Anyways, my role as more of an observer than a participant in the creation of Common Cycles has been an interesting chance to think about the bike industry in general and what I was actually doing in it. Something I realized:

Passion isn’t special. Humility is.

When you tell someone that you’re a cyclist and work in the bicycle industry, the usual response is something like, “It must be amazing to have your work also be your passion.” And, of course, that’s true.

But it’s also true that plenty of people are just as passionate about building websites or simply making big piles of money as I am about cycling. And to be honest, there are times where cycling and I feel less like hot-blooded newlyweds and more like an old married couple. Point being, an alignment of passion and profession isn’t unique to the bike industry.

But there is something that – at least in my experience – seems to be pretty unusual. I can’t recall every meeting anyone in the bike industry who took their good luck for granted. And, to be sure, it is by luck that we’re doing what we’re doing, as opposed to marketing for insurance companies, designing office furniture, etc. I’ve never worked with anyone in the bike industry with an attitude like, “I’m smart and creative, so I deserve this.”

This really clicked for me at SXSW, riding with my former KGSN colleague Ian Dille, on pause from the frenzy of advertising and tech startup egos. And so far, working at COMMON has been a lot like riding with bike industry friends. As successful as they’ve been elsewhere, John, Rob, and Alex have an ingrained attitude of “we’re all lucky to be here.” Maybe it’s only natural that COMMON’s first venture will be a bike company.

Afterword

I know some folks are skeptical about Common Cycles. But there are a couple things to keep in mind. One, it’s not just about starting a bike company. Alabamboo is a broader initiative to create sustainable jobs in one of the poorest parts of the country, and bicycles are one of many things that can be made out of bamboo. Also, this initial venture is intended to be a template for future entrepreneurs to come with their own ideas to launch under the central brand – which doesn’t actually own Common Cycles or any other company bearing the COMMON name.

Welcome to the FearLess Cottage. As alluded to in my last post with the Vimeo-Facebook embed form, I’ve started an internship here where I’ll be helping Alex & Ana Bogusky, Rob Schuham and some other really smart, really nice folks to launch COMMON. The concept, briefly, is to build a socially and environmentally sustainable brand that can launch any number of independent, loosely connected ventures. Here’s more:

My specific project is to map and build a site for COMMON that will encourage community members to share ideas for new ventures, form teams, and move forward through COMMON’s incubator process. The project – and COMMON itself – is constantly evolving, and I’ll keep you posted. If you’re interested in joining the COMMON community, you can (and should) sign up here. Seriously, do it now.

In the midst of getting rolling with all this, I took my maiden voyage to SXSW Interactive as part of Boulder Digital Works’ 20+-member delegation. The scale of the event was a bit overwhelming; the 11am time slot on Tuesday had about forty different offerings. Not surprisingly, the highlights of my trip all happened away from the throngs at the convention center.

• Dropping in on the SoDA Meetup
• Seeing Zombies Vs Hippies in print in PSFK’s Future of Mobile Tagging book
• Some good bike riding, featuring Hill Country gas station tacos

Thanks to my Austin hosts Ian Dille and David Wenger, plus Peter Yesawich Jr for their hospitality!

At this point, those are the two outlooks that will drive much of what we do over the next year and possibly well beyond our time here in Boulder.

Option 1: Users rule.

Our work for IxDA’s annual conference – for which you totally should register now – kicked off with a lengthy research phase over the summer. Cohort 2 (i.e. the students who started in the spring of 2010) conducted interviews, scouted locations, and developed attendee personas to reveal the underlying problems that we could solve. Cohort 3 (i.e. me and the others who started in August) came into the project during a phase of ideation and prototyping. We’ve evaluated every concept based on the value that it adds for users and how well it addresses the problems identified during the research phase.

In other words, we’re not doing anything just because we can, or because we think it would be cool. If it doesn’t work for the users, it doesn’t get built.

Option 2: Just be creative.

We recently kicked off another big project where our first instinct– based on our experience with IxDA – was to hit the streets and research our way to success. The response from our agency client was surprising. Basically, they told us, “research if you want, but trust your creative instincts.” Granted, this was due in part to a very short timeline. But this approach is similar to what Joe Takai from XYZ Graphics presented in a really interesting workshop, during which Brad Dechter and I produced this lovely creative artifact. (That’s Joe on the right.)

To some extent, the informal inspiration process that creatives like Joe have talked about has a lot in common with the kind of research that we’ve done for IxDA. But that research relied on a close examination of the users’ challenges; inspiration often comes from observing everything but the problem at hand.

Ultimately, the question isn’t really about which option is better. They both have their strengths and the answer might rest on the experience and talent that a particular team brings to a particular project. For the time being, I’m just glad that we get to try both.

(the actual “how to draw a stick figure” part starts on page 24)

Boulder has been great so far and I’m excited to spend the next year learning and collaborating in new ways. And afterwards? I’m not sure yet but I’ll definitely bring even sharper skills and a broader range of experiences to whatever it is that I end up doing.

Looking back at the last six years, I’m fortunate that I’ve had space to experiment and develop my skills. I’m grateful to all the clients, colleagues, and friends who’ve advised, critiqued, and inspired me along the way. Thank you!

One more thing… If you’ll be at Interbike, let me know when would be a good time to catch up! I’ll be there Tuesday-Thursday.

Hammerquist & Nebeker designed the actual catalog, which you can view here.

Complete Specs:

Weight is 16.75 lbs with pedals, old-school saddle, and wire-bead tires. And yes, I carry a frame pump along the left seat stay.