Osprey
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How I Built This 3 
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How I Built This 3
2023 3 mentions in 1 episode
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14 statements about Osprey, every show
Osprey spent no money on advertising for its first 20 years
“I never spent any money on advertising until perhaps 20 years later”
Osprey borrowed $35,000 in 1986 to start wholesale backpack production
“I think at the time, this is actually in 1986, we borrowed 35,000 dollars from a local community credit union, and then we had to find a location to start a larger scale production.”
Osprey engineered removable backpack lids that converted into standalone fanny packs
“We figured out how to turn that into a fanny pack. You know, if you're in a, at a base camp, you could take the, you're Top lid off and go on a day hike with a fanny pack.”
Annual backpack redesigns angered retailers by making their existing inventory obsolete
“Retailers don't like that. I didn't really spend enough time understanding where they were coming from, and I would inflict them with new designs maybe every year, and that would obsolete their inventories.”
Osprey repeatedly rejected REI because it could not meet production demand
“For example, REI was approaching us every year to pick up our product, and we always had to say, no, we can't meet that demand, and they were baffled. They, you know, they were almost angry about that because they, there was a demand growing for Osprey within …”
Korean factories produced finished backpacks for the cost of US raw materials
“A friend of mine took me over there who knew the industry and introduced me to sewing factories over there, and they made counter samples, and I was blown away by the quality of their workmanship, and the price was astounding. It was Pretty much the equivalent…”
Pfotenhauer claims Osprey had to move manufacturing offshore or shut down
“We moved production to a Korean, several, three different Korean manufacturers. It was either that or shut down, I think.”
Offshoring led outdoor brands to forfeit proprietary designs to contract manufacturers
“The thing that happened when production moved to offshore with a lot of companies is that they also forfeited their design to those companies, to those manufacturers. I called it the Vietnam melting pot of design. It's this forfeiture of brands, unique designs…”
Expanding into adjacent categories like tents dilutes an outdoor brand's focus
“I always relished it when I saw my competitors pick up outlying products. Tents, sleeping bags, et cetera, because it, to me, it meant they were going to lose focus and expertise on what they already were doing and kind of water themselves down.”
Osprey avoided debt except for a single factory expansion in Colorado
“We didn't even, we really didn't even borrow money unless it was to, for example do an addition on our factory down in Cortez.”
Osprey spoke with roughly 35 potential acquiring companies before its sale
“And we talked to, I think, maybe 35 different companies.”
Osprey's factories shut down due to COVID-19 during peak acquisition talks
“In fact, at the most intense part of negotiation, our factories were shut down because of COVID.”
Erik Weihenmayer wore a yellow Osprey backpack on Time's 2001 cover
“Back in 2001, the company got the kind of free publicity that a brand can only dream of. When Time Magazine put Eric Weinmayer on the cover, Eric was the first blind person to climb Mount Everest. And there on the cover photo, he poses triumphantly on the side…”
Rees: Lehman Took 20% Minority Stakes in GLG and D.E. Shaw
“Every time we did one of these minority stakes in hedge funds, we started with GLG and then we did a firm Called Marble Bar and Osprey and D.E. Shaw. We were doing a lot of work in a lot of other areas, and these 20% stakes in hedge funds were paying the bills…”