As of yesterday Tryk® is officially in the Smithsonian, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum through the National Design Triennial. Its a big deal to me even though I realize that it's not even a blip on the rest of the world's radar. Nine years ago when I co-founded Tricycle we did so with big dreams — we set out to change an industry for the better. It sounds overly optimistic and naive but I think every entrepreneur has to be that way in order to press on and succeed. I can look at what we started with pride. The majority of major carpet manufactures use technology and services from Tricycle in some capacity today and the world is better off for it. That's a little party worth celebrating.
I'm thankful to all the people in the industry who took a risk on us. It's not easy for large corporations to trust a start up made of Young Turks. I'm thankful to every interior designer that decided to give us a try. I'm thankful for my co-founding friends — Jonathan (shown left in the photo above), Jamie and Andy — who each brought their own energy and expertise to the venture and believed that a designer like me was valuable to the mix. I'm grateful for all the faith and hard work every employee at Tricycle has given to make it a success in the midst of huge challenges. Lastly I'm thankful to Ellen Lupton & Matilda McQuaid for taking note and placing the company in a larger cultural context.
In 2006 I spoke at the AIGA GAIN business and design conference in New York City. I was one face of designers having an impact in the world through sustainable design. Tom Kelley moderated the event. As it turns out he was the first IDEOer I ever met and I had no idea that I'd be calling him my colleague two years later or that the journey I had started would lead me to where I am today. In retrospect it all makes perfect sense (right?). Here's the video so you can see what it's all about.
As of yesterday Tryk® is officially in the Smithsonian, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum through the National Design Triennial. Its a big deal to me even though I realize that it's not even a blip on the rest of the world's radar. Nine years ago when I co-founded Tricycle we did so with big dreams — we set out to change an industry for the better. It sounds overly optimistic and naive but I think every entrepreneur has to be that way in order to press on and succeed. I can look at what we started with pride. The majority of major carpet manufactures use technology and services from Tricycle in some capacity today and the world is better off for it. That's a little party worth celebrating.
