Katherine Olives
Yesterday, NYC Media Lab announced its third cohort of startup teams that joined Combine, its entrepreneurship program to commercialize emerging media technologies from faculty and students at the Citys universities. Among the selected startups is our own Ouvos, a community-based navigation app for cyclists.
I sat down with the Ouvos team–Ahmed Ben Mansour, Kevin Navarra, and Salman Siraj–to learn more about the progress theyve made since our Accelerator, and what they hope to accomplish during Combine.
Katherine Olives: So what is new with Ouvos? We spend almost every day with you, but we havent given a public update in awhile. Were so thrilled about your acceptance into Combine. What is it like so far?
Ahmed Ben Mansour: Were very excited too! The program kicked off a little over a week ago, so we havent had too many sessions yet, but the way the program works is every week we conduct at least ten interviews that we present on Thursdays. During those weekly presentations, we discuss what we learned from our interviews, and how the interviews proved or disproved our assumptions on various parts of our business and product.
KO: That all sounds very exciting. And whats your main goal during Combine?
ABM: Our main goal is to get as many signups as possible so we can launch in February. Were planning to launch in both NYC and San Francisco. For now, itll just be a private beta where select people have access. Its for us to get as much feedback as possible and try to build what matters most to cyclists. The main reason weve been holding it off launching publicly is so that active cyclists are actually using it, so others can see the value there.
Kevin Navarra: Exactly. We really want to get validation for what were building. We have validation that this is a real problem and its worth solving, but there are aspects that we havent really considered. Taking the time to talk to customers during the Combine program will help address those issues, and hopefully well come up with a product that addresses all the problems cyclists face while trying to navigate.
KO: Youve been doing a lot of interviews already. How has that been going?
ABM: Kevin and Salman have literally been pounding the pavement.
KO: Wow that must be challenging. And nerve-wracking right?
KN: Weve literally been stopping Citibikes and cyclists on the street, so the cold has been our biggest challenge. Everyones bundled up and just trying to get to where theyre going as quickly as possible, so we have to spend a lot more time waiting to see bikers. When we do see them, its hard for them to stop and give us five minutes.
KO: I bet! Do you have any tips for getting interviews, because you still manage to do it?
Salman Siraj: Instagram and bike shops have been the most helpful so far. Bike shops are great for in-person interviews because the people who work there are usually cyclists themselves. Plus, you get to talk to their customers.
KN: Yeah the bike shops have been great. Weve developed great relationships with some of the local shops and its helping because they give us referrals. But it also leads us to unexpected findings. I went to a bike shop the other week and a guy came in and said he got into an accident. I learned about how he got into the accident, how it could have been prevented, and it was really helpful for our app.
KO: So Ive got to ask–most of our readers might remember you before your pivot, when you were mainly considered a hardware device. Why did you decide to pivot?
ABM: A long time ago, Ouvos was a navigation device through hardware. The pivot was a customer adoption thing. When the baseline of your product is hardware, theres a barrier to entry. Do we have a hardware device that 5% of the cyclists will use? Or do we have a phone app that we can build a community around? It makes it easier for us to reach and tap into more people.
KO: So your pivot still aligns with your initial inspiration?
ABM: Absolutely. The initial inspiration came to me about two summers ago, when I started to get back into biking. For the first time, I felt like I wasnt really safe, even in bike lanes. I started exploring this issue for my senior design project, and the product I worked on was what I entered into last years Zahn Competition. But then I actually witnessed something else. Do you remember that Salman?
SS: Yeah, it was when we went on the bike tour last Spring with Cyqlo (another team in the competition focusing on cycling). A guy on the opposite side of the street hit a pothole and flipped over. He was completely passed out, bleeding, the ambulance came and everything.
ABM: One of the store owners on the corner came out and said this was the second time that happened this week. I started thinking about how we could fix this problem. If that guy would have known about the pothole, he could have avoided it, and thats when Ouvos as it is today was born.
The Zahn team is incredibly excited for the Ouvos team, especially because Ahmed (previously Kanic) and Kevin (previously Migo, Frip, and Runr) have been a part of our program for a few years. Ahmed, Kevin, and Salman are the truest form of entrepreneurs–individuals who will try and try again until they create something that can help someone. Amy Chen, Director of Entrepreneurship Programs at NYC Media Lab, also shared her anticipation for working with the Ouvos team: NYC Media Lab is excited to welcome Ouvos to the 2018 cohort because the team members have demonstrated their passion for working together as early-stage entrepreneurs. The team has also shown their enthusiasm to learn from the customer discovery curriculum we offer, and we are impressed by the teams vision for safer streets and more efficient routes for the cycling community.
If youre a cyclist, or have friends who are cyclists, make sure you check out Ouvos & sign up for their Beta.