Building Hydro Flask and Finding Purpose in Entrepreneurship with Travis Rosbach

The road to entrepreneurial success is long. It’s tedious. And there are points where it might make more sense to cut losses than it would be to keep forging onward. But sometimes, an idea gets bigger than just you – it becomes a movement… something that changes lives. 

“I was like, what happened, why do you not have water bottles,” Travis Rosbach said. “Because I did rock climbing in college, and I knew plastic water bottles were the way to go – the non-single use kind. And he said they didn't have any because of this stuff called BPA. He said ‘We're not really familiar with what it is or how serious it's going to be, but we pulled all the bottles just as a precautionary measure.’ And so it just came out my mouth: ‘I will do that.’”

Travis isn’t your typical entrepreneur – he’s far more comfortable in a scuba suit and a business suit, but he knows firsthand what it’s like to have a business take on a life of its own. He’s the co-founder of Hydro Flask, the most-used water bottle in the world, which he built by taking an $11,000 investment and turning it into a $210 million dollar household name. And he did it while facing seemingly insurmountable odds. Hear his story on this episode!

Main Takeaways:

• Teach yourself: The best way to learn isn’t always in an expensive MBA program or ivy-league college. Some of the best knowledge you’ll ever encounter can be found in the pages of books. Read, study, and absorb the lessons of those who have made a living doing what you want to do.
• Find the Answers Yourself: If you stop at the first challenge, you’ll never hit paydirt. If people tell you that what you want to do isn’t possible – find a way. Travis was told that there wasn’t a company in the world that could make his innovative new water bottle – so he went to Shanghai and found one himself.
• Find a Reason to Push Through the Hard Stuff: Running a business isn’t easy, but keep your eyes on why you started: why you began this journey in the first place. That reason will help you keep going when there are thousands of reasons to quit.

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This season of the Journey is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by UPS. To learn how UPS can help your small business, go to UPS.com/pivot.