Michael v. d. Voorn 🇳🇿🇳🇱🇩🇪

@Roadman_Podcast looking at how many ride in Pas Normal, I expect them to go the same route. In part it is "we are dead when famous". Clever owners bail out at the peak

What Rapha's decline can teach us about building a business. (This hurts to write as a longtime fan) 10 years ago, Rapha was untouchable. They didn't just sell cycling clothes. They sold a lifestyle. A dream. An identity. Their marketing was pure poetry: → "The hardest climbs, the longest days" → Romanticized imagery of European cycling culture → €200 jerseys that people bought as badges of honor They understood something profound: People don't buy products. They buy stories about themselves. Rapha made weekend warriors feel like they were part of cycling's golden age. Then everything changed. 2017: Walmart acquired them for €200M. On paper, it made sense: - Access to capital - Global distribution - Economies of scale But here's what they lost: 1. The exclusivity when you tie the brand to a family that made its name on "discounts", it's no longer special. 2. The story Corporate ownership killed the romantic narrative. Hard to sell "the spirit of gravel" when your parent company also sells garden furniture. 3. The community Rapha Cycling Clubs used to be exclusive tribes. Now they feel like marketing campaigns. The result? - Die-hard fans moved to smaller brands (Pas Normal, Café du Cycliste) - New customers never understood what made Rapha different (remember those video back in the day with Dan Craven) - They're stuck in no-man's land: too expensive for mass market, too corporate for premium The lesson for every business: Growth can kill what made you special. The things that get you to €10M revenue might destroy you at €100M. Your "unfair advantage" often can't be scaled without being diluted. Before you take that big investment or acquisition: Ask yourself: What makes us irreplaceable? What is our moat? Can we keep that at 10x the size? Are we selling our soul for scale? Sometimes staying small and special beats getting big and generic. Rapha forgot this. Don't make the same mistake.

@ninaachadjian @Beezer232 Hi Nina, if the arranged phone call about the German trades SaaS market last Thursday was with you, feel free to reach out if you need more in-depth infos. Regards from Hamburg.

Thank you @Beezer232 for a great convo!

@MattAAW @towtyler @politvidchannel Maybe, but do people get their dose of propaganda on google or on X? I never understood why Musk wasted 40bio on Twitter, seeing him move in at Mar a Lago, I get it now. At law school the importance of The Separation of Powers was hammered in, it’s gone now

BREAKING: Australia has introduced a new bill that will impose fines of up to 5% on Elon Musk's Twitter/X global revenue, which could be hundreds of millions of dollars for failing to control the spread of misinformation.

@towtyler @MattAAW @politvidchannel

@MVandervoorn @MattAAW @politvidchannel Elon has X, and he doesn’t censor anybody. Even his critics. Just about every other platform has massive censorship. Almost Every media outlet is one-sided. I think we’ll be fine.

@towtyler @MattAAW @politvidchannel Absolutely!! Elon censored by fucking around with the algorithms to alter what people are shown, that is pure Orwell, because no one sees what is happening in the background

@MVandervoorn @MattAAW @politvidchannel You have the balls to use Orwell to support your censorship?

@towtyler @MattAAW @politvidchannel Trump‘s own AI (Grok) says this, and now he’s moved into Mar a Lago: Imagine what you would think if he moved into Biden‘s house after skewing the election. You should reread 1984/Orwell, because that is where we are headed real fast

@MVandervoorn @MattAAW @politvidchannel Yea you may have yourself fooled but you’re not gaslighting us. The US doesn’t jail people for mean words or opinions “wrong think” like some countries in Europe do.

@towtyler @MattAAW @politvidchannel I actually think it was also controlling the main media channels, which is why you should be way more concerned about Musk who owns this crap sitting at Trump‘s desk. Murdoch (Fox) being the Aussie who is similar. Don’t worry about German media, not yet anyway 😉

@MVandervoorn @MattAAW @politvidchannel Hitler censored free speech once in power to prevent challenge to his plans. it was lack of free speech that allowed him to do what he did. He banned foreign media like how European nations and Australia are threatening foreign social media companies that don’t censor.

@towtyler @MattAAW @politvidchannel Have a read, some of these areas are exactly what the restrictions overseas are about…..

@MVandervoorn @MattAAW @politvidchannel Maybe they should, not compromising on freedom of speech to sell some jets. I say fuck ‘em

@MattAAW @politvidchannel I trust Perplexity more, Australia receives zero aid, expect maybe in a serious bush fire, but the US would from Australia too

@WSWayland no one rushing to help after the bar was removed 🤬

This is your reminder to always have a spotter.

@roberthabeck Wie schaut es mit einer dauerhaften Absenkung der Gastro-MwSt auf 7% aus? Merz hat sich heute klar positioniert, Scholz kann mich mal diesbezüglich

Lasst uns den Raum wieder öffnen für Debatten um die richtigen Lösungen, die so groß sind wie die Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Der Moment ist jetzt.

@mboyle1959 😂 close enough

Things that drive me nuts, part two. Improperly named exercises? Bulgarian Lunges? Yes the lift was popularized by Bulgarian Angel Spassov but, it’s not a lunge. It’s a split squat. To lunge, you need to step. I.e. “ he lunged at me”. I know, nit picking but it irks me.

@HenrijsDE @roberthabeck Mit Austerity wird das in Deutschland jedenfalls nicht klappen. Wie steht die CDU dazu? Wie Lindner dazu steht wissen wir inzwischen

@roberthabeck Nein. Wir können sie nicht nochmal unserer Wirtschaft zumuten.

Darum mache ich euch ein klares Angebot. Seid ihr dabei?

@aukerkali312 @cptspatchcock @PamKeithFL But that’s exactly what you got 😂

@cptspatchcock @PamKeithFL Nah. Just don’t want a president who is clueless, brainless, and had NO PLAN 😂 but sure, blame it on race and gender if that makes you sleep at night…

Trump’s margin in NC is based ENTIRELY on under-votes. Dems won the whole ballot except the top spot. This makes absolutely NO SENSE! It’s counter to the behavior of both Dems and Republicans. The fact that EVERY swing state went Trump exclusively on under votes

@Demandor @stuartpstevens @TartanSphynx Nailed it

@stuartpstevens @TartanSphynx Does high status mean fat, old, white, rich, racist, sexist, and homophobic, asshats?

Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of ‘high-status males’ | The Independent independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

@AnnaKiesenhofer This one is easier to digest 😎

Recommendations wanted! Looking for book on exercise physiology that is readable (yet scientifically accurate) and oriented towards practice, i.e. answering questions I might ask myself in everyday athlete life ("what is happening in my body when I do this type of workout" etc.)

@AnnaKiesenhofer If you are looking for broader info (ie also strength)