We are all athletes using our energy to save our planet and ourselves.
It all started with an interview by a South Korean magazine for “Hot Young Startups in Silicon Valley”. The interviewer asked which pharmaceutical do we believe has done the most for US health care. Thought long and hard … Genentech, Alza, Pfizer, J&J … all the various drugs each had made. The answer was:
ASICS Rx. ASICS Running prescribes a healthy lifestyle
The company name ASICS “Anima Sana In Corpore Sano”,
is an acronym for the Latin expression
“You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body”
The reason is that prevention is the only good solution. Unfortunately, the moment someone sick walks into the doctor’s office they will get medications because it’s usually too late for prevention. The researchers at UCSF medical school have shown that heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. can all be prevented, managed and sometimes cured with exercise, diet and stress reduction.
UCSF: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/05/105701/can-wellness-cure
Stanford: http://prevention.stanford.edu/
Speaking at Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), Mr. Todd Park (former US CTO) talked about the aging population and the role of technology. He focused on pharmaceuticals and hospitals. True, but the best course for the impending national health crisis is to put the “health” back into health care.
“America needs a health care system, not a sick care system” — Bill George
We need to work to steer public policy away from drugs and hospitals toward exercise and healthy living. This is a difficult battle because drugs make lots of money and people would rather take a pill than go for a mile run. But one thing I learned from my control systems class was that the only way to make a system stable is with negative feedback. With real time digital feedback people could see how little activity they had during the day and respond to it. Prompting them to find ways to be more active.
“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually too improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.” — H. James Harrington
This led to becoming passionate about promoting the health benefits of biking for both the people and the community especially after seeing how transformative it is.
Hoping ultimately to get to where the Dutch are but without the bike parking issues.
The one way to do this is with cheap, accessible bike rentals everywhere.
Passion for the shared bikes:
Have been thinking for a long time about how to take the excess energy around our waist (fat) and use it to reduce our dependence on foreign oil (and reduce pollutants).
Building a tribe around bike sharing … One key observation is people drive to SoulCycle, circle a full parking lot looking for a place to park. Then pay $40 to ride a bike …
It is imperative that we build a community that is emotionally committed to public biking. Call it “SocialCycle”
We are currently working on
- Design in app rewards like Nike s23NYC: https://www.digitaltrends.com/outdoors/inside-s23nyc-the-digital-studio-keeping-nikes-tech-relevant/ & How to build it
- Shared Biking app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ylabz.goswift
iOS App.
Some ideas to promote shared bikes
- Allow people to find and commute together. This has a compounded effect on ridership.
- Merchandise promoting the fast, strong, healthy lifestyle of biking
- Copy “Tough Mudder” shirts given to people who finish a “shared bike milage race” based on ridership miles.
- Connect Pokemons to the rental. You unlock a Pokemon for every ride.
- Connect the biking miles to fitness trackers & Nike+ (and other fitness communities)
Data Analytics will be a big part of knowing what works and what needs improvement.
https://towardsdatascience.com/exploring-toronto-bike-share-ridership-using-python-3dc87d35cb62
Additional Revenue Streams — Ads & Services
To keep the cost of the rental to a minimum we need other revenue streams.
- Displaying Ads on the bikes (i.e. FireFly). They are highly visible and congregate where the people are.
- When people use the Mobile App for directions we know where they are and where they are going and the path they are taking. We can query local businesses and display real time Ads as they pass the local businesses. Collecting this data will help guide future feature development.
- Provide a bike service to companies and corporate events
Possible Future Ideas:
- An autonomous three wheel bike that returns to the most demanding areas using fuzzy logic to anticipate where they will be needed. Human powered peddling recharges the electricity needed to return or move to the next place. Solving the redistribution issue.
- Reducing of the electric bikes and adding more 3-speed bikes. This will remove the need for recharging the bikes ultimately reducing resources and cost. And added benefits to the riders health.
- Experiment with different hybrid vehicles … rides like a bike but small like a scooter.
- https://www.amazon.com/WingFlyer-Elliptical-Stepper-Scooter-Black/
- https://www.streetstrider.com/
- https://boostedboards.com/boards/boosted-mini
Note about responsibility: Ask if people would take a picture of the bike before/after ride to resolve any possible issues.
Final Thoughts:
Major Point: Technology is evolving our environment faster than our brain is evolving. In the developed nations food is plentiful and we do not have to exert much activity to have access to vast quantities. The intelligence which should have evolved in our brain must be moved to the technology we wear to counterbalance this effect.
I have been writing mobile apps for a new category I am calling personal “life care”. These applications track our lives (e.g. sleep, eat, exercise, mood and social interaction) and make suggestions on ways to improve our daily experience. The most important part of the app builds a strong interconnected support community. Allowing us to live healthier, happier more fulfilled lives.
Yes, we are all athletes using our energy to save our planet and ourselves.
Summary of article:
Build a community that is emotionally committed to public biking:
- Allow people to commute together.
- T-shirt (Swag) when people hit milestones of ridership.
- Connect the biking miles to fitness communities (Nike+)
Other Revenue Streams — Ads & Services:
- Displaying Ads on the bikes. (maybe partner with FireFlyOn.com)
- Mobile App for directions displays real-time Ads as they pass the local businesses.
- Provide a bike service to companies and corporate events
Possible Future Ideas:
- An autonomous three-wheel bike that returns to the most demanding areas.
- Reducing electric bikes and adding more 3-speed bikes.
- Experiment with different hybrid vehicles … rides like a bike but small like a scooter.
