Mitch Thrower ’90 was destined for a career
in international business. When he was introduced to speak
at his Commencement as the Class of 1990 president, Mitch’s
career objective was described as "international business
and business development." That turned out to be pretty
accurate, even though, at the time, Thrower's realm -- the Internet
-- was years away from general consciousness.
He is co-owner
of Triathlete magazine and co-founder of Activ.com,
which offers on-line registration for more than 5,000 athletic events, and founder,
CEO and general manager of Active.com Europe. Through the Active.com Web site,
you can find calendars, content, community features and training tools for a
wide range of sports and activities, as well as locate, learn about and register
online for events and activities. Thrower's primary focus now is taking the features
of Active.com to a global audience.
"Everything changes and everything moves
very fast," Thrower says,
describing not only business in the "new economy," but also life in
general. "You have to be ready to adapt." He should know -- he came
to St. Lawrence to play lacrosse, but switched gears after
fracturing both knees. Instead of athletics, Thrower's extracurricular
life revolved around the debate team, which he led to several championships. He earned his degree
in philosophy.
"St. Lawrence is a great school for learning how to
establish relationships," he
says. "The Internet economy is all about relationship architecture
-- bringing people together to get stuff done. And I really
learned how to do that at St. Lawrence."
As an example,
Thrower talks about how he started running with his roommate during
his senior year. That simple act of getting involved in an activity
to spend more time with a friend led, he says, "to my passion
for participatory sports." The
word "passion" doesn't overstate it -- he is a seven-time
Ironman finisher, a long-distance runner and recreational triathlete.
Thrower also began his first business, College Connection, while
a student at St. Lawrence.
Asked what advice he'd have for today's University students as they
prepare to start careers, Thrower says, "Use your time there to
figure out what you're passionate about. If you can figure
out a way to have a job doing something you're absolutely passionate
about, you can't go wrong."
Amazing
Alumni 
