From tie-wraps and lunch boxes, to virtually cycling around the world

After we produced and delivered these first twenty-three Bike Labyrinths, occasional orders came in. Job had created a simple website where potential customers could find information. Together we improved the product and I called and mailed all over the country looking for customers (and in the meantime buying up all the green lunch boxes in the Netherlands for the first version of Bike Labyrinth).

We spent our first earned money on our first trade show: a stand for three days at a big event in the Jaarbeurs (Exhibition Centre) with lots of potential customers. In the time that followed, we were mainly busy keeping the Bike Labyrinth working in nursing homes and listening to the ideas of our customers and users so that we could continue to develop. There followed a time when luck played a big role, we seized all opportunities, created routes and Bike Labyrinth grew steadily.

Focus on filming

Soon we realized that content was the most important thing; everyone wanted to cycle through an environment they knew. So we focused almost entirely on filming. Job drew the maps: city walls were never skipped and we filmed bridges, churches and medieval buildings from the street where you got the best view of the building.

Filming was done with a special bicycle with a complicated and very expensive camera setup. Or so we said. In reality, we filmed with the cheapest sports camera on OV bikes (shared bikes), which could be rented at many stations for a few euros a day. We deflated the tires a little to get the footage more stable and then, when we returned the bike, said, "the tires are a little soft." To this day, this has been our biggest secret. It has allowed us to create many high quality routes at great speed so that as many people as possible could cycle through an environment they knew.

Growing & going

In time, we found a number of self-employed people who would help us and so more and more people joined us. We also had more and more stuff, so we looked for a business space. By now we dared to do it financially, and not having to stack 20 computers in your baby's playpen seemed wonderful. We found 26m2 at BINK36 in The Hague. It fit three Bike Labyrinths, two desks and an exercise bike. Just right.

The self-employed joined us permanently. So suddenly we had to make paychecks, do the accounting and deal with questions about pensions. All with the entrepreneurial mentality of "I've never done it before, so I guess I can do it" (better known as the Pippi Longstocking mentality). We also needed a larger space for this, because standing at two desks with six people is getting a little cramped. Fortunately, we were able to rent a larger space at BINK36 and expand our business more and more.

We never stopped daring & doing and the team continued to grow. We now work with more than twenty people worldwide on Bike Labyrinth and have already moved into three office spaces.