Patrick Sweeney

Patrick J. Sweeney, II (born November 9, 1970) is an American entrepreneur, adventurer, and author. He is the author of three books including a Wall Street Journal Bestseller, Fear is Fuel: The Surprising Power to Find Purpose, Passion and Performance, and RFID for Dummies.

Sweeney was the first person to attempt cycling the Seven Summits, and holds a world record for being the first person to officially cycle to Everest Base Camp and the first person to cycle Mount Elbrus. He was the lead oarsman (stroke) on a four-man team that won the Dad Vail National Championship.

Sweeney also participated in the World Cup as a single sculler and two Olympic trials where he finished 14th in 1992 He retired in 1996 after winning the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in the "Men's Elite Single" category.

In 1998, Sweeney earned an MBA from Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

In 2002, Sweeney attended summer school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology specifically at the auto-ID center for the Internet of Things (IoT), electronic Product Code and RFID.

Career Sweeney had his first job when he was in high school and started working part-time in Boston, Massachusetts. In October 1999, he started a company, ServerVault, which provides ultra-secure web hosting facilities. In 2002, it was sold to Western & Southern Capital and later in 2009 to Carpathia Hosting.

In 2002, Sweeney and co-inventor of Electronic Product Code (EPC) protocol Daniel Engels started ODIN Technologies. It became dominant in RFID technology. In January 2013, the company was acquired by Quake Global. ODIN has completed over 500 RFID projects for clients including the US Department of Defense.

In 2010, Sweeney received one of seven Small Business Administration (SBA) Awards for Innovation, awarded by President Barack Obama.

In January 2013, Sweeney spun out a new company, named dwinQ, which is a live event social media company. Their first major project was the development of the Epic Mix system for Vail Resorts.

Sweeney launched a company in June 2022 which claims to build the world's most powerful bitcoin miner that can only be used on renewable energy. The specifications indicate a single miner produces 9 Petahash (one quadrillion hashes per second) of computing power. At the Mining Disrupt Conference in July 2022 held in Miami, FL he stated in a keynote speech his desire was to "put every miner using fossil fuels out of business."

Writing Sweeney has authored three books: RFID for Dummies (2005), CompTIA RFID+ Study Guide: Exam RF0-001 (2006), both published by John Wiley & Sons and Fear is Fuel: the Surprising Power to Find Purpose, Passion and Performance Performance published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Fear is Fuel: the Surprising Power to Find Purpose, Passion and Performance Performance later became a bestseller and was included in March 2020 The Wall Street Journal Bestseller List.

In September 2013, Sweeney participated in Haute Route Pyrenees.

In February 2014, Sweeney participated in 350 miles in the Iditarod Trail Invitational race in Alaska on his fatbike.

In July 2014, Sweeney went on an adventure with his nine-year-old son who attempted to break the record for the youngest person to summit Mont Blanc. They contracted British mountain guide Kenton Cool to lead the crew. On their trek toward the summit they were caught in a sliding snow avalanche and decided not to continue. Sweeney filmed the attempt and the video was shown on Good Morning America, leading to criticism, including from Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of the Saint-Gervais municipality in France for taking children on dangerous trips. Patrick Sweeney ski mountaineering over the Col du Passon in Chamonix France in 2019.

In 2015, Sweeney started an attempt to become the first person to summit the highest mountain on each continent and then ride down. On February 24, 2015, after a 6-day ride starting from Lukla, he reached South Base Camp in Nepal by bike, setting a world record. The record was questioned by other mountain bikers, but Sweeney argues that he is the first mountain biker to reach base camp on the "more difficult" Nepali side with official permits and permission from the Nepalese government.

In 2016, Sweeney teamed up with endurance mountain biker and adventure racer, Rebecca Rusch, to summit Mount Kilimanjaro and raise funds and awareness for World Bicycle Relief. The journey started on February 21 and lasted for six days.

During summer 2016, Sweeney climbed Mount Elbrus with his 11-year-old son. His son was not able to make it to the top, but Sweeney reached the summit becoming the first to bring a mountain bike to the top and descended to the base camp on a fatbike. The incident was the subject of a documentary film which was published by Outside Magazine and won the Moscow International Film Festival category for best story.

In 2018, Sweeney won the Race Across America (RAAM) in the Mixed 4-Person under 50 Category riding a bicycle non-stop from Oceanside, Californian to Annapolis, Maryland.