DXP-025: Daryl Villanueva - The Business of Sci-Fi Motorbike Design

The Business of Sci-Fi Motorbike Design

Daryl Villanueva is the owner of Bandit9, a motorbike design company based in Vietnam. His designs are unlike any other bikes out there. In this episode of the Design Exchange Podcast, we talk about his approach to design and business and get a sneak peek at some of his latest designs.

Daryl's Links:

• https://bandit9.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/bandit9_/

Special thanks to Royal Enfield Vietnam for allowing us to film there! https://royalenfieldvietnam.vn/

This episode is also available as a video: https://youtu.be/NIPM7SdzdgE

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Teaser
00:33 - Intro
04:07 - Building Motorbikes
10:58 - Inspiration for Sci-Fi Bikes
16:22 - Advertising Motorcycles
20:03 - American Chopper and Taking Your First Steps as an Entrepreneur
25:22 - From China to Vietnam
28:07 - Next Projects for Bandit9
30:56 - Advice for Designers - from Sketch to Prototype
35:36 - Electric Vehicles, Motorbikes, DIY, and Cyber Truck
42:29 - Dealing with Haters, Criticism in Design, and Designing for a Niche
46:16 - The Reason for Producing 9 Bikes per Design
48:34 - Luxury vs Mass Production as a Business Strategy
54:08 - Managing Clients and Mitigating Risk
59:40 - Different Kinds of Financial Concerns for Startups
1:08:14 - Managing Work-Life Balance
1:19:18 - Book Project
1:24:08 - Outro