The Exchanges, every show

Q mentioned, um, like, like, uh, roto-molding or rotational molding, because, and I think most people can, can picture what an igloo ice chest is like, but what made this different was the plastic was heavy duty. It's like, almost like industrial strength plastic that was So strong, you could stand on it, and you could sit on it, and it just, and it was heavier. Is that a fair description?

A Yeah, it, it was heavier. It's, rotomolding is a, is a manufacturing process where you take, um, polyethylene, which is a plastic pellet form resin, and you put it into a hollow mold, and you begin to coat the walls, and it really piles up in the corners and makes for a real durable part, and the overall wall thickness is quite a bit larger as well. You know, I remember in the early days, and when a customer called up and said, well, tell me about your product, what makes it durable, I'd say, It's roto molded. And I said, it's the same process used to make whitewater kayaks. And all of a sudden they get that imagery of a, you know, heavy duty, single piece plastic part.

AI assessment note: “Yeah, it, it was heavier. It's, rotomolding is a, is a manufacturing process”

Q this is still pretty early days on YouTube when people still thought of it as cats, you know, cats on skateboards, but you put out a YouTube. Do you, do you remember what the thinking was behind that? Because again, you know, you're still, you're growing, but you don't have a massive budget for advertising. And what did you think you were going to do with YouTube at that time?

A Well, I, you know, I felt like we could create some really short videos talking about the value proposition of, of Yeti. And I had a high school buddy that owned a camera and some audio equipment. And, uh, then we started getting into some, you know, funner videos of my friend, the same guy that owned the camera, found this bouncer down on, on sixth street here in Austin and hired him to come do this video where It's talking about the difference between an igloo cooler and a Yeti. Yeah. And it's this, you know, 500 pound man versus, you know, a Yeti. It shows him tearing up an igloo, right? Slamming it on the ground, stepping on it, hinges breaking, lid caving in, and then he tries to do the same thing to a Yeti tundra, and he's throwing it off cliffs, he's jumping up and down on it, and just, there's no better way to share a durability story than that kind of funny content.

AI assessment note: “I felt like we could create some really short videos talking about the value proposition”

Q Alright, so Roy, you find out about these coolers. What struck you, what struck you about them? Like, what made them different?

A Our problem with ordinary coolers was a durability issue. You know, we, we weren't real concerned with ice retention. Our frustration was way more about durability. You know, the durability around the hinges, and it was roto-molded in, in thicker walls, and so everything about it was just beefier, meant to last, unlike ordinary coolers that would fall apart. So, you know, I saw it right away as a solution for the boats, but it is also, I recognized the If we're frustrated with ordinary coolers falling apart, others were too, right? So I, uh, I got a hold of the distributor that had been importing them into the US, and I said, hey, I think I could sell some of these coolers around Texas. Is there any chance I can get a distributor price? Like, I need to be able to go out and resell to retailers.

AI assessment note: “roto-molded in, in thicker walls, and so everything about it was just beefier”

Q So, you guys go back to Texas. Tell me about, um, how you start to think, cause you're gonna start importing these, uh, Blank, you know, chests, right? Coolers, without a brand name to it. Um, tell me a little bit about that conversation you started to have.

A It was literally on the flight home, Ryan and I were sitting side by side, and we started putting together a list of potential brand names. And I think going back to our dad's business, and growing up in the industry, I think we had a pretty clear idea of what made a strong name or a strong brand. You know, I could remember using, um, Sage fly rod as a, as a kid, which was one of my dad's customers, and it's a very premium, high-end fly rod, and I, I love that name. Sage is that named after the, the green stripe in the, in the back of a rainbow trout. Um, on the other hand, you had another very premium fly rod called G Loomis, um, another one of my dad's customers, and it was named after the founder, Gary Loomis, and, and I remember thinking to myself as a kid, Uh, you know, how terrible that was to name a brand after a founder. And, um, I think we had a pretty good feel for what made a strong name. And so we begin to put together that list on the, on the flight home from the Philippines.

AI assessment note: “It was literally on the flight home, Ryan and I were sitting side by side”

Q know this is a tough, tough, um, time for you guys because he was a friend and, um, tragically he was, he was killed, um, in the Philippines. What did that mean? I mean, aside from the, just the personal loss, I did, I mean, he was running the factory. Was it going to affect inventory? I mean, you were, you were depending on a container coming in a week.

A Yeah, so I, I remember I got off the phone call with his wife, and I called Ryan. I shared the news with him, and, um, you know, I don't, I didn't, it was, it was a big personal loss, so first and foremost, you know, Ivan was more than a business partner. We'd travel over to the Philippines to visit the factory. He would come over to the U.S. and attend trade shows with us, so we had Really developed a, a friendship over those few years that we knew him, and um, And I don't think I slept at all that night, and, and, um, like I said, this is 2008. We're going from one million to three million in sales. I think we have, you know, probably six or seven full-time employees, and I remember Ryan and I went into the office the next morning, and we told the small team that we had about what had happened to Ivan, and, um, I think we, we told him that we're going to make the most of it, But it doesn't look good, and, and there's a good chance that y'all need to go ahead and start looking for your next job opportunity.

AI assessment note: “there's a good chance that y'all need to go ahead and start looking for your next job”

Q had had, you had kids by the time you guys launched Yeti in 2006, so your kids had only really known you working and grinding at Yeti. Was it similar for you, or that you wanted more time with your kids, and to just hang and, or be a dad Full-time, or did you, were you already thinking, alright, I'm gonna launch my next business and start all over again?

A No, I, so, the irony of, of things was, um, The outdoors is what brought us to Yeti in the first place, but in many ways it took us away from the outdoors as well because we didn't have time for it. You know, we, we didn't have time to go spend time on the water or, you know, annual elk hunt or tarpon fishing trip, and I might be home with the family, but I wasn't being a good dad. I wasn't present. You know, my mind was on Yeti, and you know, what we were doing was not sustainable, and I think we recognized that, and You know, today, uh, I get to come in and have fun when I want to.

AI assessment note: “I might be home with the family, but I wasn't being a good dad.”