The Lab Report: Fall 2024

What’s been happening around The Lab…

Summit Recap - The Human Experience: Ad Astra

In July we host 60+ ThinkerDoers here at our Lab in Boulder for a summit that tackled human performance and human potential through the lens of human survival in deep space. We brought together though leaders, health and wellness practitioners, technologist, engineers, astronauts, artists, scientists, founders, and investors to compile our “Top 50” problems facing humans living in space. We are grateful to our wonderful sponsors, Advanced Space and The Flywheel Project for supporting this endeavor.

To view the full list visit: Top 50: Ad Astra

Black Lab Beyond Performance Event : The Science of Happiness with Dan Lerner

In March we spoke with author, performance coach, and professor of Positive Psychology, Dan Lerner. Learn about the S.P.I.R.E model, how it applies to real life, and how happiness is a path to well-being. It was great conversation so if you are interested in the science and practice of positive psychology and weren’t able to make it, check out the replay below.

Also, we launched our first of two NFTs for collection. There is a finite quantity of each but if you didn’t get one, when you watch the replay, make sure to scan the QR codes to collect yours if available.

The Art of Fear with Kristen Ulmer and Alex Racy

In February, we welcomed guests Kristen Ulmer and Alex Racy to discuss the emotion of fear with our audience and talk about how to make it an asset and not a liability.

We all feel fear. Yet we are often taught to ignore it, overcome it, push past it. But to what benefit? This is the essential question that guided our conversation about how to embrace fear, find where it is in your body and even use it to unlock potential instead of avoiding it. Watch the replay below to hear more.

About our Speakers:

KRISTEN ULMER

Kristen is a high performance facilitator and thought leader on fear/anxiety. She draws from her tenure as the most ‘fearless’ woman, extreme skier in the world for 12 years, as well as from intently studying Zen for 15 years.

Author of: The Art of Fear: Why Conquering Fear Won’t Work and What to Do Instead, Kristen works with clients all over the world including Google, Citigroup, Olympic athletes, and the US Air Force. 

ALEX RACEY

Alex served 25 years in the US Army and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan 13 times.

In 2013, Alex was chosen to be first Director of Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF). In that role he implemented solutions for the warrior and their family’s human performance: physical, mental, spiritual and social.  He retired as a Sergeant Major in 2016.  Currently, Alex is the owner and CEO of First Principles Performance. He married his wife Carly in 1998, they live in Colorado and try to keep up with their 4 kids, 2 dogs and 3 cats.

The Human Experience | Consciousness Forum and Summit

Last month we invited 50 guests to join us for an event focused entirely around The Human Experience.

Our guests took part various experiences ranging from a sunrise ice bath with breathwork and guided medition, to a hike up the flatirons , Brazilian Jujitsu, Biomarker testing to create personalized supplements, functional movement assessments, acupuncture, IV therapy and more.

The topic of the summit was consciousness. We challenged everyone to define consciousness and have an interactive discussion with a panel of several experts in this area. They discussed what the science says today, the emerging technologies stemming from it, and how the future will be influenced by both. We selected a group of speakers with diverse opinions on the matter and what ensued was an intriguing and informational conversation.

Human Experience Forum: Consciousness

• Dr. Murdoc Khaleghi - Pretty Good Guy | Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director | Investor | CEO | Director

• Tim Mullen - Neuroscientist | Founder & CEO | Keynote Speaker | Advisor | Board Member

• Inai Marie - Spiritual Healer | Traveler | Qigong + Yoga Practitioner/Instructor | Body Work and Healing

If you are interested in hear the full version click on the video link below.

April Human Performance Forum | Future of Entrepreneurship

If you missed our April event you missed a truly timely and important conversation about the future of entrepreneurship.

Hosts Jean-Paul O'Brien (CEO/Managing Director of Black Lab Sports) and Cody Burkhart (Robotics/Human Performance/Neuroscience/NASA) lead an interactive conversation with authors of The New Builders, Seth Levine, and Elizabeth MacBride. Along with the Authors we had the opportunity to speak with two new builders who shared their insights and stories with our audience.

In their book, The New Builders, Levine and MacBride argue that the future of American entrepreneurship will rely on the success of women, black and brown entrepreneurs but we have yet to recognize the identities of these New Builders or develop strategies to support them.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Seth Levine is a long-time venture capitalist, Seth Levine is a co-founder and partner of Foundry Group, a Boulder, CO based venture firm. Easily distracted and a passionate advocate for entrepreneurship, Seth also spends time as an advisor to venture funds and companies around the world. Seth and his wife live in Colorado with their three children.

Elizabeth MacBride is an international business journalist, Elizabeth’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, BBC, MIT Tech Review, Quartz, and many other prominent publications. She founded Times of Entrepreneurship to share the stories of many often-overlooked entrepreneurs she has encountered in her reporting around the world. A writer, traveler, and seventh-generation Washingtonian, she lives in Alexandria, Va., with her two daughters.

kRISSA wATRY (TOP LEFT); MARQUES ANDERSON (TOP RIGHT), JEROME WILLIAMS (BOTTOM LEFT) ; ELIZABETH MACBRIDE (BOTTOM RIGHT/RIGHT) SETH MACBRIDE (BOTTOM RIGHT/LEFT)

To order your copy visit: thenewbuilders.com

ABOUT THE NEW BUILDERS:

Karissa Watry, Founder, and CEO of Dynepic. Dynepic is a women and veteran-founded company that is the brainchild of Co-Founders Krissa Watry, a USAF Academy, and MIT educated engineer, and Jacqueline Arn, a 40+ year educator. Dynepic is powering corporate digital innovation, training and engagement with its DX-Platform technology. The DX-Platform is a fully immersive app and training creation, distribution, and management platform.

Marques Anderson, M.Sc., is an innovator, founder, and thought leader working at the nexus of indigenous wisdom, modern technology, and future communities. After a professional pivot from the NFL in 2006, Marques founded and directed the World Education Foundation (www.worldef.com), which strategically bridges the gap between academia, technology, and implementation in local communities around the world. In 2017 Marques created Urban Matrix One, a startup developing solutions at the intersection of satellite imagery, machine learning, and urban infrastructure.

Looking forward to our next event in May! We are the Human Tech Track Leaders this year and are hosting a panel to discuss Human Performance, Precision Nutrition, and AI and why those things are critical for Entrepreneurs. Register Here!

If you missed this watch the replay below!

Human Performance Forum: Flow State & Consciousness

Another exciting forum in the books for February. If you missed it, here’s the replay.

Performance of Consciousness: Flow, Shared Consciousness and Psychedelics

Make sure to keep an eye out for more information about our next event coming up in March. To pre-register and reserve a space now, click below.

Last month we spoke with human performance experts Cody Burkhart (Robotics, Neuroscience, NASA) and Brian Mackenzie (Founder, CEO SH//FT). We had an incredible amount of interest and feedback around the subject so we decided to take it one step further. Based on popular demand, this month’s discussion was around Performance of Consciousness, specifically around Flow, Shared Consciousness, and Psychedelics.

We tapped into our vast network of experts, professors, researchers, and practitioners and put together an amazing panel and Q&A session. Here’s a look at our speakers:

Gunther Weil was one of the core graduate student members of the Harvard Psilocybin Project. He worked closely with Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass). He is the founder and CEO of Value Mentors and a 50-year practitioner of Tai Chi and is recognized as a master teacher of Qigong.

Phillip Thomas, Ph.D., LTC/SF. brings over 24 years of leadership experience in the active-duty military, including executive management positions and over 17 years as a Special Forces Officer in garrison and combat.

Jon Arend is an extreme athlete, trainer, health guru, and Founder of The Arend Method. He brings over 16 years of experience working as a fitness expert and trainer for numerous A-list celebrities, professional and collegiate athletes, and fortune 500 CEOs.

We also heard from Unlimited Sciences Co-Founder, Del Jolly to give us some insight into psychedelic sciences and legislation around Psilocybin. We spoke about the significant increase in the research happening in this space. There’s so much potential for growth right now, it’s an area worth keeping your eye on.

A big thank you to our community and to our speakers for setting up such an engaging conversation this month! We can’t wait for next month’s forum. More information to be announced!

Brain Science and Mental Health

In December, we were focused on ART and creativity in uncertainty. We spoke with artist Will Day and Gail Folwell. We asked them what they were questioning about the world around us.

Continuing Professor Hiroshi Ishii's model - ART > SCIENCE > TECHNOLOGY > DESIGN - we kicked off 2021 with SCIENCE to help us explain the world around us. We invited human performance experts Cody Burkhart (Robotics, Neuroscience, NASA) and Brian Mackenzie (Founder, CEO SH//FT) to help lead the conversation.

Cody discussed current research, studies, and technology happening in the field of brain science. We shared out statistics around the severe impact COVID has had on mental health across the board. Then Brian, walked us through the science of breath and lead us in a breathwork exercise that we could all apply in our daily routines. We had some interesting findings come from the poll everyone took just before and then again just after the breathwork. Pretty incredible shift across the board (see image below).

If you missed our event you can watch the replay below For more on Brian’s work and to learn how to make stress your superpower visit: shiftadapt.com

If you would like to continue the conversation from January here how to contact us or our speakers:

Cody Burkhart: cody.burkhart@gmail.com or IG: @nerdreinvented

Brian Mackenize: bmack@unscared.com or IG: @_brianmackenzie

Black Lab Sports: sign up here to receive regular updates/announcements, follow us on social or email inquiries directly to team@blacklabsports.com

If identifying your core purpose, connecting with other exponential and abundance minded change makers, and creating a life of meaningful work is something you desire, then consider joining our Black Lab Mastermind: Apply Here

Black Lab Sports is committed to producing programming that will propel humanity forward as we engage and grow our community of changemakers.  We will continue to provide content that inspires, activates, and hyper-enables these changemakers to tear down silos and address the world’s messy and complex problems. If you made a meaningful connection at one of our events, please share your story with us by emailing: team@blacklabsports.com.

SAVE THE DATE for the next Human Performance Forum on Thursday, February 11th at 6 PM MT / 8 PM ET. Spaces fill up quickly so register for the event HERE. Hope to see you there!

During our conversation, we took a poll to check-in and see where everyone was from a stress/anxiety level standpoint. Then we took that same poll right after doing a breathwork exercise with Brian Mackenzie. as you can see we saw a significant shift from a majority of us feeling slightly stressed or moderately stressed to most of us feeling slightly calm, moderately calm, and for 29% extremely calm. WOw! For more on Brian’s educational content visit: https://www.brianmackenzie.com/

To replay the entire event or share this content click on the video below:

Creativity in Uncertainty

Quoting Prof. Hiroshi Ishii from the MIT Media Lab, “Art questions the world around us, science explains the world around us, technology enables a solution, and design articulates on that solution.” In the midst of the current uncertainty, it was important that we ground ourselves and speak directly with artists and ask what it is they are questioning in the world right now. The result was a live, interactive and meaningful dialogue hosted by Jean-Paul O’Brien alongside (virtually) artist Gail Folwell and Will Day. What unfolded was a deeply meaningful and inspiring dialogue about connection and hope across our incredible community of Thinker Doers.

Artist: Gail Folwell of folwell studios (left) and Will Day of will day art shared what they are questioning about the world right now. iduring these uncertain times gail and will spoke about connection and hope.

If you are new to Black Lab Sports, our community of Thinker Doers are leading innovators, researchers, elite athletes, executives, founders, investors, coaches, scientists, technologists, military leaders, spiritual leaders, and artists.  This cross-disciplined group allows for a holistic perspective around some of the world’s greatest problems and is a catalyst for discovering opportunities. 

If you missed the event, view the recording here. To receive emails and updates regarding upcoming events, including the next in the series coming in January 2021, register HERE. If you are interested in bringing this content or programming to your organization or have interest in joining our ecosystem in a more integrated way, email us at team@blacklabsports.com or submit your request at www.blacklabsports.com/join.

Mike Weeks on Resilience and Leadership

JP O'Brien gets to catch up with Mike Weeks to talk about resilience and how to lead in rapidly changing environments.

Mike Weeks, CEO of Frontline Minds, is a coach, trainer and speaker, specializing in resilience and peak performance for high-pressure operators, such as Special Forces and extreme athletes. He was formerly a professional free climber who bridged the gap between elite sports performance, coaching and media. Mike has lead, coached, trained and consulted globally for thousands of individuals and teams. He is a published author with Random House/Penguin in the fields of neuropsychology and is recognized by US immigration as an extraordinary talent in human behavior and lifestyle expertise.

For more about Frontline Mind: https://www.frontlinemind.com
Direct link to the resilience course: https://frontlinemind.thinkific.com/courses/resilience-by-design-frontline-mind
Discount code: BLS20 for 20% off

If you need a personal scholarship or if you want to signup your entire organization, please reach out directly to Mike below.

Reach out to Mike via email here: mike@frontlinemind.com

Connect with Mike on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-weeks-aa559819/

Fred Krawchuk on Performing in Uncertain and Complex Environments

JP O'Brien sits down with Fred Krawchuk to talk about frameworks on how to approach and perform in complex and uncertain environments.

Fred has run several strategic initiatives groups that successfully tackled wicked problems (such as terrorism, insurgency, international development, and diplomatic initiatives) in the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. The experience and insights gained from working on these complex issues are about far more than war, terrorism, and striving for peace. Learning how to unite diverse groups to achieve common goals under the most adverse circumstances and instill in them a shared vision of a better future is key to many complex endeavors, civilian as well as military. Experience has taught Fred how to co-create a collaborative approach to tough issues (such as the Coronavirus) by building consensus between stakeholders from all walks of life, aligning "head, heart, and hands," and implementing pragmatic solutions to complex challenges.

Reach Fred here via email.

Connect to Fred via LinkedIn.

The Latest from The Lab: February 1, 2019

New year, same deal: If you like these updates and want them sent straight to your inbox, subscribe in the box in the upper righthand corner of this page. Thanks for staying up to date with Black Lab Sports! We hope 2019 is off to a great start.

Gail Folwell Scores RAGBRAI Commission

Rendering of Gail Folwell’s forthcoming “River to “River” RAGBRAI commemoration; source: The Des Moines Register

Congratulations to our friend and resident artist Gail Folwell on her most recent public art commission. Selected from a pool of 100 applicants, Gail will create a statue in Des Moines, Iowa that commemorates RAGBRAI (which stands for The Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa and is the world's oldest, largest, and longest recreational bicycle touring event). Made of bronze and aluminum, the statue will be an abstract representation of Donald Kaul and John Karras, Des Moines Register columnists and co-founders of the event, amidst rolling hills and bicycle rims.

About her commission, Folwell said, "Art, performance, music and sports bring people together unlike anything else. They level the playing field and make us realize we are one humanity; Not us vs. them, but one big party.” Eloquently put, Gail. We can't wait to see the finished creation!

Read more about the history of RAGBRAI and Gail's commission here.

Welcome to The Lab: Goally and Frontline Mind

Jason, Sasi, and Daragh of Goally. (Not pictured: Maggie)

We'd like to extend a warm welcome to two companies that joined our ecosystem last month:

Goally, which was founded by Sasi Movva in 2015, combines technology, behavioral and child-development science, and the shared knowledge of the Goally community to help parents give their children the best possible start in life. The team is working on a fun tool designed for kids—specifically the 15% of U.S. children who have cognitive challenges such as ADHD and autism—to become organized and independent. Learn more about Goally here.

Secondly, Australian-based Frontline Mind optimizes leadership, resilience, and elite human performance for the "Frontline": elite athletes, first responders (firefighters, ambulance, and police), the military, businessmen and women, educators, and victims of natural disasters. Their agile, multi-disciplinary teams focus on complex organizational challenges and provide innovative and customized training (both live and digital) to enable teams to thrive and perform at their best. Find more information about Frontline Mind—specifically Rebecca and Mike, who are currently based in The Lab—here.

Latest Shoot at East Pearl Studios

2019 is slated to be a big year for East Pearl Studios! Here are a couple behind-the-scenes shots taken by Brook Aitken at a recent shoot by Siren Video:

We can't wait to see what else 2019 holds for Boulder's newest (and the region's finest) production studio. If you or someone you know is interested in utilizing the space to transform your creative vision to reality (and save $500 off your first booking!), email studio@blacklabsports today.

GoFundMe: Shawn Axelrod of Climbing Addicts

Shawn Axelrod, cofounder of Climbing Addicts and friend of Black Lab Sports, needs our help! Having been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (a life-threatening condition that causes his heart to beat erratically) and undergoing open-heart surgery at age 19, Shawn was recently diagnosed with early-stage congestive heart failure as well. Essentially, his heart is 25% less efficient than it should be, and continued medical attention is required.

A GoFundMe Campaign was established to help Shawn with his overwhelming and mounting medical bills. If you're in a position to contribute, we ask that you consider doing so. Any amount of support makes a difference, and we want to get Shawn back outdoors doing what he loves. Thank you in advance!

The Latest from The Lab: December 14, 2018

Happy Holidays! Here's what we're up to as we approach the end of 2018—and remember, if you want these updates to go straight to your inbox, subscribe in the upper righthand corner of this page.

AMPLIO + STRYD Running Project

One of the things that excites us most about the ecosystem we're building is the unlimited potential for connections and collaborations. A recent example of this is a partnership between AMPLIO (an AI + human performance company co-founded by Trung Tran, a former DARPA project manager) and STRYD (which makes running power meters here in Boulder). The two are teaming up to bring AI to endurance sports, using 12 of our local runner contacts as testers. The goal of the project, using data collected on each person, is to make individual recommendations for optimizing mechanics and increasing power (a.k.a. getting faster!). We can't wait to see what results from this collaboration.

Holiday Kickoff Photos

Thanks to everyone who joined us and JPMorgan Private Bank for our second annual holiday kickoff party. We love when our community gets together and we hope you enjoyed the evening too. Here are a few photos from the party:

Boulder Chamber Networking Event

We hosted another Boulder Chamber of Commerce networking event last week and, as always, were glad to see members of our community learn and connect in our space.

Given the opportunity to say a few words to the audience of young professionals, I drove home a message that I think is worth summarizing: We're living in a world of possibility, abundance, and major change. What an exciting time to be alive! The critical task for each of us is to decide what's most important, and then make it happen. The future is ours to create. We'll do that by turning thoughts into reality and living as true ThinkerDoers. Are you up for the challenge?

"Celebrate Everything" Photos

If we haven't made it clear yet, we'll take any chance we get to celebrate the people and companies in our community. Gail Folwell, Will Day, Rocky Mountain Regenerative Medicine, and East Pearl Studios recently hosted a "Celebrate Everything" party and gave us yet another excuse to gather and toast to 2018.

About the evening, Will Day said,"We appreciate our clients, collectors, and friends so much. This event was our tribute to them. This space has some magic to it and it's really neat what can happen when different companies come together, learn from each other, and support one another." We agree!

The Latest from The Lab: November 15, 2018

Here's what’s happening at The Lab. If you want updates like this one to land right in your inbox, please subscribe in the upper righthand corner of this page. Have a great Thanksgiving!

isplack 2.0 Kickoff

"Because your skin is your biggest organ, and what you put on it matters. We got you covered."

BIG NEWS from isplack, a core part of the Black Lab Sports community. No longer strictly an eyeblack company, the team just launched a new line of skin care performance products: face/body wipes, deodorant, anti-chafe stick, and sunscreen. As always, everything with the isplack label is made without harmful chemicals, dyes, and scents.

This moment is significant for all of us, and not just because it means that isplack is doing well. isplack was the first Black Lab Sports company and, through a whole lot of experimenting, learning, and persisting, is paving the way for other businesses in our ecosystem to succeed. If you have a moment, I invite you to watch my founder’s story, which went live on the isplack blog today.

Please help us spread the word about isplack 2.0 Whether through Instagram, Twitter, email, word of mouth, or your own example, every shoutout matters. Thank you for being part of the Lab community!

Recent Events at The Lab

This morning, we were privileged to host the Boulder Economic Council's outdoor industry panel session. Clif Harald moderated while Rodney Smith of Backpackers Pantry, Dirk Friel of Peaksware, and I shared our thoughts on and experiences in the outdoor space. We appreciate everything that the Boulder Chamber does for our community and were glad to connect with those of you who came out!

Last week we hosted a panel themed “The Hard Things about Hard Things" (inspired by Ben Horowitz's book). A strong lineup of CEOs shared their experiences and gave us a lot to think about. Thanks to everyone who attended and to Will Day for opening up his studio for both of these events.

East Pearl Studios Hosts First Car Shoot

First a motorcycle shoot, now a car shoot. East Pearl Studios (official title of our Media Lab) is on a roll! We're thrilled with the way our stage turned out and are excited about the creative minds that the space is attracting. 

We're having an Open House soon, so be on the lookout for details. In the meantime, find more information on Boulder's newest video and photography studio at www.eastpearlstudios.com. Better yet, stop in for a look around!

Rocky Mountain Regenerative Medicine

Rocky Mountain Regenerative Medicine is here! Watch this short video to learn what Dr. Vassily Eliopoulos and Dr. Khoshal Latifzai are all about and what they're bringing to The Lab:

Will Day Named Champion for Children

Congratulations to Will Day, our resident fine arts painter who was recently named one of the 2018 Champions for Children by Blue Sky Bridge. Five individuals were honored and Will took home the Community Supporter Award. We're proud of you for using your talent for good, Will!

The Latest from The Lab: October 19, 2018

Here's a quick update from The Lab. If you want newsletters like this one to land right in your inbox, please subscribe in the upper righthand corner of this page. Thanks for keeping up with Black Lab Sports!

East Pearl Studios

Welcome to East Pearl Studios, the newest media space on the Front Range!

Unlike anything else in Colorado, this space, located just inside the main Black Lab Sports entrance, is ready and available for video shoots, still photography, live events, sales presentations, web streaming, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Our stage dimensions are 45’ x 31’. We have a 2-wall white cyc with 40’ x 24’ cove and 19’9” lighting grid.

You can find more information at www.eastpearlstudios.com. In the meantime, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Techstars + BLS

This is a big opportunity for all of us... as most of you know, I truly value and appreciate the Techstars community and programming. I'm excited to share that we're partnering with our friends at Techstars to launch a new accelerator focused on Human Performance and pushing the limits of Human Potential. Imagine 10 companies, led by purposeful entrepreneurs, all in one place, innovating and creating technologies that enhance our minds, bodies, and souls.

We're now in the phase of looking for corporate partners to join the team. If you or your company might be interested in getting involved, please contact me. 

Rocky Mountain Regenerative Medicine

We're excited to announce the newest members of Black Lab Sports: Rocky Mountain Regenerative Medicine. In line with our commitment to pushing limits of human performance, RMRM's philosophy integrates evidence-based practice with cutting-edge, non-traditional treatments to maximize health, happiness, vitality, and longevity. 

Rocky Mountain Regenerative Medicine offers everything from cryotherapy and IV hydration to hormone therapy and STEM cell/PRP, and will officially be part of the Black Lab Sports ecosystem starting in November. Say hello when you see them!

The Latest from The Lab: October 1, 2018

Here's what’s we and our community have been up to lately. If you want updates like this one to land right in your inbox, please subscribe in the upper righthand corner of this page. Thanks for keeping up with Black Lab Sports!

More Heart Than Scars

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a Spartan Sprint in Breckenridge alongside Mike Green and Zack Paben, co-founder of an amazing nonprofit. More Heart Than Scars (MHTS) aims to help individuals with physical, mental, or emotional scars realize they can live beyond them with More Heart Than Scars. Black Lab Sports is rooted in the integration of mind, body, and soul, and MHTS embodies that same philosophy. They offer individual, group, and corporate team building experiences through Spartan races or custom experiential programs.

Visit More Heart Than Scars to support this worthy cause. Every donation goes a long way! To learn more, email Zack or follow MHTS on Facebook. 

Nix Wins SFIA Startup Challenge

We attended the 2018 SFIA Industry Leaders Summit last week and had a great time learning from and connecting with other players in the sports and fitness space. To Olja Ivanic, isplack's VP of Marketing, "The networking opportunities at SFIA were the highlight. We met a lot of knowledgeable and passionate people and look forward to building on those relationships in the future."

Black Lab Sports was also involved as a sponsor of the Startup Challenge, which pitted six startup founders against each other in an onstage pitch competition. In the end, Meridith Unger of Nix Biosensors came out on top, leaving with $15,000 and an all-expense paid trip to spend a day with the Innovation Team at the Under Armour HQ in Baltimore. Way to go, Meridith and Nix team!

NFL Visits Black Lab Sports

We recently had some special guests in The Lab when the NFL stopped by to do a feature on Jake Plummer and his foray into the business world after 10 years playing pro football. The story will be airing on TV later this month, so stay tuned for details on how to watch.

Human Performance Integration with the US Military

In addition to working with athletes, entrepreneurs, and performers of all types, Black Lab Sports finds itself on the cutting edge in supporting our nation's warfighters as well. We're in the process of sharing and testing human and cognitive performance technology with elite commandos in the US military to determine impact on performance, sustainability, and recovery. This is all part of our pursuit to push the limits on human performance, whether in the office or on the battlefield.

The Latest from The Lab: September 5, 2018

Here's what’s happening in our ecosystem. If you want updates like this one to land right in your inbox, please subscribe in the upper righthand corner of this page. Thanks for keeping up with us!

Farewell to Our Summer Flywheelers

We could not have asked for a better group of Flywheel Project interns to have joined us this summer. Representing six colleges from around the country, Lacey, Kody, Ryan, Ben, Thad, Karson, Andrew, Blake, and Sophie dove right in and made the most of their ten weeks in The Lab. Their work experience ranged from Black Lab Sports and our Growth Division and Co-working Space to isplack, ONX Sports, Revo PT, and artists Will Day and Gail Folwell. They also went behind the scenes to learn from local startups and businesses such as Liberty Puzzles, Techstars Boulder, and the Denver Outlaws.

We appreciate the energy that each of our Flywheelers brought to Black Lab Sports and we expect big things from them in the coming years. We're also grateful to Michael O'Brien, who so generously shared his time and experience to make this Turn of Flywheel Project a big success. You or your network can contact Michael to learn how to become part of our nonprofit, Flywheel Project.

Dynepic Launches PlayPORTAL Studio

Dynepic, creators of playPORTAL, recently launched playPORTAL Studio, a suite of software development kits (SDKs) built to enable kid-safe authentication and social play features in apps, games and connected toys with instant child-privacy law compliance. 

Krissa Watry, co-founder and CEO of Dynepic, said, “Our playPORTAL SDKs provide developers with the tools they need to create the next hit app, game, or smart toy while we do all the heavy lifting for data security and child privacy.” Given the complexity of data privacy and security requirements for children, we expect playPORTAL Studio to be a game-changer.

Link to "Omaha" Documentary

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate Peyton Manning, the Denver Broncos, and fine artist Will Day last weekend. If you missed "Omaha"–the documentary on Will's portrayal of Peyton's career with the Broncos (featured in the photo above)–you can watch it here. Congratulations, Will, and thanks to everyone who helped us turn this idea into reality!

Alaska Leadership Adventures

A few updates ago, we introduced you to Mike Green, Black Lab Sports friend and coworker and also a performance coach. He recently returned from a month in Alaska, where he led three Alaska Leadership Adventures. With rugged country–typically the Alaskan Bush–replacing a conference room, Mike served as a guide, confidante, and motivator for change for each of his clients. He believes that the wild offers a unique environment for unplugging, introspecting, and testing oneself, and is confident that each client returned home a different, more whole, more confident person. To connect with Mike and learn more about opportunities such as these, visit mwellandgreen.com or email him here.

SFIA Industry Leaders Summit is Coming

Reminder: The Sports & Fitness Industry Association is heading to Denver soon for the 6th annual Industry Leaders Summit. Spanning September 26-27, it is a great opportunity to become informed, learn from high-level decision makers, and network with individuals from across the sports and fitness industry. We have a small block of discounted tickets, so let me know if you're interested in attending.

Cowork with Us!

We're excited about the direction in which our Coworking Space is heading! Our goal is to grow our community of entrepreneurs by surrounding them with great energy, thriving startups, and passionate peers. If you're looking for a place to work outside of the traditional office model, find more information here.