Magnus Ragnarsson was the host of Startup Iceland 2012 and we requested him if he would oblige us the same service this year for Startup Iceland 2013 and he agreed. Yay! Thank you Magnus. Magnus has been part of the media, entertainment and startup scene in Iceland since the very beginning days of OZ and Lazy Town etc and in addition to that he is avid cycler and is organizing the WOW Cyclothon. He pointed me to a new startup in Iceland called Lauf that has designed a shock absorber for bicycles that is 500 grams lighter than the competitors out there and it is all carbon fibre based there is no metal involved. I am no cyclist or know anything about bicycles but the design of this shock absorber is pretty cool. I think this startup has potential, that being said, I always come back to the same notion that it is not the idea or the product or how ingenious the solution is, it all comes back to how well you sell the story, tell the story, in what platform you tell the story and do you get attention from the main stream media to attract potential partners, investors and customers. Talking to Magnus it looks like this startup is going the same route as many startups in Iceland, i.e trying to figure out how to make this thing rather than trying to figure out how to sell this thing. I think Lean Methodology to sell this is best way to build a company. That being said, maybe the founders are doing that and I don’t have enough information to say what they are doing is right or wrong. I believe very strongly that there is a lot more to building startups and companies than a great idea. Anyways, check it out. The global bicycle market is massive multi billion dollar industry and providing parts to that industry is not a bad business.
Related articles
- The Lazytown effect on Iceland’s creative industries and startup ecosystem (oliorn.wordpress.com)
- How Iceland Got Its Own Tech Conference (arcticstartup.com)
- Global Bicycles Market to Exceed US$77.7 Billion by 2015 (prweb.com)
- Research and Markets: Global Bicycle Industry 2013-2018: Trend, Profit, and Forecast Analysis (businesswire.com)
Thank you for the unusual cruelty displayed in your choice of photo. The internet truly does not forget.
🙂
Magnús
Come on Magnus, you look really good… I mistook you for James Bond 🙂
Hey Bala, totally agree with your comment. Believe me, we are very focused on how/where/when and to whom we will sell our product!
best regards,
Runar Omarsson
I mistook Magnús for a James Bond villain.
Believe me, the Lauf founders really know their market very well.