Second Saturdays, Issue 2: Meet Noah Wossen, Founder of gthr

Aria: Noah! Tell our readers a bit about what your’re building.

Noah: Hey! I’m building gthr, an app for cyclists to connect with other cyclists based on riding style, create/manage/join group rides, and engage with their local cycling community. Imagine if Facebook Groups was created specifically for people who cycle.

Where are you at in the process? How long have you been at it?

My cofounder and I have been full-time for about 9 months. We built the product early this year, closed a beta launch, and then opened up a soft launch in LA. At the moment, we’re working on our latest product sprint to flush out the Groups feature.

Inspired by you, we want to break a bit from constantly talking about how founders are nonstop crushing it. Tell us a bit about what’s been the hardest thing about building gthr (or being a founder, for you). What’s a time you really messed up?

I always preach that the hardest part of being a founder is having resilience. Finding inspiration on the darkest days is among the toughest challenges I’ve ever faced. I think of as a fire that I must keep alive, with the fuel, or “logs”, being certain aspects of my situation. As of late, the tribulations of fundraising and acquiring users have been the two greatest threats to my metaphorical fire. We have been bootstrapped to date, and as our personal capital grows in scarcity it feels like we’re running out of time, which can feel suffocating. On this journey to product/market-fit, I often find myself wondering how much longer we should keep at it…until I find my next log. The logs could manifest in an investor win, a spike in user growth, or something as simple as a new idea with great potential. However, it starts to get troublesome when I’m struggling to find my fuel, and when the fire begins to dim. 

How can other founders/folks in tech help you?

We’re looking to speak with cycling groups! Open to any type, size, riding style, etc. This could even be a group of 5 friends that like to ride. We’re interested in learning more about our potential users, and eventually getting them onto our app. We’re also fundraising, which means we’d love to chat with investors interested in sports + community. Reach out to me at noah@joingthr.com.

Any unique hobbies that are your logs to fuel that fire?

Growing up in Maryland, and having moved to LA, I’ve recently picked up beach rugby, which has been a lot of fun and a great workout. I also enjoy the occasional FIFA break to whoop my co-founder, and you can often find me nerding out talking about all things space, the future, and perceptive reality.

We’ll check in with you in a couple of months to see how things are going!

Cheers :)