Since people started calling entrepreneurs “startuppers,” it seems there’s no way to turn an idea into a real company without having investors pouring millions of dollars into your project.
Then you discover someone who did exactly the opposite.
His name is Michele Boschetti, and he’s the founder of MissGrape: a company that changed the way people travel by bike with its bikepacking bags.
No investment funds behind him, no Hollywood-style launch — just a crystal-clear vision and years of hands-on work, weighing every euro spent.
The result?
A few weeks ago, MissGrape was acquired by Elite, the leaders in indoor training rollers.
An exit that many startuppers — despite the millions they raised — will never achieve.
In this new episode of “From Bike to Business,” Michele told me, among other things, the trick he used to grow MissGrape almost without money.
He kept two sets of accounts:
• an imaginary one, with everything he would do with unlimited funding,
• a real one, where he tried to achieve similar results… on a craftsman’s budget.
And no, it’s not just theory: it actually worked.
In the episode, we talk about:
• how to build a strong brand in a tiny niche like bikepacking,
• how to decide what NOT to do when money is tight,
• which sacrifices truly matter (and which are just entrepreneur ego),
• the mistake Michele wouldn’t make again,
• and a few fun moments.
LISTEN NOW
A small final spoiler:
MissGrape will also be at the next Cycling Tourism Show, which will take place in Padua from March 27 to 29, 2026. Booths are selling out quickly.
Happy Riding.
Paolo Pinzuti
CEO, Bikenomist
