News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
"To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be a little crazy," self-confessed "serial entrepreneur" Chris Capdevila told the audience at last week's Pub Talk held at Bronco Billy's Ranch Grill and Saloon.
Capdevila was the keynote speaker at the event sponsored by Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) and organized by out-going Sisters Economic Development Manager Mac Hay. This, the second Pub Talk held in Sisters, featured Sisters entrepreneurs who are launching innovative sports-related products.
John Rahm of SweatHawg and Michael Sandsness and Mark Foster of Sporting Innovations embody the qualities Capdevila extolled: Passion, vision, and "intense, maniacal perseverance and determination."
Rahm has developed a sweat-absorbing head covering called the SweatHawg that fits beneath a bicycling helmet (or a ball cap or a hard hat). The idea came from his own frustration with available products to keep the sweat out of his eyes during a hard bike ride. He developed prototypes with help from Sue Yokum of Black Crater Clothing in Sisters and has already begun marketing the piece.
(Visit http://www.sweathawg.com for more information.)
He's had some success selling the SweatHawg in local bike shops, at craft fairs and online and is looking to "make a splash" in the marketplace. While originally conceived as a niche product for cyclists, Rahm's experience has shown him that there is a "tremendous market" for anybody who wears a hat or a helmet and sweats.
Pub Talks are designed to provide opportunities to put innovators in front of potential investors and to allow a supportive audience to ask questions and kick ideas around. Most of the questions and ideas circulated around distribution and financing.
Rahm said he's explored distribution partners, but "they want a big bite." One suggestion was to seek out a slot on the reality TV show "Shark Tank," where inventions vie for backing from large firms.
Rahm said he needs to develop an integrated marketing plan and he needs to secure funding to create one.
Sisters resident Alan Holzman urged Rahm to pursue online funding options.
"Typically what people do is max out their credit cards," he said. "That's so common."
He urged Rahm to explore using Kickstarter to ramp up his funding.
"I don't see any reason a business like yours couldn't go that way," he said.
Foster and Sandsness of Sporting Innovations are developing a firearms-related product. With Foster's decades of experience in the firearms industry, mostly in marketing, and Sandsness' manufacturing background, they are confident in the viability of their product.
"The market is large, it's easily defined and it's readily accessible," Foster told the crowd.
The manufacturing of the product will take place elsewhere, but the assembly, packaging and marketing will be handled in Sisters.
Sporting Innovations is currently finishing product-development, securing patents and seeking to raise $750,000 in capital (they've already raised $200,000 toward that goal).
Their plan is to have the product acquired by a major firearms firm in five years or less.
The excitement of the dream of creating a useful and valuable product is readily recognized by Capdevila, who has worked on several technology startups. He also recognizes the intensity of the struggle to realize the dream. For those "born entrepreneurs, the journey is literally addictive. Succeed or fail, the born entrepreneur will do it all again.
"Entrepreneurship is extremely lonely and painful, but really fun and rewarding and probably the best drug you can have," Capdevila said.
The Argentina native pursued his entrepreneurial dreams in California before moving to Central Oregon for lifestyle reasons. He recognizes that Central Oregon poses challenges to startups - but he cited many advantages, too.
The two major challenges he noted are a small talent pool and a lack of capital resources. But he noted that he had to search nationwide for talent and travel to the Bay Area for capital support, even when working in Los Angeles.
"In my mind, they're not necessarily unique challenges," he said.
On the flip side, start-up costs are "dramatically lower," employee turnover is much less of an issue, workplace morale is high and the entire community is supportive.
"Everybody wants to see you succeed," he said.
Capdevila said the most common cause of failure is a poor product-market fit and he emphasized that building a good team and developing customers is every bit as important as creating a good product. And a little luck helps.
But the most important quality of the entrepreneur may be faith.
"You actually have to believe that you're going to do this, that whatever the obstacle, you're going to get around it, that you're going to be successful," he said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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