Long before dockless bikes and scooters became a global industry, Ryan Rzepecki was building connected bicycles.
In this episode of the Micromobility Podcast, Ryan tells the remarkable story of Social Bicycles, its transformation into JUMP Bikes, and the decade-long journey that ultimately led to its acquisition by Uber.
Ryan explains how his team built connected bikes before IoT technology became mainstream, survived for years with less than six months of runway, and created an e-bike experience that many still consider the gold standard for shared micromobility.
We discuss:
• How an urban planner without a hardware or software background started JUMP
• Building connected bikes before smartphones and IoT became mainstream
• Bootstrapping the company to $10 million in revenue
• Why 2017 was the hardest year of Ryan’s professional life
• The rebrand from Social Bicycles to JUMP
• How the team perfected JUMP’s iconic red bike and natural motor assistance
• How the Stripe founders discovered JUMP and helped with fundraising
• Why Uber acquired the company
• What changed when JUMP went from a capital-constrained startup to operating inside Uber
• How JUMP’s technology and industrial design shaped Lime’s current bike fleet
• Why nobody has managed to build a clearly better shared e-bike
• The biggest mistakes founders make when building hardware startups
• Why hardware companies need recurring software or service revenue
• Ryan’s new augmented-reality company, MeshMap, and its first immersive experience in New York City
Ryan also shares his view on the future of micromobility, autonomous vehicles, battery swapping, local operations and why micromobility companies could eventually become broader transportation operators.
This is the story of one of the most influential companies in modern shared mobility and the founder whose work can still be seen on the streets of cities around the world.
Subscribe to the Micromobility Podcast for more conversations with the founders and leaders shaping the future of transportation.
Creators and Guests
Prabin Joel Jones
CEO, Micromobility Industries
What is The Micromobility Podcast?
Welcome to Micromobility, a podcast exploring the disruption that comes from new lightweight utility vehicles. Using the history of computing as a framework, we unpack what business models and impacts we’re likely to see in transport in cities.