113: Chris Guillemet, CEO, velofix

As Amazon Prime and Uber, along with other businesses committed to bringing convenience and personalization to today’s shopper, Chris Guillemet, CEO and co-founder of velofix, was busy with his two partners pioneering the mobile bike shop solution.

That was six years ago, and a lot has changed with today’s omnichannel consumer and cyclist. In today’s Channel Mastery podcast, Guillemet and I discuss this evolution in the context of the future of the mobile bike shop. Where the channel is headed in the near future is not what you might expect. 

Bike shops are still a strong go-to channel for today’s omnichannel cyclist, without a doubt, but cyclists are also consumers, and are trained everyday by the likes of Amazon, Instacart, Lyft and other friction-removing, convenience-driven businesses. Consumers today are demanding - they want choice, they want personalization and they want to save time. And they don’t have patience for anything less than that, it seems. In fact, just this week, Amazon Prime members threw a fit because of slower-than-usual delivery times. 

Guillemet and his partners are not in the business of taking down the IBD - far from it. Instead, they’re hell-bent on serving more cyclists - and consumers - in the way they’re used to being served by brands today. They want to make it easier to ride bikes - whether that’s for competitive amateur cyclists refusing to lose a day of training or commuters committed to getting around their city safely and efficiently by bike. 

In today’s show, you’ll learn about opportunity. Guillemet and his partners only see runway with cycling and closed on a round of funding early in 2019 with a group who believes the same. 

In this episode, you’ll learn about velofix’s new U.S. expansion, which includes a U.S. headquarters located in Austin, Texas and an all-star team committed to building an exceptional and consistent end-consumer experience. Velofix is continuing to evolve its innovation and technology platform and brings a fresh take on lifestyle franchise opportunity for its partners. We also talk about the momentum behind brand relationships like the velofix/Canyon Bicycles partnership and the incredible opportunity for cycling technicians who want to run their own business. 

Talking to Chris for this episode of Channel Mastery sparked a think bigger mentality for me. He and his team are continually looking one step ahead in everything they do. 

Chris Guillemet is CEO and Co-Founder of velofix. Chris brought over 20 years of business experience to Velofix. His Senior Management experience includes growing a company to $90 million and a successful IPO, launching an Internet startup that has raised $45 million in financing and driving growth at a $30 billion dollar consumer packaged goods company. Chris is also a graduate of the SFU Executive Management program. Chris is a 2x Ironman Canada finisher, ran a 2.54 at the Boston Marathon in 2010 and returned to Triathlons by winning his age group at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in 2019.