Since people started calling entrepreneurs "startuppers," it seems there's no way to turn an idea into a real company without investors pouring millions into your project.
Then you discover someone who did exactly the opposite.
His name is Michele Boschetti, founder of MissGrape: a company that changed how people travel by bike with its bikepacking bags. No investment funds behind him, no flashy launch — just a clear vision and years of hands-on work, weighing every euro spent.
The result? A few weeks ago MissGrape was acquired by Elite, the leader in indoor training rollers — an exit many well-funded startups will never reach.
In this episode of "From Bike to Business," Michele told me the trick he used to grow MissGrape almost without money: he kept two sets of accounts, an imaginary one with everything he'd do with unlimited funding, and a real one where he tried to get similar results on a craftsman's budget. It actually worked.
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 actually matter versus which are just ego, and the mistake Michele wouldn't make again.
Watch the full episode on YouTube ↗
Small spoiler: MissGrape will also be at the next Cycle Tourism Show, in Padua from 27 to 29 March 2026. Booths are selling out quickly.
Paolo Pinzuti
CEO, Bikenomist
Originally published on the Bikenomist blog ↗