Comments on: The Tour de France metaphor for entrepreneurship

By: Anthony Kuhn

Anthony Kuhn — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:56:26 +0000

Martin:

Great piece, especially as it features bikes and business! The two should go hand-in-hand, indeed. I linked to your piece in my blog entry for the Innovators-Network today in hopes that I can attract a few more readers to enjoy your thoughts on how businesses can be like transportation.

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:16:44 +0000

Excellent - but why no accidents?

By: Johannes

Johannes — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:17:22 +0000

Why not, if you’re bought it’s as if they pack your bike into their bus (whereas for some companies it would be more suitable to compare them with the railways - thousands of people and a lot of inertia, but absolutely inable to change direction), which causes you to travel at the same speed. Until they release you, which will give you back your freedom, unless they have packed tons of stuff or people on the rack.

Actually, while doing academic research I quite often feel it’s not like walking but rather like crouching on the floor with a magnifying glass: You see really every details of things, but you absolutely loose the overview.

By: Tom Cashman

Tom Cashman — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:59:15 +0000

Seeing as I collided with a car last week, I can also add (from bitter experience) that cyclists are much more vulnerable. If you’re a cyclist sharing road space with other vehicles you have to be on high alert, because cars are liable to squash you and (being heavy, and made of metal) don’t really notice the difference. I expect start-ups have to be just as alert, and are also quite likely to be squashed; particularly if they’re sharing a market (”road-space”) with more heavyweight competitors. On the other hand, there’s also the possibility of being bought by the competitor, and I think the analogy breaks down here!