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This week’s NY Times article, “To Encourage Biking, Cities Lose the Helmets,” has raised flurry around a controversial proposition: forcing headgear on people prevents them from biking.

The ‘no helmet’ camp, which Europe has belonged to for some time, believes that helmets scare away ordinary riders and make a fairly safe activity seem dangerous.

“The real benefits of bike-sharing … health, transport and emissions … derive from getting ordinary people to use it,” said Ceri Woolsgrove, safety officer at the European Cyclists’ Federation.

If you look at the pictures above – does one make biking look casual & part of your lifestyle, while the other brands it as a “sport” to be armed for?

At the root of the debate is the question – if we don’t mandate helmets, would more people bike? And if so, then does the risk of not getting more people on bikes (with the health, eco & traffic reducing benefits) outrank the risk of an individual not wearing a helmet?

Piet de Jong, a professor at Macquarie University in Sydney studied this issue with mathematical modeling through his research & showed that the value of biking (in health factors) could outweigh the risks of no helmet 20 to 1.

20-1 odds of crushing your brain may not be a risk you want to take. But the question is should people should have that choice to make for themselves … and not be ridiculed if they do choose to go helmet-less?

Where do you weigh in …?

We don’t run political campaigns here at weBike … certainly not those with the nasty criticism, mudslinging or constant commercials. We run our own kind, the type that creates entrepreneurial opportunities for students to lead a bike sharing movement  and bring weBike to life on their campus.

We call it our Brand Ambassador campaign, and today we highlight our very first brand ambassador from Northeastern University – Conrad Cheeks, a third year, ambitious, entrepreneurial-driven student whose passion we very much admire. Conrad even helped conceive the idea of Brand Ambassadors; here’s why he wanted to get involved…

“We often tend to base our actions on what is socially accepted. Occasionally, we take a step back to look at what has brought us joy and purpose throughout our lives. Everyone wants to find purpose teachers, students, business executives, doctors, athletes, musicians, authors, and the list goes on. I am no different. As an incoming freshman, I vowed to myself that I would do something great at Northeastern University. Two years later and I was lucky enough to stumble upon a perfect opportunity.

It was mid-April, I was sitting in on the weBike breakout session during the William James Foundation Annual Gathering. Listening to Allie and Brad passionately talk about weBike initially drew me in. Health, community, and sustainability are three important causes I advocate for and weBike embodied all three of those causes. A discussion about their business model came up in the flow of conversation between everyone.  I noticed that I could help out by being a weBike Brand Ambassador. I jumped at the chance to talk to Allie and Brad after the session ended. They thought it was a great idea. Following the gathering, we exchanged contact information, multiple meetings over coffee, and brainstormed for the next few months. Ever since then, we have been moving forward to bring the weBike Movement to Northeastern University.

During my time as a weBike Brand Ambassador, my motivation is to constantly make others around me better. You may ask how that correlates to bringing weBike to Northeastern. In many ways that is exactly what I am doing. By giving people on the weBike Movement Team control over individual projects that gives them leadership they never had before. Leadership for a college student is empowering because it transcends onto a resume, provides self-fulfillment, and a sense of purpose. I want to make it easier for Northeastern students to invest in their health and wellness by riding a bike through bike sharing system tailored to us. The possibility to have Northeastern students recognized for being innovators, while simultaneously creating a strong community on campus excites me.

I cannot begin to express my gratitude for receiving this opportunity. In essence, I am ready to make a change and glad to be a part of the weBike family.”

Looking forward to have you in the family too Conrad! Go Huskies

We finally reached the finish line of our crowd funding campaign on Launcht, and I have to begin by thanking each one of our 85 amazing donors.  I was blown away with the support we received.  Thanks to those who donated and to those who helped for believing in us and our mission to bring bike sharing everywhere!

In the end, we raised $5,645 of our $15,000 project goal.  Even though we didn’t reach our ultimate goal, that kind of money can have a big impact on an emerging startup like ours (unlike some other crowd funding platforms, Launcht let’s you keep all your earnings even if you don’t reach your project goal).  But beyond the money alone, we also learned a lot through this campaign, and I’d like to share 4 of those lessons with you and others who are thinking of starting a project for themselves.

1. Be prepared to sell crowd funding.  To a growing number of millennials, crowd funding is old news.  Many of us know of sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo and have heard some of their biggest success stories on the news.  But as I learned first hand, the concept of crowd funding is not yet common place.  Several of my family members and friends really had a hard time wrapping their head around making a donation to a for-profit company.  This even lead to some difficult and awkward situations – some didn’t feel comfortable donating to the campaign, others got confused and committed investment-level amounts before taking back their pledge after realizing that this in fact was not an investment.  In these situations, I found myself having to sell crowd funding more than I had to sell our project.  Be prepared to handle these situations, and be understanding to those who ultimately can’t get past the mental hurdle.

2. Don’t underestimate the required time and commitment.  Raising money is A LOT of work.  It’s naive to think that you can create a campaign page, make a few Facebook posts about it, and watch the money roll in.  The reality is that unless the campaign goes viral (few do), donations coming into your campaign are directly related to the efforts you put into it.  When we were reaching out to our networks, adding content to our social media pages, and getting articles published, we saw the money come in.  The second we took a break, the money flow stopped.  Be prepared to put in the time throughout the entire length of the campaign.  You only get one shot before the clock runs out.

3. Work early to enable the virus.  The biggest success stories in the crowd funding world are when people can break outside of their immediate networks and receive the support of people they don’t actually know.  This was our singular biggest challenge and one we definitely underestimated.  The fact is, there are very few Karen Klein stories out there where the campaign easily connects with a large audience, and the circumstances are just right for the word to get out and spread.  That being said, it’s not impossible to create a viral campaign, even though it likely won’t be as large as the ones we hear on the news.

No one can predict or control whether a virus will take hold; but what we can do is create the best possible environment to enable it.  Creating that environment takes even more work and planning than asking your immediate network.  It requires a strong and active social media presence.  It requires blog posts, articles, and press releases.  It requires significant progress in the campaign before the virus spreads.  And it may even require a unique or catchy way to get attention.  This work needs to start well before the campaign starts, otherwise the campaign will be over well before the virus grows.  Take it from me, we started too late.

4. It’s not all about the money.  Yes, it takes hard work and dedication to make a crowd funding campaign successful, and you need to decide if you will get a good enough return on the investment you put into it.  But money is not the only return you will get on that investment.  The work you put into your campaign will help you tremendously with your business down the road.  For us, in addition to the $5,645 we now have in our bank account, we also have a much larger social media presence, improvements on our website, 2 new videos, 3 published articles with more on the way, and a more engaged support network.  This has already paid off – we have 5 new sales leads that we didn’t have a month ago!  So remember, it’s not all about the money.

I hope the lessons that we learned from our campaign can help other young entrepreneurs.  Crowd funding is an amazing concept that can help startups raise the capital necessary to get off the ground.  My hope is that we can see even more Karen Klein stories in the news.  But next time, instead of sending someone on a much deserved vacation, we’ll have created a new business!

Today we have a guest post from the former student managing Yale’s bike sharing efforts in New Haven, Connecticut.  Charles Zhu is now living in Washington DC and connected with weBike due to his two-wheeled passion. As an avid-bike rider himself, take a look at why Mr. Zhu is into not owning but sharing his bicycle.

“There’s a strange but great book by Flann O’Brien called The Third Policeman which details (among murders, esoteric philosophers, and one-legged bandits) a phenomenon in which the more a person rides a bicycle, the more each takes on the other’s traits. A passage:

I was watching the Olympics this afternoon and saw the swim marathon.  I couldn’t help but see some correlation between this event and our Launcht campaign.  Most noticeably, like the swim marathon, our fundraising campaign is not just a sprint.  In order to get to the finish line, we need to sustain our momentum for the entire 45 days of the campaign.

I also noticed as I watched the swimmers that I was following their heads to track their progress through the water.  And although I could also see their arms coming out ready to take the next stroke, and the wake that they left behind them in the water, I couldn’t actually see the source of their propulsion below the murky surface of the water.

In many ways, our campaign is the same way.  Like the swimmers’ heads, our campaign progress can be tracked right on our Launcht page.  Our Facebook posts and news articles are our arms; our followers and supporters are our wake.  But below the surface of the water are countless hours of making phone calls, sending emails, writing articles, and strategizing about the best way to generate interest and support and then convert into dollars.  And I gotta tell you, raising money is really hard work!

Half way through the marathon, it was really interesting to watch the swimmers go through the feeding station.  In such a long energy-draining race, the athletes need some hydration and sustenance to get them to the finish line.  As they approach the station, coaches put out water bottles on long sticks and the swimmers fight for position in order to grab their bottle mid-stroke.  Miss it, and they are out of luck.

Despite all of the similarities I found, I also noticed one big difference – these guys are Olympians!  They’ve trained their entire lives for this one event and they’re prepared in every way possible.  As entrepreneurs, I feel like we’ve trained really hard to build our business.  But in some respects, this Launcht experience has made me feel like a world class 1500m freestyle swimmer that got to the Olympics and was given a last minute chance to race the 10K marathon.

The good news here is that we’re only half way through the race.  But like those swimmers, we can’t get to the finish line ourselves. Right now, we’re swimming up to that feeding station and we need someone there to hold out that pole with some Gatorade. Will you be that person??

With your help, I know we can do this.  After all, Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli took the medal stand in the 1500m freestyle before winning Gold this afternoon in the marathon

One of my favorite things in the bike world is crafty bike racks. More than just a way to lock a bike, a rack is a form of self-expression (or branding, if you will). A bike racks sit out on the sidewalk for the world to see. Since it’s in the public eye it might as well say something. So smart establishments have taken to getting creative with their own forms of bike holders .. a couple examples below:

(yes, people can attach too..)

Ironically these are both coffee shops (the top two are from Filter in DC, the above is from Four Barrel in San Francisco). I’ve seen many more sightings of such around town, so stay tuned for another installment of ‘cool ways to keep a bike locked up.’ Feel free to shoot a pic over if you see a cool one too (allie@webikedoyou.com).

Last week commuting to work, I biked across the street (in a crosswalk mind you) and a car driver yelled at me “oh, I guess it’s your turn to go.” Well gee thanks for your courtesy sir, I’m just trying to get across the street. Sorry you’re in a bad mood ..

Two minutes later I’m cruising along the Mt. Vernon trail (which is gorgeous) and I pass a biker who smiles at everyone he passes, yelling out “Good morning!” He puts a smile on my face every time.

It’s a night-and-day difference between these two guys. Which is exactly how I feel about the difference between biking to work vs. getting there by car (or any other form of transport, really). One commute makes you feel happy and alive and is something you can look forward to .. and the other drives you nuts and makes you mean and angry.

So which one would you choose?

…and we’re off!!

This past Wednesday, July 18th, weBike launched a fundraising campaign with the debut of Launcht, a new crowdfunding platform built specifically to support social entrepreneurs and start-ups.  The money we’re raising with this campaign will be used to help develop the final piece of the weBike puzzle – an electronic bike lock that works with our software products to enhance the security and reliability of our bike sharing systems.

After weeks of preparation, including the creation of a kick a** video (thanks to Kevin B. Silverman), we’re off to a great start!  We’ve become the premier project on the Launcht platform, raising more than any other project so far.  In the first 3 days of our 45 day campaign, our wonderful and generous funders have contributed nearly $3,000 of our $15,000 goal.  You can check out our campaign page, follow our progress, and donate HERE.

We’re so appreciative of all the support we’ve gotten so far and all the support that we hope will continue coming our way.  As a way to say thanks, our funders can look forward to some fun perks including being featured on the weBike website Wall of Fame, a personalized rap filmed on a bike, a custom Baiku (bike haiku), some delicious cycle snacks, and weBike T-shirts.  If you’re feeling really generous, we’ll even name a weBike after you in our upcoming launch at a new university this fall.

At the time that I write this blog post, it’s Friday afternoon and we’re at $2,850 in donations thus far.  Our campaign is far from over.  We’re still $12,000 away from our project goal and we are looking forward to some exciting upcoming features in press outlets including InTheCapital and the Huffington Post.  We really want to get over the $3,000 mark by the end of the week.  If you’ve already donated, please also help us spread the word on facebook and twitter.  If you haven’t yet donated, will it be you who helps take us over the $3,000 mark??

Thanks to all of our funders thus far:

• Mark and Eileen Eisenberg
• Thomas Armitage and Jan Rubenstein
• Donna Feig
• greeNEWit
• Brian Bean
• Jeanne Eisenberg
• Zoe Lintzeris
• Susan and Richard Burger
• Simone Lewis-Koskinen
• Tracey Armitage
• Karen and Dave Forman
• Dale Rubenstein
• Erin B Graves
• Jacob Garrison
• Ilana Jaffey

I have a confession to make…

I own a bike sharing company, but I don’t own a bike.  In fact, I don’t even consider myself a biker!

Yes, there’s a whole lot of irony in that fact, and maybe even borderline hypocrisy some may even say.  But to be truthfully honest, I don’t see it that way.

When we first started weBike, although I certainly was a proponent of biking, I never had any intention of becoming a biker myself.  Funnily enough, the main reason I first wanted to implement a bike share on my college’s campus was so I didn’t have to look at the countless overcrowded bike racks (and railings, fences, and signposts) filled with other people’s bikes, and listen to those other people complain about how they could never find a place to lock their bike.

And despite the fact that at that time I did (and still do) consider myself a pretty eco-concious individual, it was probably at least a year after we started working on our original class project before I even got on a bike for the first time since I was a kid.

The reason was the same, I suspect, that many of us don’t bike.  There’s a huge mental hurdle to overcome in order to become a “biker.”  In addition to the cost of purchasing a bike comes the responsibility of ownership and the risk of theft, which was prevalent at my university.  And beyond that, the biking community to me seemed somewhat exclusive and somewhere that I didn’t quite fit in.  To be a biker, it seemed, you needed to always have one pant leg rolled up; be able to confidently weave through traffic, scale hills, and brave the elements; and being seen driving a car was tantamount to treason.

I’ll admit, it was easier for me not to become a biker than it was to become one.  That being said, I still faced all of the challenges that came with not traveling by bike: paying for gas and parking, walking a mile between classes, waiting for buses, etc.  And although intellectually, I understood that biking was a way better form of transportation, the barriers of bike ownership and my resistance to change held me back.

When bike sharing came to DC, I was thrilled.  I remember my very first ride from Georgetown to Mt. Vernon and how it completely changed my paradigm.  (Those who live in DC know just how much of a pain that trip can ordinarily be!)  Knowing the benefits of biking is one thing, experiencing them is entirely something else.

Today, I’m an annual Capital Bikeshare member, and I want everyone, everywhere to also be able to experience the joys and benefits of bike sharing like I do.

I bike share not because I own a bike sharing company.  I bike share because it’s faster and cheaper than any other form of transit.  I bike share because I can get to places that I couldn’t easily get to before.  I bike share because I can bike when it’s most convenient, and drive when it’s not.  But most of all, I bike share because every time I get on a bike, it brings a smile to my face.

This is why I am so passionate about weBike.  Bike sharing shatters all of the barriers that prevented me from choosing to travel on two wheels before.  It gives me all of the benefits of biking with none of the responsibilities or limitations of ownership.  And when everyone else in the community rides the same kind of bike as you do, the biking world suddenly feels less like an exclusive club and more like a community we were all meant to be a part of in the first place.

Our Launcht crowdfunding campaign debuts in 7 days … and we are pretty excited.

We’ve spent the past three weeks talking strategy

shooting video

and putting all the pieces together.

Now, we’re getting ready to roll.

The reason we’re doing a crowdfunding campaign is to jump-start product development on the electronic bike lock we are creating …  a lock that will work with our software to create a new combination code for every ride. This could be a game changer in the industry – it’s going to complete the weBike package and truly open up bike sharing to any community (not just the major cities with deep budgets).

So stay tuned to find out how you can help us out. We have a lot more to share on this topic and it’s all coming out in the next few weeks.

*PS – this guy is going to sing a custom rap on a bike for one of our donation prizes. Yea, come check it out.