Every few months, I try to feature a local founder and their startup—so I’d like you to meet Keaton Lynn and his company, Trybe.
At first glance, Trybe (trybesummits.com) seems like a cool little lifestyle biz that attracts people to places like the Sierra for a weekend jaunt that tests confidence, willpower, endurance and high-level thinking—but it is so much more. The company has already begun scaling and testing in foreign markets, with all of the challenges of managing international programs locally. And this has all happened within about 24 months.
The physical and mental challenges this company espouses are fantastic for helping founders and young teams bond and push each other. I’m an endurance athlete, and it’s always great to surround myself with others willing to push themselves harder than they ever believed was possible. I have always pushed to work myself harder than those around me, at work and at play. On the bike, I believed I could outclimb you; on the field, I thought could outrun you, whether that was true or not. In today’s business climate, we all need an edge—in vision, in innovation, in value, in timing. Body, mind and soul working together—that’s a key attribute of athletes and founders. It’s what separates us from everyone else.
Trybe started when Keaton Lynn lost his tribe. “When you go from being a teammate on a collegiate sports team, to operating alongside premier members of our military, and then suddenly (not doing either of those things), you lose your identity,” he said. “You lose the teammates you do it for. People deserve a community of people to share ideas, help each other and achieve success together.”
In 2021, Keaton invited eight friends to sleep on air mattresses on the floor of his living room in Reno for a weekend of sauna time, ice baths, yoga, community dinners and a main event called a “monster mash”—a multi-modality event with activities like biking, running, swimming, paddling, calisthenics and cognitive fitness challenges. The team of college friends laughed, suffered and challenged each other.
Since that weekend, Keaton has run beta tests of Trybe, figuring out how to incorporate the best techniques, education and flow for what has become a health-performance company. “When you start something to solve a problem for yourself, (and we) now have 100% customer feedback from hundreds of people saying how much our summits have changed their lives, you start to tell yourself, ‘Maybe there’s something here,’” he said.
Trybe uses five tenets to push the direction of the company: Attitude, Community, Habits, Resilience and Nature. They use physical and cognitive tools to provide experiences for individuals and high-performing teams. An experience could be an hour-long sleep talk to 1,000 employees, or a 30-person, full-immersion, four-day summit combining multiple modalities and expert coaches such as Keaton’s partner, U.S. Navy SEAL Andrew Roemhild.
Trybe can help first responders tackle the increased workload and “operator syndrome” with specially tailored programs including breathwork and cognitive fitness. For athletes, Trybe focuses on performance and leadership to show up when it matters. The company looks at how to become better today, and also perform 40 years from now.
As difficult it is for us to accept, humans need to do hard things. The ice bath isn’t necessarily about the improvement in physical performance one may experience after consistent submersions; it’s more about the wall that person surmounted in order to experience something uncomfortable—and the translation that has on their family, their work or difficult decisions. When groups or corporate teams work together on a stressful activity, the benefits achieved are so powerful that they can’t always be put into words.
Amanda, my international program manager, attended a Trybe summit last summer—completely unrelated to my mentoring of Keaton and Trybe over these last couple of years. When I asked her about her experience, here’s what she said: “The Trybe experience is incredibly unique and empowering. While I learned a lot about workouts and breath work, I learned more about what I was capable of. I cannot wait to do another Trybe retreat and to bring my friends with me.”
In addition to programs tailored specifically to individuals, groups or companies, Trybe now runs multiple public summits each year; the next one takes place Jan. 18-21 in Vero Beach, Fla. Closer to home, from Feb. 16-19, Trybe will hold a summit in Kirkwood, Calif., specifically for people with a backcountry-skiing background. Upon arrival, attendees will take a snow cat to the secluded cabin and custom saloon. Before the morning ice plunge, a chain saw will cut the ice over the frozen lake at the foot of the main cabin. After ski instruction and avalanche-safety learning tools, the summit culminates with a team cognitive and navigation exercise in the backcountry. Tired after all that? Learn how to deregulate with breathwork and a sauna experience, both led by Keaton.
Trybe is a company that stands by its name: It’s a community of likeminded people who all rely on each other to survive and thrive. Learn more at trybesummits.com.