The Nicest Place on the Internet

Strava culture is a runner who recently broke 3 hours in the NYC Marathon often giving me “kudos” (Strava’s form of a like) for my three mile round trip bike rides to drop my kid off at school and my casual networking runs with tech founders at the Prospect Park Pitch & Run. It’s Couch to 5K folks following their college track star friends who haven’t lost a step. It’s adult swim students keeping tabs on elite Ironman competitors.

And yet, somehow, none of it seems to make us feel worse about ourselves the way following globetrotting Instagram influencers might.

Maybe it’s all about putting in the work—and the fact that the UX centers the effort, not the commentary. Either way, I’d love to see more instances where we can come together in supportive and inclusive communities that connect and inspire—especially locally.

In a world where everything has become national and even global, getting someone to feel a kinship with your neighbor because they finally ran up the very same hill you tackled is just as much of a feat as the run itself. It’s a path you walked up so many times before you built up the endurance to finally run it without stopping—and now they’ve done the same.

While most founders are building around AI—I’d love to see more people focus on what makes us happy and what brings us together. Being a more productive worker or working less isn’t a guarantee of increased happiness if we can’t find better ways to connect with others in constructive and supportive ways.

How can we get people kudos for volunteer work? For taking care of the elderly—or even just being a good neighbor. How can take make it easier to walk over to the person plugged into their Airpods at a co-working space and say, “Hi… I saw your laptop sticker about the environment. What can I do to help you?”

I want to be Friend of the Neighborhood as much as I’ve ever wanted to be King of the Mountain.