By Chris
I wanted to announce that I've just sold Velo Orange.
The new owners, Adrian and Igor, are longtime employees. Rest assured that the company is in good hands. In fact, except for myself and Annette, the staff remains intact.
I also wanted to share some of my reasons for selling VO:
One of the main reasons I'm selling is that I had this little epiphany when I was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago. I underwent surgery, chemo, and radiation. (There is no sign of the cancer returning and the odds are that it won't. But there's still a fair chance that it could.) That experience brought home something I already knew. I no longer want to be a businessman; it's time for new adventures.
Velo Orange has always been and remains a very successful and profitable enterprise. It's a company that I'm proud of. It's also a company that I enjoyed building and growing, very much so. I also enjoyed hanging with the VO staff, who are the best group of folks I've ever worked with. But running a company, I didn't enjoy that so much.
I'm also selling because I like being retired. I know this because I first retired when I was 41 years old, after starting and selling Chesapeake Light Craft. I launched VO, six years later. The plan was for a little part time gig based on importing a few odd bike bits from Europe and Japan. It was my retirement hobby, one that I hoped might turn a small profit. Such are the best laid plans... Anyway I've just turned 59 and now I really am retired. Really. Though I do have this one idea...
Our plans include lots of travel (I'm building-out a camper van), catching up on a lot of reading, fly fishing, visiting friends all over the country, and maybe getting involved in local politics. I'll write more about this, and about business and the bike industry later on
this blog
should anyone care. You can also follow me on
Instagram and on
Twitter.
Enough rambling; thanks for your support over the years and for making VO what it is. And best of luck to Adrian and Igor.