Grit

Guest: Erik Weihenmayer, CEO of Touch The Top and vice chairman of No Barriers USA

In this episode, we cover: Are blind people’s other senses heightened? (05:56); The different types of blindness and how Erik perceives the world — and dreams (09:17); The “double-knockout blow” of going blind and losing his mother (19:07); “No-mistakes moments” and pushing yourself to your limit (24:49); Erik’s relationship with death, and with the calm times between accomplishments (30:18); Needing to stand on the summit (36:31); Learning how to be miserable and training yourself to suffer (47:55); The importance of having a team you can trust with your life (52:05); The personal toll of climbing, and the terror of kayaking blind (55:20); Erik’s story’s resonance with the business community (01:00:46); Not letting yourself be imprisoned by fear, and realizing your full potential (01:04:06)

Show Notes

Touch The Top CEO Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to summit Mount Everest, climbs hundreds of mountains every year. And he’s learned over the years that sometimes, the smartest thing to do in the face of adversity is stop, turn around, and go home; but in other situations, like an unexpectedly icy day climbing Mount Kenya, one only has to change their approach. “The mountain doesn’t care, the mountain’s not gonna change,” he says. “We could still maybe get to the summit, even though the mountain gave us absolute, unforeseen challenges.”

In this episode, Erik and Joubin discuss climbing Mount Everest, kayaking the Grand Canyon, how Erik went blind, the “seven summits,” his relationship with his father, turning back vs. changing your approach, continually growing and scaring yourself, the Khumbu Icefall, what’s different about ice climbing, how to be OK with the small things, and what Erik learned from watching Canadian athlete Terry Fox.
In this episode, we cover:
  • Are blind people’s other senses heightened?  (05:56)
  • The different types of blindness and how Erik perceives the world — and dreams (09:17)
  • The “double-knockout blow” of going blind and losing his mother (19:07)
  • “No-mistakes moments” and pushing yourself to your limit (24:49)
  • Erik’s relationship with death, and with the calm times between accomplishments (30:18)
  • Needing to stand on the summit (36:31)
  • Learning how to be miserable and training yourself to suffer (47:55)
  • The importance of having a team you can trust with your life (52:05)
  • The personal toll of climbing, and the terror of kayaking blind (55:20)
  • Erik’s story’s resonance with the business community (01:00:46)
  • Not letting yourself be imprisoned by fear, and realizing your full potential (01:04:06)
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What is Grit?

Grit explores what it takes to create, build, and scale world-class organizations. It features weekly episodes highlighting the leaders who are pushing their companies to make a difference. This series is hosted by Joubin Mirzadegan, go to market operating partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm investing in history-making founders.