Rad Power Bikes: Mike Radenbaugh

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2020

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Growing up in rural Northern California, Mike Radenbaugh hated biking to high school—it was a 16 mile slog; hilly and tiring. So he scrounged up a battery and a motor, rigged them to an old mountain bike and began cycling to school without breaking a sweat. When Mike's neighbors starting asking him to motorize their bikes, Rad Power Bikes was born. He eventually designed an eye-catching e-bike with fat tires and a throttle that could push any pedaler to 20mph. Today, Rad Power Bikes is the largest e-bike brand in the U.S., and has barely been able to keep up with demand since the pandemic began.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:09.0	New years is here, and with it brings the possibility of change.
0:13.0	As one behavioral scientist put it, first starts are really powerful.
0:17.0	So as you head into 2023, LifeKit is a great resource to help you plan your life and tackle changes, both big and small.
0:24.0	Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR.
0:27.0	Hey, it's Guy here. So what are some of the key traits that successful entrepreneurs have in common?
0:34.0	Why do some people succeed when others fail?
0:37.0	How do you build something with no connections, no money, and no experience?
0:42.0	And can you learn to develop the skills and traits it takes to become an entrepreneur?
0:48.0	Well, to find out the answers to all these questions, pick up a copy of my new book. It's called How I Built This.
0:54.0	And if you love the show, you will love this book.
0:57.0	And if you order before September 15th, I'll send you a free autographed book play to put inside the book.
1:04.0	Just visit gyros.com or how I built this.com to order.
1:09.0	Or pick up how I built this wherever you get your books. And thanks.
1:13.0	We unboxed some of the first bikes out of the containers. And I went out for a test ride on one of the first bikes.
1:26.0	And it's like something's off here. What's going on here? And I realized that the factory had installed the brakes backwards.
1:32.0	And so the front brake was on the right and the rear brake was on the left.
1:36.0	So we spent a week straight with three of us in the company at that point, just to get those bikes shipped. Unboxing every bike, switching the brakes around. It was a doozy.
1:53.0	From NPR, it's How I Built This. A show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.
2:02.0	I'm Guy Raus and on the show today, how Mike Raddenbaugh slapped a battery and a motor on his bike so he could get to school faster.
2:13.0	And then went on to build the biggest electric bike brand in the US. Rad power bikes.
	...

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