Bikeflip is the go-to platform to buy and sell bicycles of any kind in Germany, Austria and Italy
Please introduce yourself and your startup Bikeflip to our readers!
Hi everyone! I’m Andrea Maranelli, a professional cyclist from Italy. Together with Wibmer Fabio and Nikolai Holder I co-founded Bikeflip. Bikeflip is the go-to platform to buy and sell bicycles of any kind in Germany, Austria and Italy. We launched the website in April 2022 and now there are more than 15.000 used & new bikes for sale.
How did you get the idea of Bikeflip?
Fabio and I kept receiving messages asking where to securely buy second-hand bicycles. Moreover, my father has a car dealership. Thanks to him I did understand how important a website such as Autoscout24 is for the car industry. I was impressed that nothing similar existed in the bike sector.
Why did you decide to start with Bikeflip?
We decided to create Bikeflip because we wanted to make the process of buying and selling bikes easier. This is true especially for the market of second-hand bikes. On a personal level, we decided to start Bikeflip because as athletes it is always good to start new and different projects, especially in the same field of application of your sport.
What is the vision behind Bikeflip?
The vision behind Bikeflip is to become the European go-to platform to buy and sell bicycles. We aim to let more and more people riding bikes and we do believe that bicycles are the future of mobility. In todays’ environment, second-hand is a trend and a must for our planet. This is why we, at Bikeflip, aim to make them more accessible by creating a functional second-hand marketplace specifically and exclusively dedicated to bicycles.
How difficult was the start and which challenges you had to overcome?
Out of 10? 10! The main challenge we faced was to get our idea to reality: we knew we wanted to develop such a project, but we did not have idea where to start from.
Who is your target audience?
Our target audience are passionate cyclist of any kind: from mountain bikers to road cyclists and e-bikes riders.
What is the USP of your startup?
Buying and selling bicycles has never been that easy and safe! Bikeflip guarantees payments, shippings and free returns in case the purchased bike differs from the selling ad.
Can you describe your typical workday?
As a “startupper”, it is hard to defy and describe a “typical workday” since there are new challenges every day. I would say that the challenge is not to overwork since there are enough tasks to work 24/7. I get to the office around 7.45 am, I go home for a pasta at 1pm and then go back to the office until 6 or 7pm. After work I do go for a bike ride, or for a gym session. During the working hours I’m discussing ideas and projects with my colleagues, jumping from one call to another one.
Where do you see yourself and your startup Bikeflip in five years?
We do hope and believe that Bikeflip will be established as the reference platform to buy and sell bicycles in Europe. By knowing myself, I will still be busy thinking about new projects, riding bicycles, and hopefully travelling the world!
What 3 tips would you give to founders?
- Never give up: probably the most obvious one, but still needed to be mentioned. Founding a startup is a hard challenge: the amount of different task that a founder has to manage is huge, from developing the product to pitching the idea to investors. It is a never-ending learning process and sometimes it might feel as if it is too stressful.
- Look forward: learn by your mistakes and look forward. It is completely normal to make mistakes and to pivot some of the ideas. The key is to keep looking forward, searching for solutions or alternatives without losing precious time.
- Believe in it: as a founder, you are the load-bearing pillar of your company. You need to keep believing in your project, motivating your employees and demonstrating any stakeholder how motivated you are and how much you believe in your idea.
Thank you Andrea Maranelli for the Interview
Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.
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