Extreme marathon racer brings grit and grind to role as startup CEO

You made it to the weekend, GeekWire readers. Tech personality Chris Pirillo is our guest on the GeekWire Podcast. In video game news, we’ve got a roundup of titles that caught our eye at PAX. But first up, try to keep pace with a Seattle startup CEO who runs hundreds of miles at a time for the thrill of it. 

Army vet, extreme marathon man and startup CEO: Gavin Woody’s grit and grind started on a family ranch at an early age and continued through high school, West Point and on to Iraq where he parachuted into a war zone. 

• In his free time, Woody is an ultra trail runner, mountain climber, backcountry skier, cyclist, and more, who has conquered some of the world's most demanding terrain and tests of human endurance.

• From his races, Woody brings lessons in leadership, determination and team building back to the Seattle pet-care startup that he runs.

• "He's truly one of a kind," says Greg Gottesman of Seattle’s Pioneer Square Labs. "He's got to be the most extraordinary person I've ever met." Read the story.

On a new episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we catch up with tech personality Chris Pirillo about his latest project, CreatorTech.net, an email newsletter and monthly meetup focused on the intersection of creativity and artificial intelligence. Read more and listen here.

• Also this week: Is Elon Musk calculated or crazed? Walter Isaacson discusses his new book on the GeekWire Podcast.

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"This is the crucible, this is the home, of artificial intelligence for the whole world.” Laxman Narasimhan, the new Starbucks CEO (above, right), had some very flattering, albeit debatable, things to say about Seattle’s tech prowess during his appearance Friday at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. Read more of his remarks.

The best of the Pacific Northwest at PAX: The region’s video game developer scene offered up plenty of highlights at the annual conference this month, including Pacific Drive and Spirit Swap. GeekWire games contributor Thomas Wilde recaps some of the best stuff he played.

Here’s why game developers are abandoning Unity: A controversial policy change by the popular game engine maker is sparking a revolt. Read more.

Seattle-area startup has reason to smile: Redmond, Wash.-based Perimetrics received clearance from the FDA for its tooth-tapping tech — a device and machine learning platform that helps dental professionals detect underlying issues. Read more.

Other top news from this week:

• An iPhone butt-dial of sorts set off an unintended wilderness “rescue” operation and raised questions about Apple’s SOS feature. Read about GeekWire co-founder John Cook’s misadventure in Utah.

• Welcome to Redmond, Larry. Oracle’s Larry Ellison visited Microsoft headquarters for the first time ever this week to announce an expanded cloud deal with the tech giant.

• AI is the talk of a lot of tech hubs, but the national conversation is forgetting Seattle. So we brought that conversation to tech leaders and others at “Founders Bash.”