Upendu Blog

Hey there!

-English version below-

Se sei appassionato di uno sport e vuoi diventare il volto di quello sport nella tua città, se sei solito partecipare ad eventi sportivi e feste collegate, mandaci la tua application qui:

AMBASSADOR APPLICATION [ITA] (entro il 31 Gennaio 2014)

Se sarai scelto potrai usufruire di una lezione gratuita per ogni nuovo istruttore o atleta che sarai in grado di attivare su Upendu.

Per ulteriori informazioni scrivici a [email protected]

Things are moving forward and we need your help in on-boarding instructors and spreading the word among your network!

If you are passionate about a specific sport and if you want to be the face of that sport in your location, if you like partying and participating to sports events, apply here:

AMBASSADOR APPLICATION (deadline: 31st Jan 2014)

If chosen as ambassador you will benefit of a free coaching session for each new instructor or athlete you will be able to activate on Upendu.

Need more info? Drop us a line at [email protected]

While in Italy there was Skipass fair, the largest Italian showcase for snow-related activities and holidays, here in California I went to the 2014 Ski and Board festival by Snowbomb.

Which the main differences between Italy and U.S. in the ski industry?

U.S. is working in a total different way. In general there is a big company that owns all the services in a ski area from hotels to restaurants to obviously ski schools.

The direct consequence is that there is no competition among the services in a ski area and for what concerns Upendu it means that ski or snowboard instructors are allowed to teach only through a ski school.

Another interesting fact is that some ski resorts creates alliances. The main benefit for the final costumers is basically the possibility to buy a seasonal lift and skiing in all the resorts that belong to this alliance.

In Italy the situation is totally different and much more fragmented. There are schools surely, but also independent instructors! That's why it's easier to start in Italy because all the instructors who are creating their own profile on Upendu are allowed to teach even if they are not associated with any school.

Which are the advantages to have a profile on Upendu as ski instructor?

Drop me a line at [email protected] and I would be more than happy to answer to all your questions.

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Cotopaxi Questival is a 24-hour outdoor adventure where teams race to win international humanitarian trips and other prizes, followed by an amazing free concert. For the first time Questival arrives in San Francisco!!

All the teams have to choose their strategy and bring to accomplishment as much as challenges they can.

200 different tasks, adventure, fun and more:

from "Kayak, canoe, paddle board, or row across a body of water" to "Dress a teammate as a llama"

from "Harness the power of the wind - sail, kite board, wind surf" to "Yodel at the top of your lungs in a public place"

Find here the complete list of challenges!

And here you can find one of the winning teams race! All the tasks have to be documented with videos and photos. This team was #llamazing!

What Upendu has to do with this race?

First of all I wanted to participate as "athlete"! The 24h format was perfect and the challenges were a blast!

But Cotopaxi would be also perfect for a possible partnership. I felt in love with its brand, its humanitarian vocation and its llamas <3 How cool would it be to bring Questival to Italy? Fingers crossed!

Lucia for Upendu

Simone Del Moro is CEO and Founder of YourFreeStyleTrainer.

He is developing a completely new teaching method, addressable not only to pro athletes but also to beginners! Curious? Go ahead.

When he was 4 years old he started learning skiing, at 11 snowboarding and that was only the beginning! He afterwards moved to inline, skate, surf, parkour, bmx, and several others.

He competed until he was 26 years old and then, the balance between adrenalin and fear changed his mindset.

Simone started really young his career as ski instructor in Italy, in a classical Italian ski school.

Then he moved to New Zealand where he experienced for the first time how meritocracy works among ski instructors. In fact the lessons in NZ are assigned first to the best instructors, and not because of seniority rights.

From New Zealand to his next destination: St. Moritz, the type of clients changed quite a lot. Simone worked mainly for rich Russian families, more interested in visiting than learning skiing. This is basically another kind of job that leads to build a long-lasting relationship whit his clients.

"Not all the ski instructors are able to have for an entire week the same people, you need to find always something interesting to say. They want a guide not an instructor."

What about his method at YourFreeStyleTrainer?

Simone believes that one single hour is not enough to understand a student.

"When you are on the slopes half of the time is lost on the chair lift. At least two hours are necessary to understand postures, weaknesses and history of your student. A great instructor had to be able to adapt himself to the people who is teaching to. This world is very crowded so you are obliged to make the difference"

Simone puts a lot of passion in teaching, that's why in YourFreeStyleTrainer he looks for people who are seriously interested in learning and improving themselves.

We are carrying on a vision:

"Make sports more accessible and affordable to everyone, everywhere!"

For those who started following us just recently, Upendu in the last year has experienced two main pivots. We were first the “Airbnb for sports equipment”, trust and security issues forced us to move to another solution. So Upendu, during TechPeaks acceleration became the “Kayak.com for sports equipment rental shops” but our business model wasn't able to let this idea survive or simply let us survive.

What is happening now? Upendu is moving to the private sports coaching world! Find your personal coach and book your sports lesson (skiing, surfing, yoga, ...)!

http://upendu.com

Author: Dragonflypix

Here in Silicon Valley everything is moving faster and we can simply follow the same rhythm!

Spread the word! The sports coaching revolution is coming!

New to Upendu? Subscribe here!

We left Francesca and Andrea following the Danube path directed to Bratislava.

Here you can read the second day of their bike tour.

In the third day they visited the beautiful city of Bratislava.

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia occupying both banks of the Danube River and the left bank of the Morava River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.

Bratislava is home to several universities, museums, theatres, galleries and other important cultural and educational institutions. Many of Slovakia's large businesses and financial institutions also have headquarters there.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratislava

The main building is the Castel, a massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill directly above the Danube river. Because of its size and location, it has been a dominant feature of the city for centuries.

Last time we left Francesca and Andrea in Vienna. You can read here how was their first stop.

After only one night spent in the beautiful Vienna our riders left the city the morning after.

And they also left the Upendu sign in the hostel where they slept. (they are so kind to help us in spreading the word also in East Europe during their holiday)

Outside Vienna Francesca and Andrea took the Danube path but it wasn't that easy to follow it.

They lost themselves and found fortunately, let's say, alternative means of transportation, such as ferry-boat!

By the end of the day our heroes reached Bratislava and this took 95.9 km by bike. That's a great number for their bikes and for their legs!

In the next stop Francesca and Andrea will explore and visit the city of Bratislava. Have you ever been there?

Rent a bike with Upendu and reach your next destination!

During the first night our heroes, Francesca and Andrea, reached Vienna, the capital and largest city of Austria.

Do you want to know more about this bike trip? Here the first chapter!

Apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be "The City of Dreams" because it was home to the world's first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstrasse lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.

Did you know that for four consecutive years (2009–2012), the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Vienna first in its annual "Quality of Living" survey of hundreds of cities around the world? Good to know!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna

Once in Vienna Francesca and Andrea realized that sleeping on the bunks of a train was not so comfortable, as you can see.. 

but even if they were a little bit tired, Francesca and Andrea spent all day and evening wandering in the beautiful city center of Vienna.

To restore from this first day and to find the right energies for the coming ones Francesca and Andrea found the perfect solution: a good and abundant Austrian dinner.

During the night their bicycles were resting and were protected from the rain.

The following stop will be Bratislava, they will follow the biking path along the Danube. Don't miss the next amazing landscape!

This is the first blog post of a lovely bike trip. I will narrate the adventure of a close-knit couple who decided for their holiday to bike along Danube. Upendu supports this spirit and that's why I will describe their bike tour stage by stage. Maybe their experience could be helpful to others bike lovers as this couple is.

Let me introduce you Andrea e Francesca!

Francesca and Andrea are both PhD students at the Politecnico di Milano and they both have a MSc in Environmental and Land Planning Engineering: Natural Resources Planning and Management. 

They decided to organize this bike trip because they don't like comfortable holidays, they love to travel and have the possibility to visit different places and cities. An other ingredient they are looking for in this holiday is a dose of adventure.

They were planning to organize this trip few years ago but for different reasons they turn out only this summer. A really good reason was actually a new bike!

Organizing this kind of trip requires time, a little bit of technical bike knowledge and possibly the help of someone who took the same tour before.

For sure Francesca e Andrea are looking for adventure, sport and nature but they want however this trip to be an holiday.

They planned transfers in order to split 300 km in 10 days and booking hotels for their accommodation (which are much less expensive than Italy), camping would have been too exhausting. So 50% of the holiday will be by biking and the other 50% they will visit.

Hereafter their path:

from Milan to Vienna (Austria) by train, then Bratislava (Slovakia)>Öttevény (Hungary)>Komárno (Slovakia), Strigonio (Hungary)>Budapest (Hungary) by bike.

Francesca e Andrea left yesterday night from Milan. Stay tuned! We are following them almost in real time.

TechPeaks is over.

We made a lot of progresses in these 4 months, we became part of a really good network, we improved our product but now, even if the acceleration is ended, we have to maximize the efforts we did, in order to be prepared for the next winter season.

We would love to cheer the 5 startups that won the grants and say them good luck for everything!

- Diabetes Lab, data analytics software solutions for people with diabetes. - Leevia, photo petition platform. - Matic, boost card dealer sales. - Pronto, unapologetically simple takeaway. - Ski.pass.go, e-commerce platform that brings dynamic pricing to ski industry

And now what will happen? As we announced in this blog post, I will move to Silicon Valley for the next 6 months thanks to a scholarship, while my co-founder, Francesco, will reach me later.

There we will understand the US sports equipment rental market and learn eventually how to make it work with the Italian/European one!

September will be full of news. Don't miss it.

From 13 to 20 July an amazing bike tour will be held between Trento, Monte Bodone and Valley of Lakes. It's the only stage in Italy of the UCI world cycling tour 2014.

The legendary Charly Gaul Trento Monte Bondone will live its 9th edition in 2014. The roads of Trento, Monte Bondone and the Valley of Lakes are again protagonists of this thrilling challenge which will expect the two wheels lovers. The best riders can qualify for the UCI World Cycling Tour - Amateur World Championships.

Here all the information: http://bit.ly/bike-tour-gaul-accomodation

Back to winter sports! Summer is only at the beginnings but, according to our interviews and market research, we need to start from the most advanced sector. We are now collecting hundreds of rental shops around Italy and Europe in order to be ready for the next winter season and give you a working beta version of Upendu. But don't worry, being a seasonal service, in the next months you will still find summer sports tips and destinations for your holiday. So please continue following our blog!

Last week we went to Milan at the Working Capital Accelerator because we have been selected for the TechMeeting Revolutionary Road. There we met Gianluca Dettori and Lisa Di Sevo from Dpixel who gave us some useful hints for our business model.

In the last days we improved a lot our pitch thanks to Beth Susanne, pitch coach and human resource advisor for international technology start-ups interested in Silicon Valley entry and global expansion.

She helped us in better presenting our value proposition and how we make money. Tone of voice and body language matter much more than contents!

Finally yesterday night I had the honor to present Upendu during the awards ceremony of the BEST scholarship: "Italy for growth in the USA".

The ceremony was hosted in RDS auditorium in Rome and the speakers who attended the events were amazing, hereafter few of them:

John Phillips, U.S.Ambassador to the Republic of Italy and the Republic of San Marinos

Maximo Ibarra, Wind CEO

Eduardo Montefusco, RDS Chairman

Gino Nicolais, CNR President

Luigi Capello, LUISS Enlabs Founder

Yves Confalonieri, Mediaset Director Interactive Media

Claudio Giuliano, Innogest Managing Partner

Fernando Napolitano, IB&II CEO, BEST Steering Committee Chairman

Stay tuned because this week we will meet 10 new mentors to talk with and we are sure that new enlightening feedback will come!

Only 16 days left before Demo Day (18th of July). The anxiety starts being visible among all the TechPeakers. And from now on it will be only about pitch training and obviously hard working.

Last week we met for the second time Evan Nisselson, mentor not only at TechPeaks but also at 500startups, Seedcamp, NYseed, Tetuan Valley and Mind the Bridge. In his opinion our vision is great but we need to focus on a single niche and validate it.

We also presented Upendu to others two great mentors:

Patrick De Laive, a serial entrepreneur in the web space, and co-founder of The Next Web, a leading tech blog/news site and one of the most important innovation festival in Europe.

Vito Lomele, who we met also during our previous acceleration, founder of Job Rapido. He has a life-long experience on online services and digital marketing.

And they together were amazing. You can read the live twitting of their talks here.

We still have a lot of things to learn, not only for the Demo Day. Would you help us? Please, fill this quick test/survey (3 minutes long):

Upendu Test

We designed it to better understand you and your needs. In the next newsletter we will share with you what we have learnt. You can't miss it!

Tomorrow, 28th of June, the Dolomiti Lagorai MTB Challenge will end. 

It was a 6 days MTB pair competition through Dolomiti and Lagorai. Five stages, 300 km, more than 10.000 mt. to climb, navigation with GPS. All on magnificent landscapes.

Have a look to how handsome this path is.

More info here: http://bit.ly/dolomitilagorai-mtb

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This amazing video perfectly summarize the passion of few crazy guys who explored the Trentino region last summer. With their mountain bikes they went through the beautiful mountains and lakes that are here. So inspiring.

You could be interested in: [Biking] 10 must paths you can’t miss this summer

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We have a great big news! I will move soon to Silicon Valley!! Thanks to the BEST program, we will have the opportunity to have a foot in the Valley and a foot in Italy. This is at the same time a huge chance and also a challenge. We will have to manage a team and run our business remotely, with two opposite time zones but we will for sure handle this!

Back to our duties, last week we spent few hours on our TEA project activities. TEA stands for Trentino Ecosystem Accelerator. Thanks to this program we have the possibility to give our expertise back to this territory. We are working on two different project.

One is called Barycentro, a social bar in Trento, very active in planning social and cultural events like debates, exhibitions, meetings. The task was related to the handmade world. Francesco worked together with other TechPeakers to prepare a lecture explaining the different tools used in the e-commerce in order to help little handmade producers to better promote themselves on internet.

Instead I'm working with the guys from Kickresume for a new home brewery brand called Maso Alto. Our task is the creation of a new website and four labels for their new beer line. They also have a Bed and Breakfast where they actually produce their tasty beer.

Maso Alto BnB

On Saturday we assisted to the famous and super exciting Feste Vigiliane dedicated to the patron saint of Trento, San Vigilio. The city was unrecognizable, full of people and music all night long!

One last unexpected episode. On Sunday, few TechPeakers and us went to Levico Lake to enjoy the afternoon, but... during the "diving session" I had the bad idea to do a not-so-successful front flip from a 6-meters-tall platform.

And this was the result:

At least at the hospital we had the possibility to work..

Stay tuned!

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Trentino offers more than 400 km of bike paths. Thanks to his valleys it's possible to cross the entire region. All the paths are designed to give you assistance, "bici-grill" for your refreshment and internet-point.

Valsugana and Val di Non have an innovative rental network for high quality electric bicycles that includes 80 tourist destinations and an international fleet of 5000 ebikes which is called Movelo.

Valle di Ledro, on the other hand, has a "BIKEXPRESS" project which provides different types of bicycles and mountain bikes for anyone from beginners to experts.

From this 3rd of June has been also activated the new service e.motion, a bike sharing across Trento, Rovereto and Pergine Valsugana with 200 electric bikes.

Ph: Emanuele Cardinali

The other most important cycling paths are:

- Valle dell'Adige cycling path from city to vineyard is the longest and most important path in Trentino (82 km).

- Via del Brenta is 45 km long, and is part of the Valsugana cycling and pedestrian path. It takes visitors to a series of small towns, as it travels along the bank of Lake Caldonazzo and the River Brenta.

- Val di Fassa and Val di Fiemme, this itinerary is approximately 50 km long.

- Lago di Garda, visitors enjoy the unique natural landscape surrounding Lake Garda. The cycling path follows the old railway route on the banks of Lake Garda, before making its way through the towns, vineyards and riotous countryside of the area.

- Valli Giudicarie and Val Rendena. The Valli Giudicarie cycling path is 16 km long and traces its way along the banks of Lake Idro before ending near the town of Condino. The Val Rendena cycling path is approximately 18 km long. It starts in the town of Villa Rendena and ends in Carisolo. The path cuts across the bottom of the valley, travels down one of the banks of the River Sarca and makes its way through meadows as well as through the 10 towns of Val Rendena.

- Val di Sole. Cycling among the churches, castles and mills. This is one of the most striking cycling paths of the area. It is 35 km long and travels along the banks of the River Noce. The path is surrounded by mountains and makes its way through the hamlets and towns of the area.

- Alta Val di Non. Cycle and pedestrian path, it is the new ring of 25 km on paved roads that connects the villages of Malgolo, Romeno, Salter, Cavareno, Sarnonico, Ronzone, Malosco and Fondo to return to Romeno through the boundless "Pradiei" meadows. The route is mostly flat, except some slight climb uphill, for a total of 450 meters in altitude.

- Valle del Primiero. This cycle path  is almost 11 km long, it runs along the Cismon stream and winds through meadows, forests and high peaks, with beautiful views on the Pale di San Martino massif.

Sources: http://bit.ly/1kC71CO, http://bit.ly/UaT5FU

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