94: The potential and perils of the electric motorbike industry with COO of Damon Motorbikes, Derek Dorresteyn

This week Oliver interviews Derek Dorresteyn, COO of Damon Motorcycles. Derek previously worked at Boosted and was the CTO at Alta Motorbikes, one of the first electric motorbike manufacturers globally. They do a whistle stop tour of the electric motorbike space, including why it’s so hard, what we’ve collectively learnt and Dereks predictions on the space. Derek has been around the space for a long time and thinking about the challenges longer than most. Specifically they dig into: ⁃ Derek’s history in motorbike racing and eventually setting up a machine shop business. ⁃ His early forays into electric motorbike after reading the Tesla blog ⁃ The story of Alta Motors, including their raises, development, partnership with Harley Davidson and eventual closure ⁃ His work with Boosted on the products that would come after the Rev ⁃ His reflections on capital raising in the micromobility hardware space from 2010 onwards, and why now it’s easier than ever to raise ⁃ His work now at Damon Motorcycles, and the potential of electric in the hyperbike category ⁃ The possibilities for safety created through electric powertrains and ADAS systems. ⁃ The growth of SPAC’s and the impact that that is having on the space.