Hello from a Dresden bound ICE train! I'm heading from BBA to BBB. ; )
Tomorrow is Cycling Saxony's Bike Business Adventure (BBA) industry summit in Dresden. We'll be visiting brands like @pendix_edrive, @diamantrad, @r2bike_official, @bike24, @lightwolfstudio & @actofive_cycles with attendees from all over Europe. I'm honored to have been invited for the 2nd year in a row! : )
After that, I'm heading further east to the Bohemian Border Bash (BBB) camp for the 4th year in a row. My good friend Ondrej puts on this amazing event and I'm also honored to be running their insta during the weekend and enjoying the incredible riding that this region has to offer.
🚨 And, milestone alert! 🚨 This newsletter has hit 250 issues! Some people have been reading for 7 years! That is amazing & I'm always humbled by the responses I receive each week. Thank you all so much for reading & sharing over the years : )
Lastly, I'd be remiss to not mention that our job opening is still up. We do have several very impressive candidates in the queue for interviews this month but with the new projects that I'll share more about here soon also combined with the opportunities in the queue for the rest of 2022 & next year too, maybe our next hire should be you! So send your application on through!
wishing you a great rest of the week & awesome weekend,
Jon
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📷: Header image by @kike.molares at last weekend's Ronde van de Orteliusstraat. Full photoset here.
Cycling
The age of ‘the car is king’ is over. The sooner we accept that, the better
"Just as the coach and horse were pushed out by automobiles 120 years ago, so the car is being steadily evicted from world cities by the authorities or by public revulsion.”
When you do more harm than good, it's time to leave the 'hood.
The E-bike Is a Monstrosity
"Neither bicycle nor motorbike, the two-wheeler’s future demands an identity of its own."
lol. What a boomer.
Even companies like Shell are convinced ebikes are the future.
Whatever happened to coloured road bike tyres?
Spoiler alert: the lack of coloured tyres out there at the moment is down to two things: technical performance and fashion.
Though everyone loved my green Sim Works Homage tires when I had 'em.
Looked & worked great too! ; )
Business
Investing in Bicycle Parking Saves Cities Money
More bikes, more business
...and while you're at it, what about with racks that keep your saddle dry when it rains? ; )
“Our online lives can never truly be our own”: Marie Le Conte on the generation that broke the internet
"What does it mean to have grown up alongside an adolescent internet?"
More personal brand then business but these two are connected no matter what you say.
Tope Awotona Poured His Life Savings Into Calendly, Now He’s One Of America’s Billionaires: Here's His Story
"Born in Lagos, Nigeria, into a middle-class family, Awotona’s father was a microbiologist and entrepreneur while his mother worked at the central bank. At 12, Awotona witnessed his father get shot and killed in a carjacking."
I met Tope in 2013 when I was working at Big Nerd Ranch selling custom app development. We declined to build Calendly. This remains one of most memorable business misjudgements because clearly Tope knew what he was onto!
Friends
CIRCULAR DESIGN COURSE
Shift Cycling Culture and CIRCO will host another Circular Design course for the cycling industry starting 25 October 2022. Sign up now to secure your place.
Details:
Over a period of 6 weeks (3-4 hours per week), teams of 2 people per company will:
- Learn about circular design strategies and business models
- Redesign a product or service
- Develop a circular business model for their product or service
- Create a roadmap for implementation
- Build a strong network of like-minded people and companies
Trainers: Erik Bronsvoort, Circular Cycling (linkedin) and Twan van Welzenis, StudioMoM (linkedin)
For more info, please see the link below or read the full brochure here.
What others said:
"Our team had a great time, and it was incredibly valuable connecting the corporate program with what we are doing in product development and retail." - Chad Manuell, Trek Bikes
"Well considered, presented and informed, a thoroughly thought-provoking and enjoyable course." - Dan Hicks, Privateer Bikes
Keep Your Friends Close, and Keep Holding Them Closer
“Big Friendship”, by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, makes the case that platonic relationships deserve as much effort and tending as romantic ones.
Ann also has an awesome newsletter. Check it out!
Inside the Crowded, Childish Joys of Cluttercore
Anyone friend that has visited Twotone HQ in Workspace 6 would know why liked this article ; )
"The décor can also symbolize protest: “The world is going to shit, and the capitalist country expects us to just work mindlessly until we die,” says Mikaela Colwell, 20, who has bunches of fake flowers cascading over her bed. “We don’t want to grow up.”
Radness
Bob Uit Zuid - De Winter
Bob Uit Zuid avoids contemporary hip-hop clichés; the Amsterdammer raps about carp fishing, writers, their own factory in the Ruhr area and Café de Bok. In early 2022, he released his Tim Knol-produced debut album through Excelsior Recordings, having previously debuted on a compilation of Burning Fik, Abel and Faberyayo's label. As part of the 48h project, Bob Uit Zuid recorded a special video of the song 'De Winter' in the lift of TivoliVredenburg.
Hat tip to my colleague Bob who works with Excelsior Recordings & managed Bob Uit Zuid. Great stuff!
→ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobuitzuid
→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4L0tW...
→ Website: https://showcase.fm/bobuitzuid