One week till Eurobike! If you're keen to grab a coffee or beer, let me know when here.
This week's theme: OLD IS GOLD was inspired by research at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University that found, contrary to popular thinking, the best entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged.
- Among the very fastest-growing new tech companies, the average founder was 45 at the time of founding.
- Furthermore, a given 50-year-old entrepreneur is nearly twice as likely to have a runaway success as a 30-year-old.
- [...] while older people build stronger companies, venture capitalists nonetheless invest disproportionately in firms with younger founders.
I find these findings thought-provoking and unsurprising. Often when the companies we work with are led by younger entrepreneurs, we simply encounter them making mistakes that older clients just don't make. Patience, vision, and execution are all improved with time and experience. This leads to more sustainable and viable strategies with realistic and achievable goals.
Key takeaway? Everybody gets older every day. If you're not there yet, that's ok but take the time to learn from those who are & don't just write them off while you're trying to "disrupt" something that you may not fully understand.
Lastly, the top image is by Frank from my recent radical ride in Switzerland aboard the Elian Cycles x OBST & GEMÜSE cargo e-bike. Check it out here.
As always thank you for reading,
Jon
p.s.
🙏 Sharing is caring!
Cycling
The Bikepacking Journal
Simply put, bikepacking is the synthesis of mountain biking and minimalist camping; it evokes the freedom of multi-day backcountry hiking, with the range and thrill of riding a mountain bike.
On this topic, I saw Stefan at Pannier has been at it for three years! Congrats!
Peek this film on Stefan's very 1st Pannier Camp:
A Guide to Little Vehicles, the Future of Urban Mobility
Little Vehicles can offer a purer, simpler alternative to the automobile. They do one thing—provide mobility.
Eurobike’s Future Is Drive Systems, Batteries and Digital Solutions
In E-mobility, one innovation is quickly followed by the other. To reflect this trend, Eurobike’s Hall A1 has been labelled ‘E-mobility Solutions’.
Also, 20 entrepreneurs and their products are on deck at Eurobike’s Start-Up Pitch
Startups
How Old Are Successful Tech Entrepreneurs?
A definitive new study dispels the myth of the Silicon Valley wunderkind.
Marcus, Casper, Oscar: Why Startups Are Obsessed With Human Names
The strategy seems to be working. Research shows that the more simple and human-sounding the name, the greater the company’s success. Brands with short, easy to pronounce names were viewed more positively by investors, a 2012 study published in the Journal of Financial Economics found.
Workspace 6 featured on COMMON GROUNDS
COMMON GROUNDS features coworking spaces & creative communities in Stockholm & Amsterdam. Book through them & you can work at any space on the site!
Sales & PR
How Marketers Can Connect Profit and Purpose
for instance, Clif Bar operates in service of five aspirations – sustaining their business, brands, people, communities, and planet:
- Sustaining our business: Building a healthy, resilient company means that we can invest in the long term, be a catalyst for change, and do more good in the world.
- Sustaining our brands: Creating brands with integrity, quality, and authenticity means crafting good food from sustainably sourced ingredients.
- Sustaining our people: Being family- and employee-owned means taking care of our people, working side by side, and encouraging each other. Our company is our people.
- Sustaining our communities: Promoting and supporting sustainable communities both locally and globally means making a difference where we work, source, and play.
- Sustaining the planet: Conserving and restoring our natural resources means growing a business that operates in harmony with the laws of nature.
Paul Errington: Ditch the demo day and organise an experience.
Paul has some great points on shifting from a traditional demo day to a positive brand/product experience to focus on both product marketing and brand PR.
Project Pubesmobile
Dear Susan Bicycles and Bicycle Pubes are collaborating on an bicycle for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Sacramento in 2019 & raising money for charity.
Radness
Wake Up Workshop #1
Meditation + The Creative Process by Shift & Outsider WAKE UP is a radical new concept in creative workshops, using meditation to unlock creativity.
WHAT TO EXPECT
- A radically new experience
- Meditation + Sound Bath
- Breaking out of thought-habits
- Heightened creativity
- Increased happiness
I hope I'm back from Eurobike in time for this!