Lucas Bourgoyne (Crit Champ), Karl Pelletier (USA Cycling), & Devon Price (Kenetik) on the SXSW Panel

It's so gratifying to see a plan come together! Last year I began chatting with Bay Area VC Nate Williams about doing a SXSW event together around “Innovation,” the perfect panel buzzword.

We asked the Hill Climbers network to produce a product company and an athlete that could speak with expertise on the subject along with Nate. If we’re being honest, we had Lucas Bourgoyne, local celebrity and 2025 Crit National Champ, on a short list of 1 and thanks to the intro from Elliott at People’s Endurance, he quickly agreed to join us in between race weekends. Chris Anderson from investment bank pH Partners recommended Devon Price, cofounder of Kenetik, a ketone brand that sponsors Lifetime Grand Prix.

There was a last minute curveball from Nate Williams, who could not join us, but he had already invited Karl Pelletier, Chief of Staff at USAC Cycling who sits on their Tech & Innovation council, and Karl graciously stepped in for Nate. Big shout out to Nate for adding USA Cycling in to the mix.

There are so many high notes in this show: Karl sharing how USAC chose Kristen Faulkner as the most likely candidate to medal in track pursuit using their data sets, Devon surprising the audience with Kenetik’s life saving qualities, and Lucas…being Lucas by showing the room that a 24 year old with talent, passion, work ethic, strategy, and the right team can prove the haters wrong on the crit circuit and in business. Enjoy!