🎉 We're celebrating tonight! 🎉
Come by our office & enjoy some delicious food by PintXo & refreshing À BLOC beers. Not mention rub shoulders with many of the awesome people that make the companies Amsterdam & beyond's startup & cycling scenes excel. Gonna be gezellig!
So how'd Twotone get this far?
Two year ago I took my old bike blog, Twotone Atlanta (titled after a namesake i earned from nearly always matching my bike) and started a BV. I had made the blog after parting ways with the bike shop I co-founded in an effort to stay connected & contributing to the scene.
December 2014, I had just been dropped twice in my first year here but clung to an ethos to turn my passion for sales & cycling into a job. I was intent on remaining in The Netherlands, doing work that kept me stoked & helping others stay stoked too. It worked.
The first year, I worked freelance. Six months in, I turned to Headroom for help. I had the honor to work with amazing companies like TRUE Communications, Build Proto, Shinola, Red Bull, 72 & Sunny, The Berliner Fahrradschau, Growth Tribe, Wit Industries and more. Twotone was growing.
The second year meant expanding into growing the team, getting our first office and working with more incredible companies. It has been awesome and I'm proud of what we've accomplished along the way and thankful for everyone that helped us get here.
This week? We unveiled a new logo designed by Yorit Kluitman inspired by a workshop we did with Ashley Usiskin. It feels like a big step for us because it is! 2017 will be our best yet! Stop by & say hello tonight!
Long winded this week but now you know the story a bit!
As always, thanks for reading!
Cycling
Golden Saddle Rides: With a Cherubim on Top
There are few bicycles that are as well balanced aesthetically as a track bike. Their simplicity makes for a pure form that is not only easy on the eyes, but a balanced and proportioned ride quality.
- Kyle Kelley of Golden Saddle Cyclery for the Radavist.
The Berthoud saddle looks great!
How to… Finish the Festive 500
Only 13k of the 72k participants were successful last year.
I’ve done this challenge since 2011. Some years, like 2012, have been harder while 2011 & 2014 were unfairly easy. 2013, easily my favorite, kicked off my time in Holland and solidified some of the best friendships I have here. And 2015 was done in a single ride! (photos) Let's see how 2016 goes!
rosspiperdesigns
I had the chance to skype with Ross last week. He is an architect and freelance artist living and working in Orlando, Florida. He does custom paintings on shoes, helmets & other gear. Follow his company on insta & add him on FB.
Startups
Networking sucks. Because people don’t give a shit.
I feel like he's been networking with the wrong people. But does have an some points.
"Networking is a funny concept. And it’s poisonous. It’s about trying to work a group of people, and their contacts, in order to get something from them."
Wonderflow won the Martech Startup Award!
The Martech Startup Award targets companies that build software for marketing, commerce, CRM, social, customer services and/or analytics. Congrats Wonderflow (one of our favorite clients in 2016!)
And they started a revue! Subscribe!
Good leaders share certain qualities
Lynne Agress talks with leaders of industry, arts and education about the qualities that made them good at what they do.
Sales
Customer Retention Strategies for Bike Shops Which Won't Cost a Cent.
Stop thinking everyone is out to get you. Your customers are looking for lots of different products and services and motivated by different things, not always price, but what they’re not looking for is attitude, arrogance or grizzling. Suck it up and be nice. Don’t give your customers a reason to go down the road and not come back.
Good one Jonathon Nunan! I agree the IBD is not dead. (but RIP Meesterknecht)
B2B SaaS Leadgen via Social Tools
“How do you do B2B SaaS Leadgen via Social Tools?”
This is how. Nice post Jakob!
LinkedIn Lead Gen | MakeLinx
Speaking of cool tools! The team at MakeLinx just shipped an update to their awesome Chrome plugin, The ‘Boost’ feature allows a user to endorse up to 100 of their 1st degree connections.
ifnoreply.com also popped up on my radar this week: Ridiculously simple email automation that works from your Gmail.
Radness
Tortour
We found out about this event from our clients at blinkers.io TORTOUR is the biggest multiday nonstop ultracycling event in the world. (520 km / 6’800m climbing) The race which starts and finishes in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
Rad!
Check it out: twotoneams.link/FarRide-PartnerDeck