We had the good fortune of connecting with Dan Cavallari and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dan, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I spent almost six years as the technical editor at VeloNews Magazine. During that time I realized how fortunate I was to be among the lucky few still making a living off of my writing. When I left VeloNews for a variety of reasons (burnout being the most significant factor), I quickly realized if I wanted a job in five years, I was going to have to build it myself.

The cycling media space is a niché of a niché. Advertising dollars have evaporated. Subscription models work only to a point in the age of the internet. As a writer who wants to be paid for my expertise, I still absolutely loathe paywalls. Imagine how everyone else feels! So I felt it was time to start fresh and re-center a media outlet’s focus on the truth, professionalism, and the changing habits of consumers.

Part of what I’m doing boils down to a challenge for myself. Another part comes down to a challenge to consumer behavior. Media has, essentially, always been “owned.” It is therefore beholden to whomever is paying the bills. In the past, consumers subscribed. Therefore, the media’s responsibility was to the consumer, and that’s where accurate, true reporting conducted by professionals came from.

Advertising of course also played a significant role, and media had an obligation to advertisers as well. Those dollars have also dried up.

Who’s left?

Venture capitalists. Therefore, media outlets become beholden to the agendas (and often the whims) of capitalists. The focus isn’t on truth or accuracy, or a duty to the reader. It becomes a drive for the bottom line.

My goal is to ensure my media titles’ reporting serves the reader, always. How do I do that? By finding different ways to produce revenue. Without going into too much detail about how I intend to do that, I can assure you it does not involve a paywall. Multiple revenue streams appear to be the answer, and at the moment we’re small enough to try them all out and see what works. Somewhere out there is the combination that will sustain us.

Our community outreach goals include a plan for a grant program to build safe cycling programs in communities that need it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
After earning an English degree at the University of Maine, I found myself in the surprising position of not immediately becoming a wildly successful and venerated novelist. So I continued working as a mechanic at Rose Bike Shop, until I plucked up the courage to move west. In Arizona I continued wrenching in bike shops until a job as a high school English teacher opened up.

But writing was always the end goal. I wrote my novels, but they didn’t propel me into the stratosphere as I’d dreamed they would. I picked up a camera and began to learn how to make myself more valuable as a photojournalist. As the 2008 recession hit, I found myself once again on the outs of employment.

Years passed and I stitched together teaching, writing, and bike mechanic work, until I landed with SmartEtailing, a Boulder, Colorado-based company that, at the time, focused on providing website infrastructure and content for independent bike shops.

That gave me the last piece of the puzzle: writing experience in the bike industry. I got noticed by the folks at VeloNews in 2015, and I became the technical editor. That experience changed my life in so many wonderful ways.

But it also shone a light on how difficult it would be to continue to make a living in the media world. I learned as much as I could about how things were done, and started thinking more about how they COULD be done in order to be more sustainable for the future.

It seemed bleak, to be honest. VeloNews was sold several times while I worked there, and each new owner came in with his ideas about how to make a buck. Not many of those ideas worked. And the journalists, artists, writers, and others doing the big lift all suffered.

I’ll admit, it made me angry. It burned me out. And finally I’d had enough. Did I think I had the brains to do anything better, bigger, or smarter than those new owners who came and went? No. But I maintained a passion for the truth, for journalism, and a drive to try. I care deeply about this profession and the people in it. If I’m destined to fail, at least I failed with dignity and the drive to support what I believe in. And if I’m successful, the world will be better for it. So why not me?

I think the media has largely failed, and where I hope to succeed. I think ultimately the media has done a poor job of conveying why true journalism is better and more valuable than the noise on social media. True journalism has become conflated with a lot of opinion, hack reporting, and general nonsense…and some of that is on us, the people actually producing the good work.
I hope to change the perception of what truth and journalism is worth to the consumer. We have to form a message that resonates, that puts power in the consumer’s hands and allows them to shape what the future of truth (and ostensibly journalism) can be.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Arvada, so the first stop is usually Olde Town. Spirits Wine and Provisions is a great stop not just because of a good selection, but also because Casey and Emelye, the owners, are wonderful people to get to know.

From there, of course I’d take my guests to Yak and Yeti for a meal! It’s my favorite restaurant in town.

A short drive up Wadsworth and you’ll find my favorite coffee shop, Sweet Bloom. If you go a bit further north to Westminster, there’s not only a second Sweet Bloom location, but also a Tattered Cover Bookstore across the street.

Before the week was over, I’d of course take my companions for a meal at The Ethiopian Restaurant on east Colfax. It may not look like much from the outside, but it’s the inside that counts!

A tour at Stranahan’s distillery is a must after dinner.

And day trips to Golden, Boulder, and the mountains just beyond would of course be necessary. A drive up to Gold Hill for some pie at the general store is always a win.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would never have become technical editor of VeloNews without Caley Fretz and Neal Rogers, who took the risk to give me a shot. The entire staff at VeloNews made me a better writer (and person!). Spencer Powlison, Chris Case, Heidi Carcella, Dane Cash, Lennard Zinn, John Bradley, Fred Dreier, Andrew Hood, Kristen Legan, Betsy Welch, Brad Kaminski and many more all had a hand in shaping me as a journalist and a human, for the better. Zap Espinoza, Gloria Liu, and Dan Schwartz.

And of course, my good friend and partner Mark Still took a chance on Brown Tie Media with me, for which I’m forever grateful.

There are many more people (including my ever-supportive wife, and my inimitable daughter Lucy) who have supported me and encouraged me along my path. More than I can list here. Just know I appreciate you all.

Website: www.slowguyonthefastride.com, www.dawnpatrolmtb.com, www.thepracticalstill.com, www.browntiemedia.com

Instagram: @slowguyonthefastride, @dawnpatrolmtb, @browntiedan, @browntiemedia

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dancavallari/

Twitter: @slowguyfastride, @dawnpatrolMTB

Facebook: @slowguyonthefastride, @dawnpatrolMTB

Youtube: @slowguyonthefastride, @dawnpatrolMTB, @thepracticalstill

Other: Mastodon: @SlowGuyOnTheFastRide@toot.bike GoFundMe campaign for Brown Tie Media’s 2023 freelance fund and employee hiring: https://gofund.me/e59e4998 , A newsletter I’d love to promote http://dancavallari.substack.com/

Image Credits
Dan Cavallari Russell Eich Pinarello Bikes

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