The world is always looking for more sustainable and healthy ways to commute. There are new electric cars from Tesla, Nissan and other manufacturers. Efforts from companies like Lime attempt to have people rent electric scooters to travel around. It seems as though the world is moving away from traditional methods of travel. Another new way is the electric bike from London-based JIVR.
It turns out, size does matter
What about the JIVR makes it special or different compared to the other bikes on the market? The most noticeable features that one can see in all the marketing material and reviews is that the bike is foldable and chainless. It might seem a tad strange at first, seeing the bike shrink down to a fraction of the total size. Yet, this is actually quite clever. It takes only 4 short steps to fold/unfold the bike. One can pack up the JIVR and then wheel it around by the handlebars. It’s almost like a travel bag at the airport. This makes it fantastic for those who regularly use public transport. It doesn’t take up much space and can get a rider to their destination once off the bus.
The rider doesn’t need all the power
Powering up a hill or having to finish out a long ride after a day of work can be brutal. It is some of the biggest downsides to using a bike as a regular method of transportation. Thanks to the electric design of the JIVR, this problem disappears. Once the rider feels tired, they can get an extra push up to 25 km/hr. They can also do this if they simply want a break. Motion sensors in the pedals allow the bike to sense when it might need the electric boost. This helps the rider along even when they might not recognize it’s needed.
The owner can fully refill the charge by simply plugging the JIVR in. A regular power outlet can fully charge it in a period of around 2.5 hours. This is a fantastic charge rate, as one could just pop into a nearby restaurant for lunch, have their bike plugged in and by the end have a mostly charged ride.
No chains or belts means minimal maintenance
While it might be all well and good that the JIVR can fold up or give you a little extra boost, would it be worth it if one had to constantly monitor it for malfunctions or maintenance? Fortunately, there’s no real need to answer that question. The JIVR doesn’t need such careful watching. It lacks the traditional chains that can be found on almost all outdoor bikes. It doesn’t even have the sort of belt drive that can be found on indoor spin bikes. This takes away an entire section of concern about damages or upkeep.
Eco-friendly transport seems to be the future. With the foldable JIVR chainless, electric bike, it looks as though that future is now. You can acquire it for £2,999 (about $US 4,100) at JIVR’s website.
Startup
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to become registered, startups refer to new businesses that intend to grow large beyond the solo founder. At the beginning, startups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but a minority of them do go on to be successful and influential. Some startups become unicorns; that is privately held startup companies valued at over US$1 billion.
Actions
Startups typically begin by a founder (solo-founder) or co-founders who have a way to solve a problem. The founder of a startup will begin market validation by problem interview, solution interview, and building a minimum viable product (MVP), i.e. a prototype, to develop and validate their business models. The startup process can take a long period of time (by some estimates, three years or longer), and hence sustaining effort is required. Over the long term, sustaining effort is especially challenging because of the high failure rates and uncertain outcomes. Having a business plan in place outlines what to do and how to plan and achieve an idea in the future. Typically, these plans outline the first 3 to 5 years of your business strategy.
Design principles
Models behind startups presenting as ventures are usually associated with design science. Design science uses design principles considered to be a coherent set of normative ideas and propositions to design and construct the company's backbone. For example, one of the initial design principles is "affordable loss".
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