. The beauty of a great company is to convert pain into a product. Done well, it becomes art.
A company’s product needs to turn pain into something beautiful. This is the central quality that I believe that most enduring products have. A willingness to suffer. And in my mind, when I work with a vendor or hire a company. I am now bucketing the companies that I interact with into two buckets. Those who follow Prefontaine Theory, or not.
If I had to distill it, Prefontaine Theory is this:
Start work fast. Ship work fast.
Suffer for the benefit of the customer.
Believe what you do is art.
For me, this has been helpful contextualizing the pain of my, and other’s day to day at a startup. If you are building something real, something hard, and something that gives more than it takes. Run the company like it matters.
*Angelo Note*
It’s been hectic for me at work. But I personally wouldn’t have it any other way. I am going to treat the bottom of the posts like a bit of a check in. What I have been reading and what’s been going on. Lately, I feel more committed to writing for you all. My only fear is that the quality of my prose gets better— for your sake.
Outside of Railway, I have been onboarded to CINGS, part of The China Institute of America. I have always had an interest in the complicated relationship between the US and China. You may see me write about that topic more often, especially considering that as a (failed) Electrical Engineer, Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta have an interesting bridge with the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. Might have something to write about there if anyone is interested in a piece.
Next up, I will be writing up a brief profile of the legendary Don Valentine. Until next time, I hope everyone accomplishes what they desire.
Thanks for reading,
Angelo