Two brothers – Mehdi and Reza Farsi – and longtime friend Eric Ferguson were not going to send out resumes to corporate entities and hope for a job coming out of college. Instead, the three decided to create their own company; however, many would think they had chosen the wrong industry. Bicycle sales are traditionally dominated by giants within that sector and to break in with a start-up company seemed a monumental task. Yet for these three it was as simple as putting all the pieces together.
Coming out of Arizona State the Farsi brothers and Ferguson decided that if they were going to go forward with this company, they were going to make a different, unique, slick bike that would appeal to younger males and especially those who do bicycling in urban environments. They went back to a simpler one-gear design that would be sleek, light, and maneuverable. These “fixies” are all personalized and will only sell for a few months before new models are made and replace them. And so far, it has been a hit.
One of the biggest innovations that the company used was to sell exclusively on Amazon when it began. This let millions of customers be able to see their products without having to pay for that kind of exposure. Sales have skyrocketed due to this and the organically funded business now even has three retail stores. Their bikes sell for around $300 instead of the typical mid $400 range that most bikes of this quality go for, and people have responded and really enjoy the experience that these three millennial entrepreneurs are selling.
Great piece on an interesting product and an interesting band of young entrepreneurs! I was thinking the exact same thing looking at the bike picture before reading the article – how are millennial entrepreneurs supposed to tackle a century old market such as bicycles? It looks like they found their unique niche marketing to a growing demographic – young urban males. The fact that they leveraged the Amazon market to sell their product says even more about their utilization of opportunity.
Talk about finding a niche! This was a brilliant idea. It takes advantage of the green movement, customization, and design that is all so popular at the moment. Another impressive aspect of this product is the affordability. At the beginning of this article I thought, “these must be expensive bikes!” However it turns out they could be a better option, at least in the city, than any other bike.
When it comes to businesses to get into, their are few harder than the transportation industry- whether it be cars, trucks, bikes, tractors, or anything else. Niche marketing is really the only way to stay alive when dealing with big organizations like Schwinn, Mongoose, Next, and Huffy, as well as a whole slew of other well trenched competitors. Their decision to cater mainly to young, urban males who have a little extra money and who can appreciate additional features like customization was absolutely ingenious. Big companies, as of yet, do not offer affordable customized bikes, so they have essentially built a whole new market. I hope these guys can get some real street cred before the big players catch on a copy them, because their only hope for survival will be in becoming a specialty brand that carries it’s very own brand image. They are certainly the small fish in the shark tank, but with some smart future planning, and image development I think these guys stand a really good chance.