Mannheim Business School — Germany’s top-rated business school — celebrated alumni entrepreneurial success stories with a focus on the sharing economy in its recent homecoming event.
Among the speakers were the founders of Listnride*, a shared mobility platform set up to fulfil the need for economic, ecological transport in and around a growing number of European cities, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, and Vienna. Listnride connects private bicycle owners, bicycle shops, and manufacturers with those who need two wheels to get around, explore the city, take a tour, or participate in a biking event.
Co-founder Johannes Stuhler, said, “Listnride is like AirBnB, but for bikes — a platform connecting supply with demand.”
Listnride goes beyond rivals in that it is able to target three distinct use cases with a single platform, greatly increasing their potential economic and social impact. Bike sharing fills a gap in the shared mobility space — currently estimated to be growing at 20 percent per annum — but sharing concepts that make it often have a strong social component as well.
Listnride enables tourists and locals, families and businesspeople to rent the right bike for their needs directly from the owner.
Stuhler added, “It’s nice to meet locals, get tips and insights about nice bike routes, café or shops. Our users tell us they value these contacts and tips.”
Local, ‘offline’ bicycle dealers are already taking the chance to connect their inventory to a wider audience through Listnride, too, while manufacturers like Cervélo and Brompton are using Listnride as a promotional tool, offering their latest models to potential clients for test rides at promotional events and races.
Listnride is an alumni of the Mannheim Business School (MBS), which is located in the heart of the German and European economies. MBS and its alumni are encouraging entrepreneurship and investment with associated programs like the Mannheim Business Angels.
President of MBS, professor Dr. Jens Wüstemann, said “Two central objectives of our MBA programs are to enable students to directly apply concepts discussed in class to the ‘real world’ and to foster their entrepreneurial spirit. Thus it pleases us very much to see some of them actually taking the plunge and founding their own companies.”
*Listnride is actually spelt listnride but, as lowercase letters for names are an affront to all things grammar, we’re only making that correction here. Let that be a lesson to all of you.
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