As many of you know only too well, starting a business can take a long time! But what we often don’t count in the time it takes to start a business is all the history and experience from past ventures and adventures that make our skill set. All the things you have learned, ever, work together to make you the person you are.
My guest on this week’s Intrepid Entrepreneur Podcast, Josh Salvo, says his newest project has been seven years in the making. The most recent version of the ReddyYeti platform just launched a few months ago in March, but Josh says it couldn’t have happened without his past experiences and websites.
At age eighteen, Josh launched a website to help skiers find the right gear for their needs. He himself will admit he was young, and he didn’t quite realize what he was getting into! Several projects and years later he and his partners are running ReddyYeti, a community for action sport enthusiasts to discover and help startups.
ReddyYeti partners with startups creating amazing products and giving back to their communities. They host a podcast to interview founders, to share the passion and goals of the startups with the community. And they increase visibility of these startups through giveaways. Members of the ReddyYeti community can enter themselves in the giveaways, and gain extra entries by sharing with friends.
Josh is telling me about how he and his two partners started ReddyYeti using The Lean StartUp Methodology: they found a cheap way to prove the value of their product, and took that to companies for partnerships! ReddyYeti is only a few months old and already has 2,400 members.
We’re also taking about how Josh and his partners learned to pivot as they planned for ReddyYeti to launch, and their plans for the future of the site. And, he’s sharing some of the amazing startups ReddyYeti has already partnered with!
Podcast: ReddyYeti-Blog-ReddyYeti-Discover
Blog: ReddyYeti.com
What are you passionate about? In the outdoor markets, and especially as entrepreneurs, passion is such an important asset. But it can also, sometimes, get in the way of our own clear thinking about the ideas and projects we’re so in love with.
This is why I’m so excited to be talking with Al Tabor, tech worker and market forecaster extraordinaire about what we in the outdoor markets can learn from tech start-ups. He’s translating what he knows about how tech startups get going and making it applicable to outdoor startups. And it’s working – Al has worked wonders with Sierra Designs, Mountain Headwear and recent visitors to the Intrepid Entrepreneur Podcast, Martin Zemitis of Slingfin, and Brad Stewart of Caravan Outpost.
Al and I both know that the outdoor markets are a completely different animal than tech start-ups, but something Al says every entrepreneur should read is The Lean Start-up, by Eric Ries. Al is admittedly not a business book person, so if he says it’s good, you better believe him!
The Lean Startup mentality is all about learning. You need to learn what path your business is on, and if this path will lead to success! And, you need to learn it as fast and cheaply as possible, to save yourself a lot of time and heartache. This sounds overwhelming, but Al’s talking me through the steps on how to evaluate your startup idea and find your minimum value product, your MVP!
Something else that we entrepreneurs in the outdoor markets can also learn from tech—and from basketball!—is to pivot! If you find out your idea isn’t working, keep one foot in it, and spin until you find a new opening. This is where passion can be a challenge to us outdoor market entrepreneurs. We’re so in love with our project, we don’t want to change anything. But Al says, you have to keep one foot in that passion, and use the other to pivot to a new way forward. Who knows what you’ll find!
Al’s giving some great examples of what it looks like to pivot in the outdoor markets by talking about his work with Slingfin and Caravan Outpost. He’s also discussing using the Root Cause Analysis system to hit the hard reality of any problem – in business or in your personal life.
Step 1: Define your value of proposition
Step 2: Validate this proposition.
Step 3: If it’s not going to work, pivot. Keep one foot in what you know, and spin around to find a new opening.
IntrepidEntrepreneur.net/Brad-Steward (Past IE podcast w/ Caravan Outpost founder)
IntrepidEntrepreneur.net/Martin-Zemitis (Past IE Podcast w/Martin Zemitis)
IntrepidEntrepreneur.net/Dylan-Enright/ (WeFunder IE Podcast) PeakDesign.com/
TheLeanStartup.com/ (Lean Startup book website)
YouTube.com/watch?v=fEvKo90qBns (Eric Reis google talk referenced)
The internet has done some great things for us. Especially as entrepreneurs, being involved in the digital community of outdoor sports aficionados and companies is an amazing way to build contacts and stay connected.
But my guest today is taking using his internet platform to launch. . . . a print magazine! As Steve says, there are some things that just don’t work as well online.
Over seven years ago, Steve Casmiro started Adventure-Journal.com, an online magazine devoted to outdoor adventure. Using his experience editing Bike Magazine and Powder Magazine, he was planning to start this project in print. But, as we all know, 2008 was right when the recession hit and it was hard to get support for a new paper magazine.
Today, Adventure-Journal is a super exciting, inspiring and successful online journal. Steve’s here for his second visit to the Intrepid Entrepreneur Podcast to talk about finally coming back to his original dream: a print Adventure Journal Magazine. The amazing first issue just came out this Spring!
Steve says that starting Adventure Journal online was great when he got ready to consider print again, because he already had a community of people interested in his product. Unlike when he started out in journalism, he wasn’t stuck using mailings to drum up subscribers! And, he already knew what his readers would be interested in! He’s spent years getting to know them.
Steve also knows how he wants the print magazine to be different from Adventure-Journal.com. He calls it a “luxurious reading experience”: lots of large pictures and plenty of room for the reader to engage with the story. Reading in ink and paper is a special experience, it should take you away from all of your devices and into an adventure. Steve is so passionate about this, he’s not offering the magazine in any electronic forms.
Starting a print magazine is a risky step but hearing Steve’s excitement is inspirational. His vision for this magazine is so clear, and he’s spent so many years honing in on it online. This episode is a must-listen for any of you with a dream project.
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“It would be kind of hypocritical if I spent all day every day writing and talking about adventure and I didn't take risks in my own business.” - Steve Casimiro
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Adventure Journal: Adventure-Journal.com
Print Subscription: Adventure-Journal.com/product/adventure-journal-quarterly-subscription/
How many people in the climbing industry can say they got started climbing at an early age? Either by attending a birthday party, or getting sent on a camping trip to shape up bad behavior, or some other way that teens find themselves in the woods or at a climbing facility, so many climbers will tell you they started young. So will my amazing guest today, Chris Warner.
Chris Warner is one of the most prolific entrepreneurs in the outdoor active lifestyle markets. He’s the owner of Earth Treks, a collection of climbing gyms in North America, a sponsored athlete, an entrepreneur, a leadership educator and a kickass motivational speaker.
On this week’s Intrepid Entrepreneur Podcast, Chris is talking with me about how he, a “terrible kid” got into climbing at the age of 15, and how this led him to start his own business.
Chris was leading climbing trips when he got stuck in a snowstorm with a big client. When they ran out of books to read, Chris and his client started talking about the gym he dreamed of owning one day. By the end of the storm they had a preliminary business plan worked out on a piece of toilet paper. When they got back, Chris got to work.
Today, Earth Treks is preparing to open their 5th facility and has over 300 employees. Chris is talking with me about how a business so large can stay entrepreneurial, and his secret is surprising: It’s not about him! It’s about hiring employees who are passionate about the company’s core values, and about climbing.
Chris is telling me more about getting started in climbing, keeping employees motivated, taking the skills he learned climbing to the professional industries, and changes in the climbing industry in this episode. He’s truly a one of a kind, doing some amazing work.
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“We're in the opportunity business, not the strategy business.” -Chris Warner
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Earth Treks: EarthTreksClimbing.com
Speaking Website: http://ChrisBWarner.com/
Book: High Altitude Leadership: http://HighAltitudeLeadership.com/
For those of us who love getting outside and biking, hiking, skiing, surfing—anything active under the sun—something we often take for granted is development.
But as outdoor markets have taken off in the past few years and more people have started spending their weekends in the natural environment, the conversation around outdoor use and real estate development is becoming increasingly important.
This is why I’m stoked to be talking with Johannes Ariens today on the Intrepid Entrepreneur Podcast.
Johannes’ Seattle based company, Radify Development, is a multifaceted business focused on outdoor development. Not only do they consult with development projects, but they are also a resource and a community building platform, focused on facilitating relationships and conversations in the outdoor market building industry.
As Johannes discusses in this episode, for developments aimed at the outdoor market (think: on snow lodges and surf camps to name a few), the environment is part of their product. They’re selling an experience. It’s in their best interest that the product—nature—is protected and well cared for.
Johannes is focused on eliminating the barriers that keep people from getting into the outdoors, whether it’s equipment or logistics or information. He believes that the more time people spend outside, the more concerned they become with taking care of it.
This tension between use and protection of the outdoors is a challenge Johannes is well aware of, and something his business focuses on: how to get more people outside, while still protecting the environment they left the city to experience.
In our conversation, he’s telling me about how Radify is handling this challenge in a new project to bring Washington’s first cold-water surfing venue to Westport, set to open next year. We’re also discussing how Radify is also taking advantage of the JOBS act and has recently launched an Investor’s Club.
You won’t want to miss this conversation with one of the most determined and hard-working individuals in the industry.
There are a lot of things to think about when you start a business. Location, markets, consumers, branding, budgeting, the list can be overwhelming. But what we’re talking about today on the Intrepid Entrepreneur Podcast is passion! Consumers can tell when you have it, and they most certainly can tell when you don’t.
Today, I have the honor to interview Dave Thibodeau, co-owner of a path-burning, stalwartly independent craft brewing company, Ska Brewing, which is located in my hometown of Durango Colorado.
Dave and one of his co-founders, Bill Graham, got into homebrewing as young adults and laid out their business plan on the back of a bar napkin.
When they went to the bank with their idea, no one was interested in funding them. But hearing that no one believed their company could work only made Dave even more determined to be successful.
Twenty one years later, Ska Brewing Company is growing on its own terms, keeping creativity, independence and their vision crystal clear as they continue to knock down the success milestones.
What makes them so successful? Dave says it’s their authenticity. It’s something national companies can’t replicate, and consumers not only notice, but revere.
Back when Ska was founded, Dave says he had no specific consumer type in mind mostly because back then, there barely was a consumer type for craft beer! They just tried to appeal people who wanted to be a part of their story, and share in the experience. Little did he know that he was on to the success formula for any passion-driven entrepreneurial business. It just came naturally to them.
Let’s be honest. … Craft beer is an experience!
Ska does a masterful job offering the experience of creativity without rules or boundaries, and the experience of location - there’s a reason the company has dropped the clutch on its growth and reach right from its founding in Durango.
Ska’s all about being at the outdoor festival listening to music, doing epic outdoor endurance sports, sitting at the local brewery where your beer was made and surprising and delighting the customer with a true, creative craft experience.
On Monday, May 16, 2016 the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startup) Act went into effect in our country and the rules of investment and fundraising were altered forever.
What happened on that day changed everything. Meritocracy stepped into the entrepreneurial funding equation and people -- ordinary people — not just accredited investors, got the lane to invest in early stage companies.
This opportunity extends far beyond donating money to a single product. Instead, it’s investing with a stake and a return if the project does well over time.
I’m off the charts stoked to be talking about these exciting changes with Dylan Enright of Wefunder, an equity crowdfunding platform that launched on May 16th, just as this new form of crowdfunding was made legal.
The power of Wefunder and the new opportunity for equity crowdfunding is that they’re keeping alive the American Dream, making it possible for anyone with a great idea to get that idea to market. Banks and big time investors who used to be the gatekeepers of innovation are no longer the only way to fund a new company.
As Dylan says, “Even if you have the best idea in the world, it costs a little bit of capital to get it off the ground.” And this is what Wefunder is doing: helping early stage companies get investments from average people taking a risk on your idea because they believe in your story. If your company does well, so do these people who helped fund it. People can invest as little as $100!
The first step toward harnessing the power of the crowdfunding platform is to understand it. My hope is that Wefunder’s Dylan Enright can help bring clarity to your decision around gaining traction through securing creative capital.
If you know anyone with a dream project (or maybe you have one yourself) and are afraid to start, this conversation with Dylan is an incredible, and I hope, inspiring experience you won’t want to miss. Thanks for listening!
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Dylan’s email: Dylan@WeFunder.com
Six years ago, crowdfunding barely even existed. Now, it seems like every start-up and invention idea is launching a crowdfunding campaign. But what sets the successful campaigns apart from the ones that don’t hit their funding goals?
I’m super excited to be talking with Roy Morejon, digital marketing powerhouse, crowdfunding expert, and President and Founder of Command Partners digital marketing on this week’s podcast. With you in mind, we’re talking about the incredibly important topic of raising funding in a constantly changing world.
Roy launched Command Partners in 2010, when crowdfunding was just beginning to show up on the scene. His company was focusing on digital media until a client approached them with a crowdfunding project. Command Partners doubled the client’s funding goal in a matter of weeks!
After this experience, Roy saw the niche need for crowdfunding expertise and started replacing retained clients with crowdfunding projects for start-ups. To date, they’ve worked on over 175 campaigns and have raised over $75 million dollars. This year, 95% of their projects have raised their full funding goals. Wow!
As Roy says, crowdfunding can be a challenge because you’re selling clients on a product they don’t know exists yet, something they might not have known they needed until they hear about it or visit your site. You only get one opportunity to get them to that page, so you want to convert them right away!
This is why crowdfunding can also be a great way to build your market—it allows you to directly interact with potential consumers and industry experts. Social media enables you to be in conversation with people interested in your product all throughout this funding and producing process.
These people supporting your campaign are the people that will become your brand evangelists. When your product launches, they’ll be the ones telling their friends that they knew about it before it was cool, maybe they can even say they tested out a prototype!
Along with all this, you’re about to hear Roy’s list of the five most important things to know about crowdfunding. It’s all super interesting and helpful, you won’t want to miss a minute of his advice!
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TheArtOfKickstart.com - Roy’s podcast
I feel honored to be able to interview Martin Zemitis in this episode of the Intrepid Entrepreneur podcast.
Martin is the founder of SlingFin, a technical tent and shelter company headquartered in the Bay Area.
For 33 amazing years, Martin has served the outdoor active lifestyle markets with the world’s best tent designs. He’s literally been part of every tent innovation over the past three decades and has designed for The North Face, Sierra Designs, and Mountain Hardware.
What a stellar career, you might be saying. You may even think I’m about to tell you that Martin decided to retire after leaving Mountain Hardware nearly 20 years after he helped found it.
Well, you’d be wrong.
When he left Mountain Hardware, Martin was dreaming and scheming about launching his own tent brand – the one that would enable him to finally design for the user, for the harshest environments.
In SlingFin, his upstart company, Martin wanted to truly innovate with his passion for tent and shelter design and not be walled in by the guardrails of the wholesale market. This is where things got interesting. Martin set up SlingFin in 2010 and set about protecting his trademarks. then, like all of us entrepreneurs, he needed funding.
Today, in this interview, you’ll hear about the six-year battle he fought staying true to his vision while working to find the right funding solution. You’ll also hear what happens when an entrepreneur hell-bent on doing it his way collides with equity crowdfunding.
That’s right – Martin and SlingFin were part of the 20 company launch of the Title III Wefunder portal that went live May 16, 2016.
This episode tells the story about one of the outdoor industry’s absolute legendary gear designers staying true to his vision and making it work with the Wefunder platform.
After listening to this podcast, you’ll be convinced that things will never be the same again for entrepreneurs in the outdoor active lifestyle markets – HERE WE GO!
PS - Turns out that Wefunder’s Operations Director, Dylan Enright, is a former river guide and ski instructor. He wants to see the Wefunder portal become the go-to location for outdoor brands to connect with outdoor enthusiasts. I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Intrepid Entrepreneur as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you. This episode is a super important one – by going to ITunes and giving the Intrepid Entrepreneur podcast a positive rating and review, you’ll be giving Martin, SlingFIn and the WEfunder platform more visibility. And iTunes is a HUGE platform – let’s light it up for Martin!
Until next time, GO BIG!
“Time in the past doesn’t mean much to me, because it’s all about what’s going to be done in the future.” – Martin Zemitis
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GearJunkie: Title III Jobs Act Equity Crowdfunding
Forbes Article About Equity Crowdfunding
Have you ever had a business idea that you were immediately passionate about and felt on the most guttural level, an incredibly strong need to create?
You’re about to meet two outdoor founders who have gone through just that and emerged – somewhat - on the other side, successful Kickstarter campaign in hand.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, my Intrepid Entrepreneurs. Lindsey Elliott and Jainee Dial, the co-founders of Wyldergoods.com, are alive to share this story in podcast form with you today.
Lindsey and Jainee personify a modern outdoorswoman. It’s an archetype who they’re intent to serve with a new formula that’s not retail or storytelling – it’s both and it doesn’t fall under either.
Wyldergoods.com is an online marketplace, community and network hub for today’s outdoor adventure-ess.
Lindsey and Jainee didn’t stop with just the concept – they focused on creating a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp), and use their sustainability and give-back mission to screen potential brand partners on their platform.
You’re about to hear first-hand what it’s like to do a Kickstarter campaign. First of all, it’s really ((*&%$#) nerve-wracking. As Jainee says: You’re putting yourself and your ideas out there, and people judge and vote for your work with their money.
But Kickstarter is, above all, a storytelling platform, and Lindsey says it needs to treat it as one to be successful.
Let people know the story of your business and how that story is relevant to their lives. In her words, “If you believe in it fully, and you’re telling an authentic story, the people who align with that will find you.”
You won’t want to miss what else Lindsey and Jainee have to say about getting this company started, serving the greater good, and how their love for the outdoors affects their professional lives!
“How can we serve a greater good, outside of a basic consumer model, and bigger than business as usual?” - Lindsey Elliott
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“If you believe in it fully, and you’re telling an authentic story, the people who align with that will find you.” - Lindsey Elliott
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Find whatever it is that recharges you, gives you renewed energy, strength and purpose, and make sure that you make time for that activity!
Wylder Goods Kickstarter Project
As we go through life, we tend to gradually and over time lose more and more of the enthusiasm we had as beginners in whatever field we find ourselves. Shoshin, a concept of Zen Buddhism, refers the idea that “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities. But in the expert’s, there are few.” Believe it or not, this is why beginners can often accomplish such incredible things!
This is another SoloCast from the Intrepid Entrepreneur, and on this episode I’m introducing you to an awesome new offering I’ve been working incredibly hard on for months and months now. That is, my brand new membership site, A-Game Alliance! This is the first ever membership community designed to help entrepreneurs, founders and other leaders in the active outdoor and lifestyle industries!
If you’ve been an entrepreneur for a while, you’ve probably become a lot wiser over the years. Entrepreneurialism is a crash course in a lot of things, including business, personal skills, resourcefulness, energy, and much more. And while that knowledge and experience is valuable and essential, it’s also important that we never lose our enthusiasm for the dream that started it all!
That’s the encouragement that I want to bring you through the A-Game Alliance membership site. Whether you’re just starting out, seeking the wisdom of those who have been through it all, you’re in the middle of your journey and need inspiration to keep plugging away as well as some advice to skyrocket your results, or you consider yourself an expert in the industry, the A-Game Alliance is the place for you to learn and take your business and life to the next level!
On this episode of the Intrepid Entrepreneur Podcast, I’m talking with Andrew Batey, CEO of Spinlister, the global bike and gear sharing platform, and owner of eight (count ‘em) bikes.
Spinlister is a peer-to-peer bike and gear rental platform that connects enthusiasts in bike and outdoor with other like-minded enthusiasts. If you have gear that isn’t being used all the time, check out Spinlister.com.
There’s so much to learn from Andrew and Spinlister, and I invite you to drop in to this episode with an open mind. In it, Andrew and I discuss how to build a customer base via a digital platform and service offering, and the tough part, how to build and gain the end-consumers’ trust.
In this interview, Andrew talks a lot about the fact that in today’s economy, the consumer is driving. He also points out that people are on the hunt for authentic experiences. This is a critical takeaway for the active outdoor lifestyle markets to hold on to -- we’re passion-driven industries, this is something we know. Considering this through the customer’s vantage point is what Spinlister.com does very well and what we can all learn from.
Andrew is an avid cyclist and bikes to work every day. He knows what kind of experience cyclists like him are looking for, and so he and his team are building Spinlister to meet these needs. And because consumers are people and “tribes” can change, his vision for Spinlister is growing. In 2016, brands are as varied and eclectic as consumers. Don’t put your consumer in a box!
Another great takeaway that Andrew offers is the fact that the best time to demonstrate the value of your brand to a customer is when things go wrong.
“When there’s a problem, that’s when the rubber meets the road,” he says. “It’s great when it’s great, but when it’s bad for somebody, we want to also make that great.”
Earning consumer trust is a difficult thing to do, but when consumers learn that your brand is there to help and responsive when something goes wrong, that goes a long way.
This episode has a TON of great intel in it - drop in and listen to it now and share it with a colleague or a friend who you think wants to learn more about how the sharing economy and the outdoor markets will merge going forward.
The Bold Betties is a travel and adventure platform that empowers women by eliminating the barriers and logistics that keep women inside, stuck in the monotony of day to day life. Today on Intrepid Entrepreneur I’m talking with the founder, Niki Koubourlis, on her experience starting and managing the Bold Betties, and the incredible places this adventure has taken her.
Niki Koubourlis started out in a stable, successful corporate career, which she ultimately found very unfulfilling. She was starting to worry about what she was accomplishing with her life, and questioning whether it was what she really wanted
It wasn’t.
And so, she moved to Colorado, the land of adventure.
In Colorado, Niki forced herself to not take a job and instead, she took some time to develop friendships and to get in touch with her passions. And then – one thing led to another, and Niki stumbled into founding the Bold Betties, a meet-up group for women looking to bond with each other and to get outdoors. The group grew quickly—within its first week, there were 200 members. Honestly, I’d never heard of a business built on “Meet Up” groups, and I think it’s such a cool idea (note: I realize that many companies have been built this way, I just have not been familiar with this path).
One of her important early insights as that there were few opportunities for novices to learn and enjoy outdoor activities, so she saw her business as filling that niche. But the biggest commonality between people who sign up for Betties events is women in transition, looking to start something new.
You’ll be inspired by what else Niki tells me about getting started with the Betties and where this adventure has taken her, on this episode of the Intrepid Entrepreneur!
Build business around community. When you can bring together groups of people, you are providing them incredible value, and you will probably find that that community is the most important part of your business.
The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is one of the most treasured celebrations of conservation in the outdoor active lifestyle markets. The organization literally inspires activism through film, and the 2016 traveling film festival kicks off on Earth Day in San Francisco. What a fitting venue for the global premiere of KEEN Footwear’s Live Monumental documentary film. I have the privilege of interviewing Wild and Scenic’s Melinda Booth and KEEN Footwear’s Kirsten Blackburn in this very special episode of The Intrepid Entrepreneur podcast. Listen in and learn how both of these amazing organizations use their reach and impact to affect awareness, activism and positive change.
The Live Monumental documentary chronicles KEEN’s cross-country road trip advocating for the protection of 3-million acres of public lands – no small feat. KEEN and Wild and Scenic invite all of us in to become part of the movement to protect America’s precious public lands – there’s a lot of awareness and action that must happen before President Obama leaves office this year. Get outside and enjoy our public lands and get your family and friends to do the same! You can’t believe in and protect something you haven’t experienced, as Kirsten Blackburn of KEEN says in this podcast. Please share this podcast with everyone who appreciates America’s natural environment and sign the digital petition at LiveMonumental.com.
Third generation entrepreneurs Kelly and Will Watters have had an epic journey in year one of launching Western Rise apparel, a collection of men’s and women’s lifestyle apparel built for the mountain lifestyle.
The Watters are enrolled in the Telluride Venture Accelerator program, a fantastic start-up accelerator where I’m proud to serve as a Mentor. The founders of Western Rise have been nimble and agile through their first year of concept to launch, navigating and route-finding their way through sourcing, supply, manufacturing and distribution. The Watters are feeling locked and loaded on their strategy and are ready to grow with a direct-to-consumer strategy. In this interview, they share incredible insights on what the entire launch process has been like for them.
The key to the early success of Western Rise is the absolute commitment the Watters share around listening and responding to their target customer (avatar). There’s a ton of great insights on social media, Millennials and today’s mountain lifestyle consumer. Get ready to be inspired and educated by what they have to say on this episode of Intrepid Entrepreneur! If you love this episode, please rate and review it on iTunes Rating and reviewing this podcast greatly increases the visibility of the amazing entrepreneurs featured on this podcast and the outdoor active lifestyle markets.
Sonya Looney, a professional mountain bike racer and ambassador, is an international phenom who specializes in connecting with her fans and followers about her passion for living an adventurous life astride a bike – globally! Through her commitment to doing just that, she’s developed an approach to furthering her reach and the reach of her sponsor partners that’s bringing more value than ever before to the sponsor-athlete-ambassador equation. And it’s about time. … Sonya knows that connection is what brings return on a sponsorship investment and she relishes in doing just that to all fans and followers online, offline and inline within her network. There’s so much to learn today from this podcast – starting with what’s the true value today for a brand ambassador? Sonya’s authoring that job description, and you’ll get a front row seat to hearing it today on the Intrepid Entrepreneur!
Statistically, women make about 80-percent of purchasing decisions and overwhelmingly own the buying power of most households in America. Yet their involvement in the creation, ideation and implementation of new products, in any field, but specifically the outdoor industry, has been very low.
That’s what Deane Buck, executive director of Outdoor Industries Coalition of Women (OWIC) is completely committed to changing. The OIWC is a national non-profit organization dedicated to workplace equity, diversity and inclusion by expanding opportunities for women in the outdoor, snow, bike and endurance markets. For much of the organization’s 20-year history, that focus has been on encouraging established corporations to evolve.
OWIC’s latest initiative is called PitchFest, and shows that the OIWC is also supporting and furthering women-founded companies and start ups. PitchFest, in its second year in 2016, provides women with the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to key leaders in the outdoor industry at a key industry gathering, the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, which takes place in early August.
But what separates PitchFest from some similar pitch-focused entrepreneurial opportunities is that capital is not the only end-game. As Deanne says, sometimes capital is not the most important thing. Sometimes, feedback and good advice is more valuable than money - let alone building a network in the market of focus.
Plus, not every company needs to be venture funded. It seems like a popular track for a start up to be pitching for capital, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right decision for every business. Entrepreneurs need to be encouraged to move forward and not feel like less entrepreneurs because they didn’t get capital funding. As someone who has bootstrapped three start ups, I couldn’t agree more.
OWIC’s PitchFest is an amazing initiative that will facilitate real change in the industries, not only for female-founded companies, but also for entrepreneurs in general. It will also help more women evolve their leadership and have access to more opportunities. I’m very thankful to have Deanne on the show, so please join me in welcoming her to the Intrepid Entrepreneur!
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“Maybe you’ll never get outside venture funding, but that doesn’t make you any less of an entrepreneur.” - Deane Buck
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As an entrepreneur, don’t get stuck in the mindset that you need to receive venture capital funding to be legit. While that’s a hot topic right now, it’s actually not the right decision for a majority of startups.
How can two companies make or sell the same product, and one be far more successful than the other?
The amount of information that our target customers have access to is beyond overwhelming. How can a brand, vying for our ideal customer’s attention, stand out, be discovered and be engaged with by the right people?
The answer to that question is brand storytelling, and that’s what my March Intrepid content blitz is all about.
Storytelling is the gas on the fire that is branding. It’s what allows one brand to rise above another that sells a similar or even identical product or service. Humans have been telling stories for as long as they have been around. Storytelling creates emotional connection when done authentically and creatively.
When a brand does a stellar job with its storytelling, it captures the why in a way that makes the ideal customer the absolute hero (or heroine) in the story.
Storytelling is the one thing that brands must get right if they want a consumer’s attention. In fact, I have a completely free webinar on the subject coming up very soon, where I go into real depth on the steps required to craft your perfect story. But today, on this solocast, I’m giving you the nuts and bolts of what you need to know to get well on your way to crafting your perfect brand story, and taking your consumer interaction, engagement, and rabid-fan-behavior to the next level. Get ready to go big with brand storytelling on this episode of Intrepid Entrepreneur!
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Take time to craft and continually revise your brand’s story, always making your avatar (ideal customer) the hero.
March Free Webinar: Nailing Your Brand Storytelling
Book: “The Business of Belief: How the World's Best Marketers, Designers, Salespeople, Coaches, Fundraisers, Educators, Entrepreneurs and Other Leaders Get Us to Believe” by Tom Asacker
Interested in joining the membership site coming soon? Send a request email to membership@intrepidentrepreneur.net
Show Notes: IntrepidEntrepreneur.net/SoloCast
For 18 years, Tyler Jordan cut his leadership, product development, operations and outdoor market experience at Arc’Teryx, serving the last eight of those as CEO of the iconic outdoor brand.
Now, Tyler has his own company in 7Mesh Industries, a B.C.-based technical cycling apparel company catering to men and women riders who love all disciplines of the sport.
Tyler and his crew at 7Mesh found a niche, and he labels it the intersection of outdoor technical and bike. If anyone can throw that phrase around, it’s him. But the bike industry is very different from outdoors, and there are subsectors in cycling with fanatical-level passion for their sport, all concentrated in the single market of bike.
Being an entrepreneur in these markets, Tyler says, has incredible highs and lows, but as he and his team at 7Mesh enter their second full season, this young and energetic leader wouldn’t have it any other way.
Tyler drives 7 Mesh to always be straddling the line of innovation and performance. He never wavers from his goal of constantly looking for ways 7Mesh can be improved.
I’m very proud to have Tyler as my interview this week on The Intrepid Entrepreneur podcast. Not only does he tell the amazing story of his entrepreneurial journey, spanning from Arc’Teryx, through the 7Mesh start up, he also talks about taking on 7Mesh with a bit of a different stance on prioritizing his outdoor active lifestyle and his approach to entrepreneurial cross training. This show is a must-listen!
Tyler summed it up perfectly when he said “entrepreneurialism is a life in the fast lane and the deep end. If it’s in you, life is too short not to go after it.”
This episode offers some of the best start up advice available so get ready to learn, to be inspired, to take away specific action steps, and to take your ventures to the next level with Tyler Jordan on Intrepid Entrepreneur!
Bravery in Business Quote
“I don’t understand work/life balance. For me, it’s all rolled into one.” - Tyler Jordan
The Cliff Notes
“Entrepreneurialism is life in the fast lane, and in the deep end. If it’s in you, life is too short not to go after it.” - Jordan Tyler
Habit for Success
Just because you have experience in a certain area, does not mean you should be doing it the way you’ve done it in the past. Continually be innovating and testing new systems and process.
Resources
The Intrepid Entrepreneur free March Master Class offers one full hour of training on Nailing your Brand Storytelling. It’s free! It’s awesome and you can sign up and save your seat by going here: http://intrepidentrepreneur.net/MarchWebinar
Full Show Notes: IntrepidEntrepreneur.net/tyler-jordan
My guest today is millennial, multi-cultural entrepreneur Tayo Rockson. Tayo is a highly versed social and digital leader and is dedicated to creating connection between people of different cultures using new media. Tayo believes that when the world is closer and more connected a far more opportune business landscape emerges. Learn why Tayo encourages his fans and followers to constantly reach outside of their comfort zones, or network, every day to build innovation and reach within their companies. Listen in as he shares why it’s not only fun and interesting to meet new people daily, it also enables more diversity in business. Tayo looks to the younger entrepreneurs to model this for the rest of us - and you’ll find his story and approach fascinating! If you liked this episode, please share it! I’d also love to ask you to give it a positive review in ITunes, to ensure more founders are inspired to extend their networks and bring more diversity into our lives - personally and professionally.
For complete show notes and links mentioned in the episode, please visit www.intrepidentrepreneur.net.
What does your social media strategy look like? Do you find that you’re spending an inordinate amount of time crafting social media updates? Have you ever considered the fact that your current social media strategy probably includes crafting new updates, everyday, for the rest of your life? That quite a time commitment! There has to be a better way…
My guest today, Laura Roeder, is the founder of the social media management platform Edgar. Visit the site at www.meetedgar.com.
For more stories, visit www.intrepidentrepreneur.net.
Hap Klopp is the founder of The North Face and author of the book “Almost,” which details 12 months in the life of a San Francisco startup that seemed “on the verge of becoming a household name and being bought by Big Silicon.” This episode is all about the role of failure in success. As Hap says, “Failure is really just applying the scientific method to business.” In science, we develop a hypothesis about how we think something should be. Then, we test it, and more often than not, our expectations fail to pan out. So we develop a new hypothesis and test that one, again and again, until we finally have a break-through: After countless failed attempts, our hypothesis is verified by reality. And this reality is what makes things GO! If you like this episode, share it with a friend or colleague and give it a thumbs up on iTunes!
For complete show notes, visit http://intrepidentrepreneur.net/.
Dare we say that 2016 is the year when commercialization of the customer experience becomes the kiss of death? Companies that target the lowest common denominator and strive to be consistent to large groups of consumers are just commoditized. And when you try to be great to the biggest group of people you can possibly reach, you actually end up being great to no one.
My guest today, Brad Steward, is an iconic entrepreneur in the active outdoor lifestyle -- and now travel -- markets. He’s a former pro snowboarder and founder of Bonfire Snowboarding. I would even venture to say that he’s one of the founders of the snowboard industry, along with Jake Burton-Carpenter and the late Tom Simms.
Brad’s a visionary and he’s about to point that creativity to a brand-new launch in Caravan Outpost. Caravan Outpost is a hand-built travel experience created for a very specific avatar (target customer).
Brad has SO many amazing takeaways in this podcast. I advise you grab your notebook and pen, and listen in to Brad and I as we talk about the importance of creating magical moments for consumers, why products should strive to create completely unique, visceral experiences, as well as the path of the founder/entrepreneur. Brad is a perfect example of an adventurous entrepreneur, and I hope his journey inspires you!
After criss crossing the United States, attending a heap of trade shows in the past two months, our resident retail and sales guru Michele Flamer visits the Intrepid Entrepreneur for her third time in the chair!
Michele basically holds a Ph.D. in sales and training development, and this episode is an uncensored look at what it’s going to take for brands and retailers to break out and be a success story in 2016.
We’re in an economy in which the consumer is clearly in the driver’s seat. This consumer expects extremely targeted messaging and communication, and will respond to the brands and retailers adept at making it appear like they’re speaking directly to them. And this is very good news for the smaller retailers, Michele believes. … Why? Because large brands and retailers are usually just too big to accomplish this.
So what does this mean for you? Play to your strengths! As Michele and I talk about in this episode, focus on how you can take your interaction and communication to the next level - and it will pay off for you! Show your consumers the similar values you share - whether it be philanthropic, general interests, or passions - and connect on those issues.
There are plenty more insights in this episode of the Intrepid Entrepreneur. Thank you SO much for listening and please give this a thumbs up in iTunes of you enjoy the episode!
My guest on Intrepid Entrepreneur today is none other than Doug Schnitzspahn. I feel he should be Knighted, like Sir Richard Branson. Why? Because there are few people out there in the active outdoor lifestyle markets with the work experiences and perspectives that Doug has.
He basically holds a Ph.D. in producing, editing and publishing content in a myriad of forms.
As a freelance writer and editor, he has worked on publications like National Geographic, Outside, Men’s Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, Backpacker, Skiiing, and The Mountain Gazette. In my opinion? Doug is one of the main portals educating newcomers to the outdoor active lifestyle markets while concurrently keeping existing outdoor fans stoked.
In a nutshell? Doug is super important to the outdoor recreation economy! Perhaps he should run for office? I know someone who could do publicity on that… :)
In this podcast, Doug and I get to talk shop. We’re old friends and we’re also entrepreneurs. We’re wired in a similar way and as we watch how the economy continues to be transformed by the digital direct era, we’re both wondering where the quality and topic alignment has gone.
There’s a sweet spot when the unique voice of the writer aligns with the topic, and the topic aligns with the audience’s and brands focus and interests. Brands should focus on making this perfect trifecta happen, and invest in content creation that really hits these three points. You can’t buy this type of approach from a content service or farm.
Doug has built a career out of creating amazing content, with a unique voice, that connects deeply with a specific audience: the outdoor market. His opinions shared in this episode can truly help your organization ensure that you’re not publishing “choss” (that’s our word for CRAP content).
You can also learn all about Doug’s perspective on the “freelancer’s economy,” and the role of sponsored content.
If you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, or an outdoor enthusiast of any kind, you’ll find Doug to be a fascinating guy with sharp insights. Few people can offer the insights Doug can on the outdoor market today, or on how brands can pull off authentic content marketing.
Pull out a notebook and get ready to learn, and to be inspired, on this episode of Intrepid Entrepreneur!