What a failed round-the-world cycle attempt taught me about startups

Back in 2012, I was in the midst of my studies and looked at ways to get out of it all and get away. There was always the idea in the back of my mind to try and do something different with traveling and the initial ideas of just going somewhere and staying on a beach just didn’t appeal. I read a lot of adventure books at the time and the idea for cycling around the world kept pedalling around in my mind. It was set, I was going to make an attempt of cycling around the world.

Idea to Execution

Now it is one thing saying you are going to cycle around the world and another thing executing the idea. Kinda like startup life. For one thing, there was money which I needed, similar to how a startup often needs funding and then the operations needed to be in place so that I had the systems in place to get into different countries at the right time. Visas are a pain in the ass and when you are trying to estimate when you will hit a country which is many thousands of miles away, you need to get the timing right! The attention to deal is paramount.

How to Sell the Story

One of the main lessons learnt was how to sell a story / product which again is very similar to when you first try and get validation for your startup. Attracting sponsors is very similar to getting investors and/or first customers. You need to convince them that you are serious, have a plan and are the right person to execute. You also learn how to abuse your network something which you need to keep doing throughout business life. One clothing sponsor I managed to pull on board happened to be a supplier at a place I worked, using the supplier contact details, I quickly got in touch with the decision maker. Now, selling at a startup you know how important it is to get in touch with a decision maker!

Getting into the Press

Another lesson that you learn from such a venture is approaching the press. Now, getting press is not the most difficult thing in the world but it does have its own pains and challenges, again, selling a story is a crucial thing and all of these things are inter-linked as they are in the startup world. Show investors / customers press articles and they are more likely to have confidence in your company and the same for me on this venture to attract sponsors. Managed to get in some local and international press so didn’t do so bad here!

Power of Social

The third lesson was about social media. Social media is a wonderful tool and for such an endeavour it proved invaluable. Ensuring my twitter / facebook etc was up to date with what I was doing kept interest up and got me supporters in places I didn’t know possible. Admittedly, I didn’t learn anything about adverts or that kind but after hitting a car in Ukraine, I realised how important it was with getting a group of strangers to help me for a whole day for no reason other than they followed what I was doing. It came in handy again when after crashing into a tuk tuk in India, a bike company offered to send me out a new bike frame. This trip definitely opened my eyes to the power of social!

So… What Happened?

The title gives it away that the attempt ended in failure. My route was to go from London through Europe to Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, India, Nepal,  SEA, Australia, USA and back through Europe. Hitting Ukraine in February wasn’t the best idea, check out the video for the snow and frozen beard! I ended up crashing into a car which hurt a little and screwed my bike. I fixed it and due to visa restrictions (me now being behind), I had to skip Russia and Kazakhstan and head to India.

India was interesting and cycling was fun. Concentration was a bit of a must though. Unfortunately, I got in an accident with a tuk tuk. The half repairs I did on the bike the first time, this time really saw some damage and the bike was screwed. I didn’t have much options but to get a new bike which a sponsor said they would send out. I ended up hitchhiking through India from Delhi to Kathmandu in Nepal before flying to Bangkok where I had a solid address to receive the bike. Of course, DHL took 2 months for the new bike frame to arrive and by that time, funds, energy and time were against me.

Believe in Fate?