ABC News has a profile of Jake Burton in which he talks about his business, the legacy of Craig Kelly, and where he believe snowboarding is right now. It’s the same old story, but Jake does add this:
“I think the sport is in a very good place right now,” Burton said. “It’s not about having the latest goof rack on your BMW or how good the food is at the hotel you’re staying at. It’s about just getting out and shredding and having fun with your friends and as long as that remains at the core of the sport, it’ll continue to do well.”
We know that’s not exactly how the high stakes world of big business snowboarding functions (as Jake well knows), but for those actually out on the snow we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
[Link: ABC News]
I once hear a story of Jake checking out of a hotel in Santa Monica because it wasn’t POSH enough. He moved from 1 over priced hotel to another over priced hotel (Shutters) and didn’t even stop by a local shop to say hi…. thanks for the business bros……Totally core.
“His goal was to sell 50 snowboards a day in that first year, but at the end of it, he had sold only 300.”
pretty lofty goal for a first year… even if he had met it, how is one guy in a woodshop going to keep up with that demand? clearly jake’s business sense hadn’t kicked in yet.
Jake doesn’t stay in hotels. First off, the real Jake died years ago, and the one today is a cyborg owned and operated by Nike. That one never sleeps. Prior to the Nike buyout and such, Jake didn’t stay in hotels, he had gigantic houses built before he showed up at places and then destroyed after he left. The materials were, of course, all non-recyclable.
I wish that people would deal in fact and get a grip! Jake Burton single handedly created and developed an extreme sport and with his leadership has taken it from a small workshop to a multi million-dollar industry. This includes TV, video, competitions, sponsorship, careers, eco issues, travel, healthier lifestyles etc etc need I go on? So what have you done in your life that has benefited millions of people?
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