Find Out How To Win Cool Gear From Up And Coming Outdoor Industry Startups
Recently A Mountain Journey had the opportunity to sit down with Josh Salvo of ReddyYeti.com. ReddyYeti is dedicated to helping you discover brand new outdoor industry startups – and the way their doing it is by giving away cool gear! Find out more below.
What is ReddyYeti.com?
ReddyYeti is a community of outdoor sport enthusiasts who want to discover and support innovative and ethically run startups related to skiing, snowboarding, climbing, hiking, camping, kayaking, mountain biking, and surfing. You can check out all of the startups we’ve helped grow so far here.
We help these startups grow through The ReddyYeti Podcast, where we tell their story through the voice of their founders. For each startup’s story we share on The ReddyYeti Podcast, we also offer a giveaway featuring the products from these innovative startups.
When did you start ReddyYeti and why? How did you come up with this idea?
ReddyYeti has had a few different iterations. Originally, my co-founder and I, Andrew Pfundstein, wanted to start a ski company. We were going to call it Village Skis. We spent about 3 years designing and building skis in our parents’ basement. In this process we discovered a ton of micro ski brands that most skiers didn’t know. We thought it would be awesome to bring all these niche ski and snowboard brands together in one location, so that the everyday skier could find them. That’s exactly what we did. We launched an e-commerce platform called ReddyYeti that exclusively sold niche American made gear in action sports.
We ran the ecommerce site for about 3 seasons before deciding to shut it down, as we were in the middle of college and didn’t have the capital to grow to the next level.
Drew and I messed around with a media site after that for about a year and then in October of 2015 we came up with the new ReddyYeti with our third business partner Matt Dello Buono. With our past business ventures we realized that it doesn’t just take a great idea to build a successful business; it takes time, money and knowledge of marketing, along with many other things.
So we thought, why don’t we build a community of outdoor sport enthusiasts? And through this community we wanted to support and help startups in the outdoor sports world grow without breaking the bank on marketing expenses.
Where do you see ReddyYeti in five years?
We want ReddyYeti to become one of the largest voices in outdoor sports. We believe that we live in a time where the consumer, you and I, have the power to decide which companies deserve to be in the spotlight. At ReddyYeti we only work with startups that we feel offer a quality product, are environmentally sustainable, and give back to their community. Currently ReddyYeti is a community of almost 4,000 subscribers. Our goal for the next five years is to grow to over 100,000 outdoor sport enthusiasts. Just think of the influence we can have as a community.
Let’s say one of our members comes across or starts a company that revolutionizes the way skis are manufactured, essentially eliminating all waste. Over night we could make that company a success by giving them access to a huge audience, without costing the startup a dime upfront. All of our revenue is generated from affiliate commissions which we collect after a product is sold. So there is no huge barrier for startups to gain access to their audience.
How do you spread the word about different outdoor industry startups? How do you promote the brands you work with?
Currently, we spread the word by offering a giveaway of their product to our daily growing community. Each giveaway lasts 2 weeks and during the giveaway we release a podcast episode where we interview the founder/s of the startup so that our community can get to know the companies on a more personal level. We are also in the process of building partnerships with other outdoor blogs and sites, like A Mountain Journey, who will offer the giveaways to their audiences. This greatly expands the reach and exposure these startups can get.
On ReddyYeti.com you will find a brand page for each of the startup we work with. This includes the company’s story, year started, names of founders, number of employees, location and a link to their products. The second page is the podcast page, where you will find the story of the brand told through the voice of the founder/s. Lastly we have the giveaway page which we use to help build hype for the brand.
Where did the Yeti come from? Does he have a name?
ReddyYeti came from the desire to build a community. Reddy is the name of the Yeti and he is always ready for the next adventure. As a community of outdoor sport enthusiasts, we wanted to create a character that was your pal; one that would always be ready for adventure.
We came up with the name after a long brainstorming session in my parents’ basement with a number of our closest friends. We bought a couple six packs of beer and we set up a couple of white boards and we got to work. When we created the logo people loved the idea and it seemed to just click. At that point we knew we had the perfect name for our community.
What’s been the biggest challenge getting your company started?
It has been building a highly targeted and engaged community. We have had a great start, but it has taken a lot of work to build a community like ReddyYeti to just under 4,000 subscribers. ReddyYeti isn’t a community for everyone. We want to attract people who are very active in their sports, not just people who are active in their sport a couple times a year. The person that wakes up early to squeeze in a backcountry tour before work, that climbs everyday, that checks the surf/weather report religiously. Getting in front of people like this and gaining their trust isn’t easy, but we are getting better at it every single day, and the larger we get the easier it will be.
What clients has ReddyYeti worked with?
We have worked with a number of startups in the past few months. You can check out the full list of brands we’ve helped through ReddyYeti here.
How do you choose what outdoor startups you want to work with? Or do outdoor startups find you?
As we’ve grown, we have had a number of startups approach us. But when we started ReddyYeti, we decided to only work with startups that we feel offer a quality product, are environmentally sustainable, and give back to their community.
Since we ran an e-commerce site for three seasons, we already had relationships with a number of startups in outdoor sports that met these requirements. For example, we gave away a pair of Slant Skis, a company which is based out of Lake Tahoe. They make about 400 pairs of skis a year. I personally have been riding their skis for the past 3 seasons and I love them. They pride themselves on being environmentally sustainable and building the highest quality skis on the market.
My partners and I have had personal connections with many of the brands we have worked with. We also ask our community to send us startups that they think we should highlight. Going forward we want the community to decide which startups we help.
What’s the most unique outdoor industry start-up you’ve worked with?
That is a really hard question, as they are all unique in their own way. Thinking about it, I’d probably have to say Grayl, which makes the world’s most advanced purifier and filter water bottle. No chemicals or pumps needed. You just fill up the bottom part of the water bottle and press the top down. It takes about 15 seconds and you can drink water from practically anywhere.
Whether you’re filling up at a sketchy hotel sink in Peru, on a gnarly trail needing to drink from a dirty stream, or at home preparing a disaster kit – the Ultralight has you covered. The Grayl water bottle removes viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and filters particulates, chemicals and heavy metals. You can learn more about Grayl here. We are also launching a giveaway on August 16th on A Mountain Journey, where we are giving away 2 Grayl Ultralight water bottle packs. You can check it out here!
We hear you’re giving away free gear. Tell us more!
Every two weeks we feature a new startup and giveaway a number of their products to our community. We have given away anywhere from one to ten prizes per giveaway. A pair of handmade skis to a custom ski & snowboard jacket or the world’s lightest pack hammock. You can check out some of our past giveaways here.
Working with outdoor industry startups is definitely a cool niche. What have you learned during this journey?
We have learned that all of these startups have some incredible stories and consumers want to hear those stories so that they can get to know the people behind the brands that they are purchasing gear from. We live in an age where consumers can purchase from brands that they feel align with their personal values. For us, we have been learning how we can best facilitate that for our community.
What’s your favorite piece of gear?
Since I’m a huge skier, I’d probably say my pair of Slant Cornelious skis. As a ski builder and someone who has demoed a ton of skis, they are just awesome. I got them with a bamboo veneer so I’m always turning heads at the ski resort. People are always saying, “what kind of skis are those?” or “Those skis are sick!” But, more importantly, they ski so damn well! You can check out my full review of the Slant Cornelious here.
How can outdoor enthusiasts around the world learn more about the companies that you promote?
On ReddyYeti.com we have a section called Outdoor Startups, where we list all of the brands we’ve worked with. On their brand pages we share their story, who their founders are, what year they were founded, where they are located, how many employees they have, product they currently offer and a link to their podcast episode where their founder/s share their story.
Every two weeks we add a new startup so our community can constantly discover new brands. If you like what we are trying to build at ReddyYeti, you can join the ReddyYeti community here and you will receive weekly emails from me with all the latest startups along with a ton of other perks!
Do you follow ReddyYeti on social media? Find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. And definitely stop back by MountainJourney.com to check out the upcoming giveways from the cool outdoor industry startups that work with Josh and ReddyYeti!
