I’m watching three friends lose 11 lbs of body weight in a race car tomorrow + Tobias Lutke (founder shopify) + DHH (creator ruby on rails) + Mathias Beche (le mans podium) Race car driving is insane… + 122°F cockpit + heart rate 170 + 2.5 hours straight + 10 hr race + up to 4.2 g force (wild) + multi-layer fireproof suit + sweat barely evaporate + 600-900 calories per hour The race is a 10-hour endurance track in atlanta. It’s called Motul Petit Le Mans. Tomorrow is the season finale, where 54 cars across multiple classes run roughly 400 laps of the 2.54-mile road. The race doesn’t end till 10 pm. They’ll be driving an LMP2: + 603 horsepower + 2,050 pounds + 9,000 rpm I’ve personally experienced some of the above things: > core body temp of 102°F > 3 g force in my airplane > non evaporative clothing > stomping 200 lbs > severe dehydration But never all at once… inside a race car for 2.5 hours straight, competing for tenths of a second, and in a high risk environment. I’m struggling to get my head around it. Last week, Tobi and I were at a conference catching up. He and I have been friends for 15 years. Tobi and DHH were my first customers at my payments startup Braintree. I’ll forever be grateful to them and DHH’s co-founder @jasonfried for giving my company life. Tobi approaches racing as I do my body. Data, method and analysis. A closed loop game of continuous improvement. Off the track, Tobi: + founder and ceo of Shopify + 6 million+ merchants + $195 billion market cap + 20 yrs building Off the track, DHH: + created Ruby on Rails + co-founder 37signals + 20 yrs building + profitable, no outside capital + 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner On the track, Mathias Beche: + 24 Hours of Le Mans podium finisher + European Le Mans Series LMP2 + FIA Endurance Championship winner + 15+ career prototype victories What a team of bad asses. I’m excited to be in the pit on tomorrow and watch all of this go down.