BILL WALTON MEDIA ROADSHOW PROMOTES SDSI SPRINGBOARD! APPLY TODAY, 87% OF GRADS REMAIN IN BUSINESS!

SDSI’s Executive Chairman Bill Walton was all over the local media this week promoting the application period for the next cohort of SDSI Springboard sponsored by K2 Insurance Services. The application period opened June 19 and runs through July 31. Check out Walton live on CBS and KUSI with 2015 Graduate Jenny Amaraneni, founder of Solo Eyewear and FOX 5 with 2016 Graduate Jon Doogan, founder of Aculief. Check out additional coverage announcing the application period in Hatch.com and The San Diego Union-Tribune and the San Diego Business Journal. 

Our latest SDSI Springboard Impact Report proves SDSI continues to make an important impact on growing Sports and Active Lifestyle (SAL) Businesses. “We are most proud of our successes,” says Walton. “Over the years, 87% of our Springboard graduates are still in business, we have helped to build 70 different companies, those companies have raised more than $50 million in business-building capital and have created nearly 450 real jobs - jobs that are the bedrock foundation of our community.”

The 20-week business accelerator program sets growing SAL companies on a path to success through a proven curriculum and hands on mentoring with executives from companies like Active.com, Callaway, prAna and Sector 9. SDSI Springboard is open to SAL companies of all sizes who are facing significant milestones like: launching a new product, starting a new business, shifting their business model, preparing to raise capital or working through a significant growth phase.

Apply or refer a promising company today! If you know an SAL executive who might make a great Springboard mentor, reach out to Dana@sdsportinnovators.com! Details and application here.

SDSI welcomes new member Aldrich CPAs + Advisors and welcomes back renewing member TurningPoint Executive Search
Aldrich CPAs + Advisors has provided accounting and financial services to San Diego clients for decades and is excited to be a part of SDSI. We recognize that businesses in the sports and active lifestyle industry have unique opportunities with international distribution, inventory management and equipment needs. Our dedicated team of manufacturing and distribution professionals makes the complex simple for our clients. Whether its tax planning or preparing a financial statement for investors or lenders, we’re right there with you. Aldrich is one of San Diego’s healthiest companies and we encourage an active lifestyle for our staff. Learn more at Aldrichadvisors.com.

TurningPoint Executive Search. A native of San Diego, Ken C. Schmitt has been working in the Executive Recruiting industry since 1998. After spending a combined nine years with several firms, he launched TurningPoint Executive Search in 2007, and now employs 8 professionals in a 100% remote work environment. Ken and his team at have placed nearly 400 of the nation's leading sales, marketing and operations professionals, partnering with national clients across numerous industries such as tech, software, manufacturing, distribution, consumer products, professional and financial services, healthcare, lifesciences and hospitality. The team at TurningPoint takes a high touch, concierge-style approach to placing first class talent, in a variety of business structures including privately held, venture backed start-up, private equity owned, early stage and mature, family-owned businesses. In 2017 Ken was named a finalist for the “Most Admired CEOs in San Diego”, and for the second year in a row, TurningPoint was ranked as one of the “150 Fastest Growing Private Companies in San Diego”.

China in your brands future? Are you sure? - Takeaways from Alibaba Gateway '17 with Bob Rief
This week I had the opportunity to join Bryan Pate from ElliptiGO and represent SDSI at the Alibaba Gateway '17 summit in Detroit. As many members know we have had an ongoing conversation with Alibaba, but this was my first chance to attend a “how to sell in China” symposium centered on actually selling into the China market, as opposed to just talking about it. I jotted down a few items to call to your attention:

• Alibaba is a market place, it is NOT Amazon. "baba" holds no inventory.
• Alibaba is a platform, an extraordinary one, that provides all the services needed to import, sell and collect in China.
• Their market penetration is hard to believe:
  • there are 350,000,000 (350 million) new middle class citizens in China: average income $11,000 to $38,000
  • there are 500,000,000 Alibaba users (yes, ½ Billion)
  • average transaction per user: 27​​​​​​
  • 270,000 are daily users, averaging several hours per user
  • there are 1.1 Million people delivering Alibaba packages daily
  • Alibaba ranks 21 in the world economies…ahead of for instance the total GNP of Argentina. The ‘baba’ goal; be the 5th largest economy worldwide within 10 years. Don’t think so? On the Alibaba “Singles Day” this year, they clocked $17.8 Billion US $ in 24 hours…bigger than our Cyber Monday by far.
• China is transitioning from an export country to an import country…remember, their middle class exceeds the size of our total population.
• Forecast: I personally believe that we are on the advent of the rise of the SMALL business. Let’s face it...big brands have had their run. The disruptive market forces, the arrival of the digital revolution and greying of management have made big global brands slow to react, dinosaurs with legacy retail networks in a digital world. The entrepreneurial world is dominated by under 30-year-old players. Their focus is the future. They are the nimble businesses…and access to world markets make the small business equal to the big business, maybe better! Let me go out on a limb: 3 years from now we will see world wide deliveries direct to consumer within 72 hours…no matter where the order is from, no matter where the inventory is housed!

Can China be in your brand future? It can, but its not going to be easy. We will have a general membership meeting about the “how to” very soon. But in the meantime, challenge yourself to think about the possibility of China. For all young entrepreneurs, take heart in knowing that a mega opportunity is coming to the world, sooner than expected!
~bob

Bill Walton and NiteRider promote rider safety; Join SDSI Cycling SIG TONIGHT to be part of the Rider Safety Visibility discussion
Bill Walton rode to the NiteRider offices earlier this month to join forces behind the important message of rider safety - specifically the importance of day riding with your light on. “This is just another one of the great no brainers in the history of the world! Turn your light on, ALL THE TIME, EVERY TIME”. Watch Bill’s full video message here.

If you are interested in joining in on the discussion of Rider Safety Visibility, pop by the SDSI Cycling SIG (Special Interest Group) meeting tomorrow June 22 at 6:00 PM at California Bicycles, more info here.

BLDG Active lands on the World Surf League Tour
The all new regenerative skin repair for the modern athlete, BLDG Active landed itself on the World Surf League Tour, first stop Fiji Pro. Check out the footage of pro surfer Owen Wright healing up his reef rash with BLDG's Repair Hydrogel.  

Competitor Group acquired by IRONMAN
Competitor Group is largely known as the “world’s largest running platform” with its 30 world-class events, including the flagship Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, seeing over 600,000 athletes each year. The new combined entity further establishes IRONMAN as the leading endurance sports organization in the world. Read the full announcement here. 

EllitptiGO makes first ever “Everest” trek
British endurance athlete, Tim Woodier, became the first person to climb the equivalent height of Mt. Everest (29,029 feet) in one ride on an ElliptiGO bike. Reaching the Everesting Hall of Fame is the second of impressive feats for Woodier on an ElliptiGO. Last year Woodier made a 6500-mile, 87-day journey of the eastern United States and Canada on his ElliptiGO. Read the full story at ElliptiGO.com.

Hookit study demonstrates soccer players as most valuable athletes
In an exclusive report for Forbes, Hookit.com evaluated the 100 highest paid athletes' sponsorship and media value across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Soccer players dominate the list of athletes delivering the most media value for their sponsors with six among the top seven. Christian Renaldo remains number one totaling $936 million in media value across his social media accounts in one year. Read the full story at Forbes.com.

TWB releases Q1 State of the Surf

New for 2017, TransWorld Business is breaking up its annual State of Surf report into four quarterly reports, each with a unique focus, to give brands more timely, digestible information they can implement into their business. Launched this week, the Q1 report covered the youth market, specifically ages 13 to 25, and which sports, activities and lifestyle connections they most closely associate with. The report was unveiled at a launch event this week that brought in top speakers from the industry including keynote Rob Machado. Purchase the report and check out the key takeaways from the launch event.

GPG’s ZZYXX launches latest shoe on Kickstarter - needs your help!
One of GPG’s latest Incubator brands, ZZYXX, has launch the Felix 2.0, a modern twist to the classic slip on shoe. Touting to be “the most comfortable shoe you will ever wear” it’s not surprise they are less than $2,000 from reaching their Kickstarter campaign goal! Check them out at Kickstarter.com.

Hylete launches Daily Circuit app
Now available on iOS and android, the Hylete Daily Circuit helps athletes more easily create a lifestyle of functional fitness. The 45-minute workout is a combination of endurance, strength, and cardio circuits that maximizes effectiveness and minimizes time commitment required. Read more at Hylete.com.

Liquid Force co-founder Tony Finn steps down from GM
22 years ago, Tony Finn and buddy Jimmy Redmon co-founded Liquid Force spreading the stoke of Wakeboarding, Wakesurfing, and Wakeskating around the globe. This month marks a significant milestone in the brand’s history as Tony decides to hand over the GM role. While he moves on to new things, Finn will stay connected to the brand, consulting on brand development, new products, marketing concepts and international sales. Read the full story at TransWorld Business.

Reef and Eagle Creek’s Roger Spatz on SES Podcast
Shop-Eat-Surf’s latest podcast featured an interview with Roger Spatz, newly minted President of Reef. Spatz discusses the importance of a disciplined selling to protect brand integrity, why Reef is cleaning up third party selling on online marketplaces, how he wants to help brick-and-mortar retailers improve their online strategies and more. Listen to the podcast with your executive membership on Shop-Eat-Surf.com.

ROTH Capital expands gaming, leisure & lifestyle coverage
With the addition of David Bain as a Senior Research Analyst in Gaming, Leisure and Lifestyle, ROTH Capital Partners expands its commitment to Consumer Research coverage in these important sectors. Bain has been a frequent guest of CNBC and has multiple appearances with Fox Business and other networks. Read the full press release.
 

TEN’s MOTOR TREND YouTube Channel surpassed 5 million subscribers
MOTOR TREND YouTube Channel surpassed 5 million subscribers, building on its position as YouTube’s top US producer of original automotive programming. The MOTOR TREND channel covers everything from new and classic cars, trucks and SUVs to automotive lifestyle, car culture, road trips and motorsports—all developed from unique opportunities offered by TEN’s portfolio of more than 40 automotive brands. Read the full announcement on TheEnthusiastNetwork.com. 
 

VerifiR makes it easier to track down stolen bikes
Bike manufacturers are catching on to the value VerifiR’s patent pending data chip can bring to recovering stolen bike. Some of the leading carbon bike frame manufacturers are imbedding VerifiR’s chips into their frames, to authenticate the bike and capture information about the bike’s owner and origin. Using near field communication, that data can be transmitted to a smart phone and alerts regarding stolen bikes are automatically sent to Bike Index. Read the full feature on Outside Magazine.

Wax Research breaks into the bike market
Wax Research Inc, the creators of the familiar brands Sticky Bumps and WEND Snow, launches into the bike market with new wax based bike chain lube, WEND Bike. Although new to the market, WEND Bike already has two big wins under their belts, with the overall winners of Race Across America as well as the Gravel World Championships choosing to use WEND Bike product based upon performance, not sponsorship. See what WEND Bike has been up to and learn more at Wendwaxworks.com.

Solo Eyewear featured in REI documentary

2015 SDSI Springboard Graduate Solo Eyewear was recently featured in an REI sponsored Documentary “The Rise of the Outdoorsy Female Entrepreneur”, celebrating women making an impact on the outdoor industry. Watch the documentary at rei.com.

San Diego ranks #4 for startup activity
Raising an impressive seven spots since 2016, the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos metropolitan area ranked #4 in the nation out of 40 metropolitan areas for startup activity - beating out startup heavyweights like, New York, Denver and San Francisco. That is according to an annual report by the Kauffman Foundation. The report measures startup density within a city, the rate of new entrepreneurs and the opportunity for entrepreneurs within a city. Read San Diego Business Journal’s full analysis of the report.

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish – Recently, one of our clients, after engaging us to a recruit mid-level sales professional, decided to go back to square 1, after the lead candidate declined their offer. Was the candidate a solid fit culturally – yes! Did they have the necessary education & technical know-how – yes! Were they articulate & could they demonstrate their industry knowledge – yes! Was the candidate's asking price above market – no! So why was the offer turned down? Because our client decided not to spend an additional $5k - $10k the candidate asked for, matching another offer they had received. The client felt "slighted" by the candidate's counteroffer for more money. Keep in mind this is a sales role, meaning for every month the position goes unfilled, the company is literally losing revenue. The typical sales recruiting process takes 3 months from launch to the day the new hire shows up for work. With an average sales cycle of 30 days, an average deal size of $15k, & the average salesperson closing 3 deals/month, that means the client opted to save $10k (the amount it would have taken for the candidate to accept their offer), while forfeiting $165,000 in potential revenue! While no company should feel forced to pay above market, it would benefit every company to do a quick cost/benefit analysis to eliminate any emotionality from the hiring process.

Job Openings
Sales Executive, Industrial Products - SoCal
Sales Executive, Building Products – AZ & Germany
Technology Marketing Specialist, Land Development, San Diego - FILLED
Business Development Executive, Professional Services, Tempe/Phoenix, AZ - FILLED
VP Business Development, International Trade Finance, Los Angeles - FILLED
Director of Brand Innovation, Telecom – Los Angeles - FILLED
National Sales Executive, Medical Products – Los Angeles/Santa Barbara - FILLED

Advntur - CEO click for info, contact matt.doran@advntur.com

Challenged Athletes Foundation – Creative Service Manager, Digital Marketing Manager click for info 

Competitor Group – Multiple Positions Available click for info

ElliptiGO – Sales Operations Specialist click for info

Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa - Multiple positions available click for info

J!NX - Multiple positions available click for info 

KPMG - Multiple positions available click for info

Red Door Interactive - SEO Specialist, Full stack ASP.NET Developer (Marketing Technology) click for info

SKLZ - Multiple positions available click for info

TurningPoint Executive Search is SDSI's resident expert for hiring, retention and job search. A San Diego native with more than 16 years of recruiting experience, President and Founder, Ken Schmitt is available as a sounding board who can share industry “best practices” with SDSI members.  

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Through Aug. 31 - SDSI Springboard Class 10 Application Period click for info

Jun. 22- SDSI Cycling SIG – Rider Safety Visibility, 6pm, click for info

Jul. 25 – SDSI Board of Directors Meeting at Petco Park

Aug. 1 – SDSI Springboard Class 10 Quick Pitch/Elevator Pitch Presentation

Aug. 10 – SDSI General Membership Meeting

Aug. 22 – SDSI Advisory Board Meeting 4-6pm

Sep. 12 - SDSI General Membership Meeting

Oct. 24 – SDSI Board of Directors Meeting at Jackie Robinson Family YMCA, 4-6pm

Nov. TBD – SDSI General Membership Meeting

Nov. 14 – SDSI Advisory Board Meeting

Dec. 12 – SDSI Holiday Party

Jun. 19-23 - San Diego Startup Week click for info

Jul. 8 - Vans x Sun Diego Boardshops AM SLAM Surf Contest Series Event 2, Pacific Beach click for info

Jul. 13 - SDBJ 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies Awards, Paradise Point, SD, click for info

Jul. 13 - Shmooz at Agenda Long Beach click for info

Jul. 13-15 - Agenda Long Beach click for info

Jul. 25-29 - Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, Salt Lake City, UT click for info 

Jul. 28 - Shmooz at OR, Salt Lake City, UT click for info

Jul. 29-Aug. 6 - Vans US Open of Surfing, Huntington Beach click for info

Aug. 3 - The Surfing Walk of Fame Induction Day, 10.00a.m., Huntington Beach Click for info

Aug 19 - Vans x Sun Diego Boardshops AM SLAM Surf Contest Series Event 3, Ocean Beach click for info

Sep. 13-15 - SFIA Industry Leaders Summit, Chicago, IL click for info 

Sep. 20-22 - Interbike, Las Vegas, NV click for info

Sep. 30 - Vans x Sun Diego Boardshops AM SLAM Surf Contest Series Event 4, San Clemente click for info

Oct. 4 - TurningPoint Executive Search: Sales & Marketing Leader Award, Del Mar click for info