WeWorkOut: Timo, Co-founder & CEO of drive by

WeWork and Urban Sports Club have teamed up to create the WeWorkOut series. Once a month we catch up with an entrepreneur, business owner or freelancer to learn more about their business, their story and how sports helps them succeed…  

Hi Timo! What’s your story?

I was born in Hanover, I’ve lived in Cologne and Munich and I moved to Berlin last year. I studied business administration and for ten years worked for big corporates in the automotive industry.  

What do you do?

drive by mobility was founded in Berlin and is the most innovative free-floating carsharing service out there. The two most outstanding features we offer: we charge for miles, not minutes, and we’re the only service that includes LCV Transporters.

As CEO I’m responsible for laying out the overall strategy. But, as you know, in a start-up you’re actually responsible for everything.  

What’s your sport of choice?

To be honest: I think it’s boring to stick to one kind of sport alone. I love a mixture of different sports.

My favorite hobby is mountain biking, but this doesn’t really work in Berlin due to the lack of hills, so I go running and indulge in Functional Fitness several times a week.

I also truly love wakeboarding – because life is better in boardshorts! And I started surfing in Bali this year. Riding a wave is amazing… it blows your mind.  

How did you first get into sports?

I’ve always been really into sports and tried out everything. The problem is, even as a child, I never managed to keep regular hours. Even today my start-up lifestyle means irregular working hours, so flexibility is really important to me.  

How does sports help you succeed as a business owner?

A healthy lifestyle lays the foundation to success. The healthier you are, the more you can achieve. Our business happens mostly in the mind with all its strategy and calculations. It’s miraculous how much relief and strength physical exercise brings into my working life.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Work hard and be authentic. Everything else will fall into place.  

What’s your vision for the future of your company?

We want to extend our service and vision to other cities across Germany and establish car sharing as a convenient extension of public transport. We’ll be helping the environment by taking thousands of cars off the road and, because we charge by miles not minutes, the roads will be safer as no one will be speeding up to save money.  

Urban Sports Club has many wakeboarding and CrossFit partners across Germany and in France – take a look at our website to see what’s on in your area.

Are you a WeWorker and want to be part of the WeWorkOut series? Send an email including your name, WeWork location and a little bit about yourself to [email protected].

And if you’re a member of WeWork make sure you take advantage of your Urban Sports Club x WeWork tariff for a discount up to 60 euros.