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Davis Smith

Founder & Chairman, Cotopaxi · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

founderexecutive@davismsmith ↗LinkedIn ↗cotopaxi.com ↗

Davis Smith is the founder and former long-time CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear and apparel brand dedicated to eradicating extreme global poverty. Earlier in his career, he founded pool table retailer PoolTables.com as well as the Brazilian e-commerce startup Baby.com.br.

11statements → 7claims → 3claims resolved → 100%fully supported → 3.82/5average certainty → 1.36/5average debate potential → ≈4.0/5argument clarity, estimated →

3 supported 0 partly supported 0 contradicted 1 not yet assessed 3 not checkable as stated how the 7 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

7 assertions · 1 insight · 3 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 7 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 3 are resolved, 1 is not yet assessed, and 3 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Davis argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Cotopaxi hired a Chief Impact Officer before hiring a single marketer
“We had a chief impact officer before we had a chief marketing officer. We didn't have a marketer.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 27:51 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Davis Smith on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Davis Smith said on Masters of Scale that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight
Smith: Choose co-founders for problem-fit rather than picking family or friends
“Instead of Choosing my co-founder based on who I love and you know, who's close to me right now. Why don't I go first, try to find a great idea. And then once I have the right idea, then I should go find a co-founder that really helps me solve the problem that…”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 7:13 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Disclosure
Cotopaxi donates 1% of total revenue even during unprofitable years
“We donate we donate one percent of all of our revenues. Which to be clear, a lot of times is many years that was actually more than we made. We maybe weren't even making money, but we're still giving money away.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 24:31 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
Cotopaxi hired a Chief Impact Officer before hiring a single marketer
“We had a chief impact officer before we had a chief marketing officer. We didn't have a marketer.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 27:51 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cotopaxi's uniquely designed one-of-a-kind bags saw near-zero return rates
“And the return rate was like zero, like whatever they got, no matter how funky it was, they were, they loved it.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 1:12 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
Cotopaxi generated 30,000 social media posts in its first 24 hours
“We had 30,000 social media posts in that first 24 hours of our launch.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 20:36 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Disclosure
Cotopaxi's early investors included Kirsten Green and the Warby Parker founders
“We ended up with a handful of investors that invested, like I mentioned, Kirsten Green from Foreigner Ventures and a handful of other amazing people that stepped up and some of my friends from business school, like the Warby Parker founders the founders of Har…”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 22:37 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Cotopaxi has sold 5 million backpacks made from repurposed fabric scraps
“We've made, we sold five million backpacks made of remnant leftover repurposed material from other outdoor brands. It's the leftover scraps.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 32:00 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
Cotopaxi grew to $150 million in revenue under Davis Smith's tenure
“I think I did a good job taking a business from zero to around a hundred and fifty million in revenue, and there's probably better leaders that can take it To the next level.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 32:59 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Disclosure
Davis Smith plans to return to Cotopaxi as Executive Chairman
“I suspect I'll probably go back to Cotopaxi and not as a CEO. I think I've given that role up and I'm okay with that now. I maybe play an executive chairman kind of role where I can still be very involved in our mission and our purpose and the culture.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 36:44 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Smith's Brazilian baby e-commerce startup reached $20 million revenue in three years
“The first first year we did over a couple million in revenue, two or three million in revenue. And over the next few years, two, three years grew to maybe twenty million in revenue.”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 4:16 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Davis Smith maintains a list of his 1,000 past investor pitches
“I have a list of every investor I've ever met with. And at this point I have around a thousand people”
Davis Smith Feb 21, 2025 ▶ 21:44 Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith: Lessons from scaling a mission-driven business | Masters of Scale Feb 21, 2025 27m
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