Frequently Asked Questions
Why are you skating?
Answer: I believe every American should be inspired to pursue a life of passion and purpose. Education that cultivates an entrepreneurial and ‘dream big’ spirit is one of the most effective ways to consistently offer that inspiration. I’m skating over 3000 miles across the USA to carry this message of inspiration to American youth. I believe this is the biggest concept missing in American education. My larger vision is to found an academy for entrepreneurs that will provide a place for people to find the experience, resources, training, and connections they need to launch their ideas. I also have a vision to develop a network for teaching entrepreneurship to each student at every level by 2030.
When/were did you start?
Answer: The skate started on Oct. 4th, 2010 where the ferries leave to take visitors to liberty island in New York City.
When/where do you plan to finish?
Answer: The tour is currently set to finish in mid June a few hundred yards north of the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California.
What is the total distance of the tour?
Answer: The tour will be approximately 3300 miles in length.
It seems like it’s taken a while to get to where you are. Why?
Answer: 2 reasons: During the early portion of the tour, we were leaving as much as 2 week windows in big cities for speaking. We later found it to be easier to arrange speaking gigs more organically. The other delay has come in the form of a social project that found its origin in ideas and partnerships that grew out of the skate. Motor City Challenge (www.motorcitychallenge.org) is a startup accelerator based off of a similar initiative in Boston, MassChallenge. It will provide training, mentorship, co-working opportunities, and cash prizes to promising startups in Detroit. Some of the early work on that project slowed down the tour temporarily.
What will you do when you finish?
Answer: I will be returning to Michigan to work on MotorCityChallenge (www.motorcitychallenge.org). I’m a co-founder of MCC, which is a startup accelerator that will provide early-stage entrepreneurs the resources, training, and connections they need to launch their ideas. It is a competition, and we will be giving a total of $500,000 to winning teams in 2011.
How far do you skate each day?
Answer: Currently, I skate 40 miles/day for four days in a row and then take one day off.