Last week, Penguin Capital brought its community to Germany’s highest peak. Entrepreneurs, investors and a number of elite athletes climbed the Zugspitze (2,962m) together — one day on the mountain, built entirely around the idea that shared challenges create relationships nothing else can.
The format has a long history at Penguin Capital. Sixteen years ago, the firm’s founders joined a group of AdTech entrepreneurs on a six-day trek up Mount Kilimanjaro — Stefan Wiegard and Nico Zeifang first, Mario Witte the year after. They came for the mountain and left with friendships and working relationships that have lasted ever since. Recreating that experience for Penguin Capital’s own community had been an ambition for years.
The event itself was born, fittingly, on a tennis court — during a match between Nico Zeifang and Paul Schif of Athletes Alliance, a reminder that sport is often one of the best catalysts for great business relationships. Penguin Capital and Athletes Alliance built the day around that principle, and deliberately mixed entrepreneurs and investors with elite athletes.
What makes the format work is simple. After every break, the hiking groups reshuffled — new pairings, new conversations, new ideas. By the end of the day, almost everyone had spent real time with almost everyone else. Walking side by side for hours creates conversations that don’t happen across a boardroom table or over dinner, and compresses what would normally take months into a single day.
One exchange captured the spirit of it. Asked about his 500-metre rowing time, one participant modestly explained he mostly rows 2,000 metres and up, but guessed around 1:20. “That’s incredibly fast.” “Well — I did win the Olympics.” Moments like these are a reminder of how quickly barriers disappear when everyone is sharing the same climb.
Penguin Capital thanks everyone who made the day what it was — Paul Schif and Athletes Alliance, Alois Kunz of Kreativwerk, the mountain guides, and every participant who brought such great energy to the ascent. The next one is already in the works.