The thing

So, here’s the thing. 

We started a business.

David and I. 

It’s called, Bike City.

We are on a mission to democratize bike commuting and make it a whole lot more fun.

Why? Because traffic. Because climate change. Because community. Because men are still two times more likely to commute by bike as women. Because you shouldn’t dread your commute every day.

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This wild ride started back in the summer when we were living in Palo Alto. (apparently there really is something in the water there.)

David came home from his internship one day with an idea that he had been mulling over and we went for a long walk to talk about it. David is an adventurer at heart while I tend to have a lot of questions about practicalities. He also knows that I’m often skeptical of his start-up ideas.

But this one felt different right away. It served an actual need. It had a bigger mission. Bingo.

For a while it was his project until we realized we were both spending a bunch of time on it and then when we back to school, we decided to give this thing a go for real.

We are learning a ton and making all kinds of mistakes and sometimes driving each other nuts. We are complementary in so many ways but the other day I found myself shouting “we need to fail faster!” at him over FaceTime and I realized that maybe we don’t play quite the roles we originally thought we would.

We’ve had a bunch of people tell us Bike City is a great idea and a few people tell us it will never work. We need more naysayers to help us poke holes in the business model and the value proposition (these are MBA terms that actually mean something to me now).

We are taking a big leap into an even greater unknown and you know what? I don’t hate it.

Leaving my dream job, roaming around Southeast Asia, suffering through business school – these are all things that made me a little braver and a lot more willing to ask “why the hell not?”

We are a for-profit social enterprise (more on that later) which certainly isn’t new but it’s not all that common either. So, we’re building the bike while trying to ride it. (this was just the first of what will be many references to and puns about cycling. you have been warned.)

I’m excited to start sharing more about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. With lots of funny stories and candid real-talk along the way. You can count on that.

So, here we go! Please check out our fancy new website, find us on various social media, and share with your friends, family, and co-workers (cyclists and non-cyclists, alike). Thank you kindly in advance.

p.s. I officially launched Breaking the Mold on this day six years (!) ago. Never in one trillion years would I have guessed this is where it would end up. 

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