Execution Is Everything

Hey Team!

Life has been full lately. So much so that I'm writing this from the back of an Uber in NYC, heading to the airport. As grateful as I am for everything on my plate, finding windows in the day to do some of the things I love, like writing this newsletter, has been challenging. Hence, this edition landing in your inbox a day later than usual!

I feel a responsibility to show up here with a clear message that adds value to your week. You've chosen to subscribe, and I don't take that lightly. If I don't have adequate time to write or feel I have something meaningful to share, I'd rather intentionally let a week pass and double down on the next than send something simply for the sake of sending it.

Anyways, I digress. We're here, and I feel like I've got a good one for you!

From The Field

This past weekend, the OPS RUN team travelled to Rome, Georgia, for Runningman, where we brought our first in-person experience to life. Rather than showing up with the traditional 10x10 canopy, folding table and branded backdrop, we wanted to do something entirely different. We introduced the Run Clubhouse: a nostalgic 80s locker room filled with authentic vintage memorabilia, built to celebrate real people and share their stories.

The idea came to me about 6-8 months ago. We're building the global home for run clubs online, but what if we could create a physical home, too? A place to bring people together, capture meaningful conversations and build a content series that could live well beyond any single event. Runningman felt like the perfect place to introduce it, with an incredible mix of athletes, creators, entrepreneurs and everyday runners all coming together. Logistically, it wasn't necessarily the easiest idea, but I believed in what it could become.

Here's where things get interesting. Several months ago, as we explored ways to market OPS RUN, I had conversations with a few friends who have massive online followings. My thinking was that if they believed in our vision, their influence could help us reach more people. They were incredibly supportive, but nothing materialized at the time. Rather than forcing it, I decided to put my head down and focus on what we were building. Day in, day out. Keep showing up and executing.

Fast-forward to this past weekend, and the Run Clubhouse became one of the most talked-about experiences at Runningman. Days later, we're still receiving messages, people are asking for our hats, and our guests are sharing their interviews across their own communities. One particularly cool moment came when Jesse Itzler, someone known for his unconventional approach to marketing, sent me a message saying, "You guys crushed it."

When we closed the doors of the Run Clubhouse on Sunday, I was admittedly emotional. Our small but mighty team had trusted a vision I shared months earlier, rallied behind it and delivered something beyond what I'd imagined. My good friend Fiona, a former P&G executive, shared a saying with me that brought the entire experience into perspective: "Execution is the only strategy the customer sees."

Think about that. You can have the most incredible vision, a brilliant marketing plan and all the right connections, but none of it matters if you don't bring it to life. In our case, we stopped looking for others to create the opportunity and focused on building something worth talking about. I'm incredibly grateful to be surrounded by a team of doers who made that possible.

This Week’s Shift

I've shared previously that I'm training for the New York City Marathon, with the audacious goal of breaking the three-hour mark. It's a goal that requires tremendous commitment, a structured training plan and very little room for error. But this past week in Georgia, the wheels fell off the bus. I missed multiple training sessions back-to-back, and while that internal voice kept telling me I had to get my runs in, I found myself questioning whether that was actually where my energy was needed.

At Runningman, several people asked whether I'd be running 50K or 50 miles, as I had the previous year. It would have made sense, especially with my longest training run scheduled for that weekend. Instead, I ran the opening one-mile loop and walked a second with my business partner, John. That was it. Maybe 20 minutes in total. There was a bigger job to get done, and I knew I needed to be present at the Run Clubhouse.

Our team had the freedom to run as much as they wanted, with one condition: keep your phones on and be ready to execute within 10 minutes if an opportunity came our way. I also found myself sitting alone in the darkness at times, deliberately conserving my energy rather than socializing. Not because I didn't want to be out there, but because I knew how important it was to be ready when the time came to be "on."

As the week has unfolded, the response to our Run Clubhouse interviews has been overwhelming. People are asking for full episodes, our guests are sharing their stories, and the messages are resonating with audiences far beyond those who attended Runningman. It's reminded me why I wanted to build this in the first place: to create opportunities for others to share their stories and, hopefully, inspire someone along the way.

I firmly believe in setting big, audacious goals and doing the work required to achieve them. But I'm also learning that discipline isn't always about sticking rigidly to the plan. Sometimes, it's having the awareness to recognize when your energy can make a greater impact somewhere else. Breaking three hours in the marathon would be an incredible personal achievement, but this past weekend, I had an opportunity to contribute to something much bigger than myself.

Will I still break three hours in NYC? Maybe. Will it happen another year, or perhaps never? I don't know. What I do know is that I don't want the pursuit of a personal goal to come at the expense of an opportunity to make a meaningful impact. This weekend, I made that choice, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Quick Reminders Before You Start:

One more exciting update from last week! While we were at Runningman on Friday, Athletech News published OPS Run Launches to Power the Run Club Boom, marking our third media feature of the week. It's been an incredible few days, and I'm grateful to everyone who's taken the time to read, share and support what we're building.

This week reminded me that having a vision is one thing, but bringing it to life requires knowing where to put your energy and being willing to do the work. Sometimes that means doubling down, and other times it means letting go of something good to make room for something greater. Be intentional with where you show up, and make it count.

Catch you on the Start Line,
—Matty