If the App Fits, Download it: Introducing peerFit

This is it—your year to get fit.  You purchased your new tennis shoes, you joined the local gym and you even gave in to buying those outrageously priced $22 dri-fit socks that the salesman at the Nike outlet somehow suckered you into.  Now, it’s finally time to take a look at the gym’s fitness class schedule and pick your poison.

And then you reach a state of pure panic.  Your eyes skim the gym’s online class calendar with confusion. Zumba...what the heck is that?  Instructor Michael McThrowdown...is he going to kill me?  Yogalates?...I can’t even pronounce that!

After questions such as these, you might give up on the fitness classes all together and opt for the monotonous 45 minutes on the elliptical.  Bummer.

Ed Buckley, President of peerFit.

Ed Buckley, Ph.D. student in the department of Health Education and Behavior at the University of Florida experienced this same problem...only he decided to fix it.  As a group fitness instructor in Gainesville, Buckley knew he taught a great fitness class, yet no one seemed to show up.  To draw people in, Ed decided to start writing exercises on the whiteboard in the classroom so gym passerbys could take note of what to expect during classes.

This small, seemingly insignificant change drew in more people than Buckley was prepared for.  Suddenly, people in the Gainesville gym wanted to be social while working out.  Ed Buckley immediately saw a need...and that need became known as peerFit.

peerFit is a free online and mobile app designed to allow users to quickly search and filter through workout options to find a class that best suits their individual needs.  The peerFit program has been developed in order to give users a more interactive platform for discovering and researching new workout classes within a particular area.  The app alone has not only helped gyms go social, but has inched users closer toward their fitness goals.

“Thirty percent of people are more likely to keep working out if they get into the right class,” says Buckley.  “We want to help people find the right class and then allow them to share the classes that they like with others.  People like to share their workout experiences—and prove that they went to classes!  It empowers them and it’s one of the greatest parts of the health realm.”

In other words, peerFit helps perpetuate the fitness “circle of life” that makes most apps (not to mention fitness regimens) so successful.

There’s more to peerFit than meets the eye.  The app and mobile site incorporate an interactive calendar, workout uploads, instructor reviews, class reviews and overall class recommendations too.  Currently, the app is in Beta launch with a full peerFit marketing campaign to launch September 1, 2012.  The campaign will take place in Tampa, Atlanta and Jacksonville, however, any gym in any city is able to download and give peerFit a try today.

The founders of peerFit.
Source: Gainesville.com

As part of its mission, peerFit has helped to make gyms more social and connect people to one another through fitness.  So it comes to no surprise that Buckley immediately brought on three business partners (which also happen to be his good friends) to help launch and grow the app.  The peerFit team is currently made up of four partners including Buckley, Rex Tullius, Matt Redinger and Scott Peeples as well as public relations specialist, Anastasia Revzina.

The team has been working tireless hours (on top of fulltime jobs, grueling swim practices and never-ending graduate school lectures) in order to see that peerFit is the best app it can be.

“I think the coolest thing about this process is that it has been beyond a fulltime job for us, but we are still able to run it as students and professional athletes,” says Buckley.  “We love to be busy, we love going 100 miles per hour and we love meeting people.”

Ed Buckley and Rex Tullius came all the way from Florida to visit
 Think Big Partners and to learn more about Kansas City's startup resources.

During the app’s build phase, the peerFit team somehow found enough time to survey over 10,000 potential users about the impact that the app could have.  According to results, 77% of surveyors believed they would be more motivated to try a new class if they could read about the workout ahead of time.

“It’s important for us to take a step back and look at peerFit from an outsider’s perspective,” says Rex Tullius. “We are all about picking people’s brains.  Those potential users know how to make the product better.”

What can we expect from peerFit in the coming months?  Other than its mega marketing campaign hitting in the southeast in September, we can also expect a rollout of the full mobile app and website at the beginning of September.

“I am proud of the process we have built,” says Buckley.  “We love meeting with different gyms and getting to know people.  That’s what makes us unique.  But the truth of the matter is great athletes, great musicians and great entrepreneurs just aren't ‘normal’.  We are obsessive.  Running a startup is difficult, but we love it.  We may get criticisms 10, 20, 30 times over, but we always come back with more passion to move forward.”

Keep an eye out for peerFit, the fitness app that’s making major waves, this fall.  To learn more or to get your gym involved with the app, visit www.peerfit.com.


Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig

Think Big Cofounder Launches Startup Your Fitness Blog

As a serial entrepreneur, Herb Sih, cofounder of Think Big Partners, has two speeds: stop and go.

Unfortunately, when one big opportunity began (the launch of Think Big Partners) another opportunity was missed--a healthy lifestyle.  As soon as Herb launched the Kansas City-based startup accelerator, all other "hobbies" seemed to be shoved to the side, including a healthy diet and exercise.

But Herb has decided not to ride the entrepreneurial wave fueled by a 5 Hour Energy and Town Topic hamburgers this month.  In fact, the serial entrepreneur has promised to use the month of April, starting on April Fool's Day, to take on a brand new attitude toward exercise and healthy living.

From April 1st until April 30th, Herb is beefing up his exercise regimen in preparation for Ruckus in St. Louis on May 5th.  He's getting everyone involved in the process--his family, employees, coworkers, partners and even some brave bizperc tenants.

Herb Sih explains to the Think Big team that we are starting a new fitness challenge. 

The Think Big Fitness Challenge has begun!  Our goals have been displayed on the glass of Herb's office.

Want to join the Think Big Fitness Challenge? Here's how!

• Set your goal for the month: how much will you work out from April 1 until April 30?  Every 20 minutes of exercise equals 1 point.  One hour workout, therefore, equals 3 points.  The Think Big goal range seems to be between 30 and 80 points (here's a hint: Herb's goal is 50 points!).
• Give yourself a handicap if you already work out quite a bit.  For example, Blake Miller, a partner at Think Big Partners, has a -9 point handicap because he is involved with Crossfit.  This will help the workout-aholics challenge themselves, too! 
• Keep track of your points throughout the month.  Be sure to stay on track (and eat healthy too!).
• Check back on Herb's Startup Your Fitness blog for tips, tricks and his inside story. 
• At the end of the month, let us know if you reached your goal.  If you did, we will give you a special shout-out and celebrate with you!  

Join Think Big's Fitness Challenge and startup your fitness today!  Learn more on Herb's new blog, Startup Your Fitness.

Follow Herb's journey on Twitter! @thinkbigKC

A Startup is a Marathon...Not a Sprint

Or maybe it's a half marathon...

Well, everybody, I did it.  I completed my first half marathon on Saturday.  13.1 miles of pavement is behind me and a world of opportunity is in front of me.  Because now that I know that I can run that far, it seems like almost anything is possible.

I was never a good runner.  As a varsity swimmer in college, I was meant to spend my time in the water...not on land (a "fish out of water" is an appropriate term for me).  So paying the $50, buying new Nike tennis shoes, and signing up for the half marathon was not the easiest thing to do.  But as soon as I signed myself up, I was determined to succeed.  So, I started training on January 1st, running mile after mile on treadmills and trails, until April 2nd, when Rock the Parkway 2011 Half Marathon finally arrived.

But what's this half marathon story got to do with entrepreneurship?  A lot, actually. 

As a mediocre runner (who was never able to run more than 4 miles in her life), a 13.1 mile run seemed near impossible.  Therefore, one of the hardest parts of the half marathon was actually getting myself to sign up.  That first initial step was one of the hardest- much like the beginning stages of a startup.  For most entrepreneurs, the first part of building a company is the most difficult: coming up with the idea, believing in it, and dedicating your life to a new business that has a 50% chance of succeeding.  My half marathon was the exact same ordeal: I signed up for a run that I had to dedicate myself to and I had to believe that I could finish, even though I was not 100% sure that I could.

When I was at the starting line, I have to admit, I was nervous.  With thousands of runners surrounding me, sporting professional running clothes, water bottle belts, and loaded iPods, I not only looked like a rookie, but I felt like one too.  Launching a startup is scary and intimidating, too.  There may be people out there that have more experience than you, more funding than you, and maybe more confidence than you.  But you know what?  Everybody has to start somewhere.  And as soon as you get to that "somewhere", the only way to move is up.

When I approached the 12 mile mark during the half marathon, I had never felt so accomplished.  I only had a little over a mile left and the realization sunk in: I was going to make it.  And as I ran that last mile (mostly downhill, thank goodness), I came to find that the sweetest part of the half marathon was going to be crossing that finish line.  And as soon as I passed the photographer's flashes, the gigantic pace clock, and the large banner that read FINISH, I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders (and the pain disappear from my knees!).  I had finished.  And man, was it sweet.  I like to equate the end of a half marathon to the first big break for a startup company.  Whether that be the first loyal client, the startup's first successful event, or the point where the startup starts generating revenue; the taste of success is very sweet, whether it's launching a business or finishing those 13.1 miles.

A startup is a marathon, not a sprint.  It's a long run that requires training and mental preparation.  But once you cross that finish line, all of the hard work pays off.  Are you ready to sign up, face your fears, and taste success?

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A BIG thanks to Business Transition Specialists, our newest sponsor of Think Big Kansas City!  Thanks for becoming a part of the growing entrepreneurial community in Kansas City.  To become a sponsor, click here!

Written by Allison Way.
@AllisonThinkBig

The Importance of Exercise on the Entrepreneur's Mind

Written by Allison Way, writer and videographer for Think Big Partners and bizperc, two of Kansas City's newest entrepreneurial resources. 

In a recent study conducted last month, researchers recruited schoolchildren (age nine to ten) to conduct a series of physical and psychological exercises. The children ran on a treadmill to test their fitness and were then asked to complete a series of cognitive challenges which involved watching directional arrows on a computer screen and pushing certain keys in order to test how well the children filtered out unnecessary information. The results? The children who were more fit scored better on the tests.


Dog-n-Jog, which took place last week in KC,
is a great way to keep in shape to encourage
a more creative mind. 



After scanning each of the children’s brains using magnetic resonance imaging technology, the researchers found that the fittest children had a larger basal ganglia (a part of the brain that helps maintain attention and coordinate actions) as well as an enlarged hippocampus (which helps one to focus on complex memory). Together, these two parts of the brain allow some of the most intricate thinking. The researchers concluded that being fit in young people may “enhance neurocognition.”

As a matter of fact, it may not only be young people whose brains are affected by fitness. In a study done in Sweden a year ago, researchers found that 18-year olds who had better fitness also had higher I.Q.’s. The fittest of the fit were then more likely to excel in more lucrative careers. Georg Kuhn, professor at the University of Gothenburg, says that although there is no direct evidence that exercise leads to a higher I.Q., researchers believe that aerobic fitness produces specific growth factors and proteins that stimulate the brain.

So what does this mean to the everyday entrepreneur? This means that exercise can actually improve small business. The more aerobic exercise that a small business owner or entrepreneur may indulge in (especially during childhood), the better off they are setting up their own future. Exercise can stimulate creativity. So whether it’s that next business marketing strategy you’re looking to enhance, or a new logo that you want to tackle, aerobic exercise and physical fitness can actually improve the results of your brainstorming!

For Kansas City business owners, there are tons of ways to stay aerobically fit while still upholding a career in entrepreneurship or becoming an entrepreneur. Even a twenty-minute walk on a lunch break can improve an entrepreneur’s brain functionality. So get out there: take the dog for a late night jog around the Plaza, go swimming at Ocean’s of Fun on the weekend, or commute to work via bike. There are many ways to enhance your physical fitness without sacrificing your work time.