Keeping a rhythm is hard. Especially in the summer ; ) Here is to keeping up a new habit until it become a tradition! For me it had been another busy week highlighted by my latest trip with my favourite Brits: http://bit.ly/vulpinedoeshelsinki In this issue, you'll find the regular dose of cycling, startup & sales sweetness with an extra does of Amsterdam love to get you stoked about at least coming to visit if you're not here already. Thanks for tuning in!
Cycling
BimBimBikes.com – 1st worldwide rental bike booking platform
Recently, Michel Willems of BimBim Bikes reached for help earning an Accenture Innovation Award. They help you reach 600+ rental companies in 35 countries. Check it out & support their effort to win here: http://bit.ly/HelpBimBimWin
@Laura_Scott of @_TheLocals_ & Rachel Bonney of @MichauxClub.
"Inspired by the 1895 New York based Michaux Cycle Club; one of the first organisations in the world allowing women to cycle in public and whose female members were figureheads for a new era of freedom." Great interview & great looking UK made products: http://michauxclub.com/shop/
Where Have All The Bike Shops Gone?
Bummer alert: 38% of USA bike shops have gone out of business since 2001. Is all this just a normal business process, no different than what’s been happening to grocery stores and hobby shops and all kind of other businesses, or is there something unique and special about what’s happening to bike shops? Read Rick Vosper's great write-up & the through provoking comments. But most importantly: support your local bike shop!
Startups
A love letter to all the tourists of Amsterdam
Dutch publicist Rutger Lemm believes "every city gets the tourists it deserves" and for Amsterdam, they're lucky because so many stay longer & start companies here. And, so it seems, Amsterdam is getting the startup scene it deserves too.
Not Just for Tourists...
Like Rutger said in the above Correspondent piece, "We are the world champion of opportunism: we rarely take a moral standpoint and always go for peace and stability". Well Stephen Armstrong at WIRED UK believes "the flexible and outward-looking nature of Amsterdam has infected its startup scene" too. I'm all about it!
Meet the woman determined to turn Amsterdam into Europe’s Silicon Valley
Kajsa Ollongren, Amsterdam’s deputy mayor of economic affairs, declared Amsterdam the “startup capital of Europe’s west coast.” Companies like Uber say: "“Amsterdam is an ideal location for us: the city makes it easy for us to attract global talent, already benefits from a truly international workforce, and is situated midway between Asia and North America time zones with great transport links”
Europe, it’s time we built our own Silicon Valley
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, The Next Web was one of nine entrepreneurs who contributed to the European Startup Manifesto. He ends this inspiring piece with an offer: if you visit and decide make the permanent pilgrimage to Europe’s West Coast, you’re now able to pick up a Startup Visa & stay ; )
Sales
23 diagrams reveal how to negotiate around the world
"The Dutch are focused on facts and figures but "are also great talkers and rarely make final decisions without a long 'Dutch' debate, sometimes approaching the danger zone of over-analysis." ; )
10 Ways to Write Better Sales Emails
Geoffrey James (@Sales_Source) has helped over a hundred entrepreneurs and salespeople tune their prospecting emails to get more responses. He has a newsletter too! http://bit.ly/SalesSourceNewsletter
Grit and hard work
Seth kills it with this post underscoring the huge difference between: "You got an A because you're smart," and "You got an A because you studied hard." How do you think this applies to closing deals? Luck or looks? Not likely.
Radness
What does #sail2015 happening in Amsterdam right now look like?
My bud Martijn took the above photo while we were all out on our friend Johannes' boat. Pretty rad eh?
I made one for #eurobike too!
My friend Yousef of http://www.tweetbeam.com/ made a pretty sweet #hashtag tool. I'll use it heaps during Eurobike next week!
How To Survive Biking In Amsterdam (Or Anywhere)
Amsterdam is a holy grail for urban cyclers, but if you're planning a trip to the "Venice of the north," it would help to prepare with this rad inforgraphic. ; ) Thanks for making it this far! Now to knock out as it is late here & I'm breaking my own rule of hitting the hay before midnight before #RollCallAMS: https://twitter.com/rollcallams