Catching the cycling bug
I was in Paris last weekend for an early wedding anniversary treat. Very nice it was too.
As a result I missed a week’s update, but not to worry, you didn’t miss too much. It’s that time of year when everyone starts falling ill. One engineer with a severe cold, one product designer with a case of flu (the real sort, not man-flu), one prospective investor incapacitated by the norovirus. In fact I think I’m the only one of the fledgeling Race.Radio team who wasn’t laid low.
The highlight of the last fortnight was probably registering for L’Etape du Tour, which starts and finishes in Nice next year. It’s the biggest amateur event in Europe I haven’t yet ridden, so it will be great to add it to the palmares. It spurred me to get out and ride the last few days, which has definitely lifted my spirits — and maybe helped stave off a bug or two.
In between laps of Richmond Park there was a very positive meeting with another investor-cum-advisor. He concluded the opportunity wasn’t for him, but volunteered to pimp it to friends and associates in return for an introductory commission. Fair enough.
He suggested I add more detail on potential exit opportunities, so I spent the best part of a day researching what investments and acquisitions had been made and by whom. Truth be told, there haven’t been too many. Both Garmin and Wahoo have been making acquisitions to build their ecosystems: connecting their cycle computers to smart trainers, power meters, training software and apps. They’re the two heavy-hitters but I’d have to really scale to get on their radars. Strava and Zwift both seem to be focused on building rather than buying, but that could well change.
With those changes made, he got to work late this week. Hope to have some updates next week. I took the content and populated a pitch page and uploaded the investor presentation to the Angel Investment Network.
Thankfully, I’ve got one visual to share (always good to have a featured image for the post). Inbetween writing up server architecture requirements, Michael was able to get a 3D print done of the remote. We tried and failed a couple of times and in the end had to ask Matthew to divide the main body in two. Now I just need to go out and buy some superglue and see how it fits on the handlebars. A job for the weekend.
The deadline for my Master’s Industry Research Paper (IRP) is fast-approaching (15th December), so I spent a few days getting the introduction, objectives and some of the literature review written up. It’s reassuring to know I’ve already got pretty much all the research in the can. Right now I’m feeling it’s very possible I will actually get it done without too much drama. Time will tell.
Over and out.
