Bikes x Business
And so much more! Hill Climbers started as a podcast covering cycling-centric founders and has become a cycling community with networking at the core. Take in one of our shows, meet new people on the group rides, and learn a thing or two.
We support and promote our underdog sport at every turn. By connecting people, especially those with influence in the community, we can push the sport forward, network and enrich our lives. We’re connective tissue for cyclists young and old, active racers and weekend warriors, beginners and veterans, casual spectators and junkies.
Wouldn’t your rather be networking on a bike?
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Sam Huntington
COMMUNITY & CREATIVE
PA - CA - TX
I grew up in Center City Philadelphia and as a kid loved soccer and skateboarding. I started DJing when I was 15 so ended up spinning a lot in college, which carried through to my 20s. My first media-related business development job was at an interactive design shop, which led to co-founding a mobile survey startup and then joining a pioneering agency focused on D2C marketing and e-commerce for entertainment clientele (this was AFTER fumbling through a few jobs in my early 20s) around the time I started riding in 2013.
During my 9 years at that company, Fame House, we helped clients like Eminem, Alicia Keys, Phantogram, David Byrne and Mobb Deep manage and monetize their online presence, and in 2016 it became part of Universal Music Group, the biggest record label in the world. In 2015 I moved to LA where I met the love of my life, and was indoctrinated in cycling by a couple of key mentors before we moved to Austin in 2020. Here I was drawn to the ATX startup community, and became a technology banker to support startups.
I love my wife, son and family, cycling (including virtual racing), most things having to do with fitness and the outdoors, business development, hip-hop, books, community building and creative pursuits like podcasting when I can get myself moving.
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Stephen Cunningham
CRM & TECHNOLOGY
CO - DC - AR - TX
I grew up in the mountains of Durango, Colorado, where my brothers and I spent nearly every day on bikes — through the woods, up dirt roads, to the lake — it was our only real way to get around. Cycling was everywhere in Durango; Sepp Kuss was a neighbor, Tom Danielson coached my brother, and the local rides were full of future pros.
In my teens, I set the bike aside for snowboarding and basketball — both of which became my main focus for years. After high school I spent a summer in Italy, and on the flight home decided to head east for college. I packed my Saab 9-3 and drove from Colorado to Virginia, eventually finishing a degree in Biomedical Engineering at Harding University in Arkansas. A biotech firm in Austin brought me into R&D in 2014, and I’ve called Austin home ever since.
After leaving biotech I co-founded a startup that made a splash in the tech world and was later acquired. From there I dove into the corporate-startup scene, working with companies like Bright Health and Honor. Somewhere along the way, I rediscovered cycling — and not a minute too soon. After some tough years battling anxiety and depression, the bike became my constant: a reset button, a therapy session, and my favorite way to explore the Texas Hill Country.
These days I’m lucky to work for a company that sends me around the world to ride. I’ve followed the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, climbing some of the most beautiful roads on earth, still chasing that same feeling I had as a kid — freedom on two wheels.
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Mark
Duroy
RIDES & COACHING
CA - WA - TX
I grew up in California and found cycling early, racing through my teens and eventually turning professional. From 1992 to 1996 I successfully competed in European classics, and was a member of Team Lada (Belgium) and Team de Zwaluwen (Netherlands). I currently hold the highest ever results by an American in several races such as Ronde van Gelderland, Ronde van Boxmeer, Rund um Köln, and the Baltic Cycling Championships. Initially, I retired at the end of the 1996 racing season, but in 2001 returned to road racing, and continued to compete in the United States until a training crash finally ended my active racing career in 2015.
The passion, discipline, and resilience I developed on the bike carried into my professional path. I earned a BS in Finance and later completed an MBA, building a strong foundation in strategy, financial management, and organizational leadership. I also hold a Six Sigma Black Belt certification, which sharpens my ability to improve processes, and drive measurable results. My career has included leadership roles in supply chain technology and global operations at both Amazon and TikTok. These experiences taught me how to navigate fast-paced environments, build and manage teams, and deliver sustainable growth.
In 2025, I founded Velo-Savvy, a cycling coaching business that merges my business acumen with my passion for athlete development. I coach riders across ages and disciplines, helping them apply both data-driven training and resilience-based strategies to achieve their goals while balancing the demands of work and life.
After living in California and Washington, I’ve made Austin home with my wife Andrea and our dog Pablito. I remain deeply engaged in cycling, with a focus on leadership, education, and building communities that help people thrive.
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Alec
Garza
GTM Strategy & Finance
TX - CO
I grew up in Austin when Lance Armstrong was a hometown hero and we celebrated his Tour victories with parades on Congress. My father, an avid cyclist at the time, would take me to Ride for the Roses and laps around the Veloway. While I admired the speed, gear, and camaraderie, I had little interest in putting on spandex and joining. However, these memories were like a seed planted at a young age that would eventually sprout. Instead of cycling, I focused my athletic pursuits on football, basketball, and lacrosse. "Riding bikes" was the thing I did on weekends with friends to get from one house to the next. Nothing more.
In 2010, I left Austin for Colorado, where I graduated from the University of Denver with a BS in Finance. Over the next 12 years, I satisfied my passion for the outdoors with skiing, fishing, and mountain biking in the Rockies. Professionally, I started my career at a multi-family office allocating capital into private markets on behalf of some of the wealthiest families in the country. In 2017, I began an 8-year journey building a fund of funds strategy, spinning it out, and scaling it to over $150M in assets and 100+ family investors.
Today, I'm building Roam Advisory, a strategic consulting practice focused on helping entrepreneurs and emerging managers craft their stories and develop the operating systems they need to achieve their goals. I'm drawn to founders in their early stages, the ones figuring out how to turn vision into execution.
It wasn't until 2023, when I signed up for a 70.3, that I discovered road and gravel cycling and found a new passion for endurance. The parallels to building a business became clear: both require patience, systems, and the discipline to keep moving forward even when the climb feels impossible. I'm back in Austin now with my wife, our dog, and new baby boy, riding the same roads my dad did, just with more traffic. I ride for the joy of being outside, the physical and mental peaks and valleys of a long ride, and the people I've met along the way. I spent years attending industry events that were transactional and boring. Hill Climbers is the antidote to that, building high-value relationships at the intersection of business and cycling. That’s a mission that’s easy to get behind.
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Zach
Aldrich
STRATEGY & ANALYTICS & ENGAGEMENT
KS - AR - TX
I grew up bouncing around the midwest as a kid before settling down in Northeast Kansas. After finishing undergrad in Kansas, grad school at UT Austin, and my first corporate career in Arkansas, I made my return to Austin in spring of 2024. While the fitness community was a strong motivator to return, it's been the entrepreneur and founder-led community that makes me excited to stay.
Athletically, I have always sought out new challenges. I grew up playing basketball, golf, and tennis which ultimately led to a college scholarship. I then discovered Crossfit and turned it into a 5 year campaign coaching and competing at the local and national level. During one class, I vividly remember making the comment "you'll never find me running 13.1 miles!" Famous last words. About a year (2019) later I bought my first road bike, as everyone in Bentonville does, and signed up for a "one and done" Ironman. I could have never imagined that would turn into becoming a professional athlete, finishing 20+ Ironman & Ironman 70.3 races, being a 2x USAT Gravel National Champion, and getting to explore the world one start line at a time!
Professionally, I spent the better part of a decade in Northwest Arkansas (the now mountain bike capital of the world) climbing the corporate ladder at Walmart. What started as a 23 yr old trading billions, yes billions, of dollars in commercial paper daily turned into analyzing social media engagement, identifying misinformation and bot attack campaigns, and implementing executive directives in the U.S. Strategy Office. After a short stint at Deloitte, I now lead Business Intelligence for a PE backed Austin-based startup building an alternative to the traditional healthcare system.
Today, I actively balance my ambitions as a corporate ladder climber, professional athlete, and most importantly an aspiring entrepreneur. There are a lot of exciting projects in the works that I look forward to sharing with the Austin endurance community and beyond.
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