About Why Bamboo HistoryCrewInterns

After a series of conversations in late 2007 between the entrepreneurial Gregson family and Ron Stebenne, an old family friend and action sports pioneer, the foundation was laid to pursue bamboo skateboards to add to the existing bamboo line of products.  The initial thoughts were to be an industry OEM (original equipment manufacturer), not a brand, and service local shops, distributors, pro brands and individuals. 

Prior to 2007, other companies had tried using bamboo in skateboards, but none had been successful and quite honestly, the industry as a whole just wasn’t interested in pursuing a resource that would benefit the environment, because it’s bread and butter was banked on using Canadian maple; status quo! 

After discussions with a host of other skate factories and consulting with top board makers, we started the initial building and testing – 86% bamboo hybrids and 100% bamboo models.  Unfortunately, the hybrids didn’t match the strength and consistency that the 100%’s were demonstrating at that time so we pulled the plug on them. 

In 2008, we decided to go truly eco/green with 100% bamboo, 3 ply to start and based our first initial large-scale production run on this first version.  While these boards were very aesthetically pleasing, the decks were too flat and the quality would prove to be very inconsistent.  Nonetheless, we continued to work on the R&D relentlessly; investing into hundreds of decks at a time to be built and even covered the free shipping to shops to test them.

We made our industry debut at the Action Sports Retail (ASR) tradeshow in San Diego in January 2008. We received huge applause for our environmental initiatives towards sustainability – being featured on NBC TV and recognized by Action & Sports Innovators (ASI). Thanks to ASI, we later joined CONNECT and were assigned a sharp business mentor.

Late in 2008, Ron suggested to the other owners to interview Geoff Koboldt for the position of President to lead the direction of the company, whom they had consulted earlier in the year on the practicality of bamboo for decks.  Ron had worked with Geoff on a philanthropic/charity x-mas event in downtown LA at the Hollenbeck Youth Center, along with Governor Arnold and Kobe Bryant.  Since Geoff had left Dark Horse Distribution (Grind King, Termite Skateboards, Dogtown, Kreper) as V.P. of Strategic Operations and was looking for a solid executive role where he could build a brand from the ground up, the timing was impeccable.  Geoff would also ink an equity stake in the company as an additional owner and partner.  

Our primary marketing focus was on building a strong logo so we hired Creative Deployment , who also helped us develop the general framework for the website.  Furthermore, we utilized the web expertise of Runningfish to finish the web programming and help us manage the IT side of it. Oh, and we chose the name BambooSK8 – plain and simple, no gimmicks!  We then took the decks to the streets to get real credibility including guerilla marketing the X-games with postcard flyers where we nearly got ticketed by police 2 different times.  Ironically that year, Bob Burnquist won the mega ramp on a bamboo hybrid deck.  His deck was made by another manufacturer but utilized our bamboo veneers.  Again, the industry wasn’t ready to accept and recognize the power in a natural resource like sustainable bamboo when the standard was maple; status quo!

During 2008, we joined the International Association of Skateboard Companies  IASC and attended the first IASC summit at Camp Woodward. At this event, we met Pierre, the owner of Sole Technology who kindly allowed us to test our decks in his amazing STI lab.  On one particular day of blind testing, the subject ollied 3” higher on a bamboo deck versus maple.  We also joined the Action Sports Environmental Coalition ASEC and attended their 2nd summit in Laguna Beach in August, as well as many ASEC events around southern California.

In September, we exhibited at the Action Sports Retail ASR trade show and received even more enthusiasm for our newest 100% bamboo caramelized decks, which were carbonized to remove some of the moisture in the decks resulting in more strength. Our booth made a bold statement as it was completely done in bamboo – walls, chairs, table, etc. along with a 25’ bamboo pole/art piece.

We couldn’t have done a lot of the hard work it takes to get a company off the ground without the help of many interns; most of which who were finishing college or having recently graduated with a business degree.  The internship program was in its infancy stage but would later provide the foundation for future internship classes; solidifying its value.

 

 

 

By 2009, we tried furthering the deck technology with 4, 5, 6 and even 7 ply bamboo, although it was found to be too heavy at a whopping 3 lbs., with most of that weight coming from the glue.  We launched our first graphic deck the “Capped Langur” which featured the body of blues musician Albert King with the monkey head attached to it essentially screaming “save me” from being endangered.  Funds from this deck would go to support the World Wildlife Fund to protect endangered animals. 

We were still very active in the industry this year despite operating on a very limited budget and operating at a financial loss due to our extensive investments.  We sadly witnessed hundreds of shops going out of business due to the economy and unfortunately lost a lot of money from servicing customers with goods who never paid.  Towards that end, one shop decided to simply not pay us yet remained in business.  Long story short – we hired an attorney in their state and they ended up paying all of our costs, attorney costs and damages.  Moral of the story – be honest and don’t try messing with the little guy! 

At the beginning of 2009, we launched 4 sponsorship levels with the Eco Tribe on Loopd, which would later become Hookit.  This allowed thousands of skate kids an opportunity to promote our brand while learning how to promote themselves and become little
entrepreneurs as they learned how to sell decks and establish relationships with their local shops.  By the fall, we had over 4000 Eco Tribe sponsored athletes, 150,000+ brand hits, etc.

By April, we started developing 100% longboards after an incredible demand for them.  By June, we were testing them with great success before showcasing them at ASR in September and finally introducing them in November.  These were 5ply; 46” pintails, 39” fish and 42” double kick.  Even our main competitors got a little nervous at how good they were, so we focused on differentiating them with different layouts, shapes, etc.  We also ran with the best quality components - Randal Trucks, Khiro Risers, Abec 7 bearings and our own custom high-quality eco wheels made from 20% corn.

By May, we thankfully sold out of the initial decks (version 1).  What was left were decks with blemishes that we could not use for production, so we offered them to artists to be used as a canvas, as well as having donated some to various orphanages and charities around the world including India, Nicaragua and Compton. 

As of September 2009, we were on our 5th group of interns-in-training and are always amazed to see the great ideas they bring to the table.  We take pride in helping these talented individuals get a leg up on the competition out there.  We are confident that many of these individuals will go onto great careers in the action sports industry.  Already from class 1, Kenny is now working with Dark Horse Distribution as a General Manager; class 2, Mark was hired by us as an office manager and then promoted to Operations Manager; class 3, Krystie now works for FOX moto-x as a senior designer; class 4, Andrew was hired as our Warehouse Manager.

In October, we brought back a brand new and improved hybrid 70% bamboo deck (version 2), as well as added an 8.25”.  This new deck allowed for a deeper concave, greater strength and as-always an impeccable POP.  Unbelievably, our first run of these sold out in a whopping 20 days.

Charity has always been at the forefront of who we are as people so we supported the Tony Hawk Charity Standup for Skateparks at Billionaire Ron Burkle’s estate in Beverly Hills.

2010 found us hitting as many surf and skate events such as the Maloof Money Cup, US Open, Cardiff Surf Classic, Ki event, X-games, etc.  A highlight of the summer was sharing a booth at the Vans Warped Tour for 43 dates along with Concrete Wave magazine as part of their passport program to help non-profits.  Our pro skater Jeff Wright was found at many of these events tearing up the little mini-ramp.

We launched a series of new SUTSU decks; icon, smashed and circles.  Also, we released the “Panda Revolution” deck, which was ultimately created by fans of the brand.  With more than 100 entries in the design-a-deck contest on Hookit, we took the top 2 winners and combined their graphics with our own twist.  The success of this deck proves that it’s not always about flashy art and you have to listen more to what the young skater wants, which we do.  Still our most successful deck to date, the “Capped Langur”, allowed us to continue donating a % of each sale to the WorldWildlifeFund.  We also launched  8.5” decks for those bigger skaters.

With the rise in longboarding, we released a series of new blank and graphic decks and started to focus on more of our brand identity, with each deck having a slanted “B” & “BambooSK8” at the top of the nose.

The first was the “Octobomb,” featuring a vibrantly colored octopus with a Polynesian-styled body surrounding a water mine (bomb) with the BambooSK8 logo.  The irony was that this deck was all about saving our oceans.  We had a huge Octobomb launch party at PB Surf in June with a ton of sponsors and music by BoomSnap and Seth Peterson.  Funds from this party went to support the National Wildlife Federation along with a % of each Octobomb deck sold moving forward.   

The second was a new 39” square tail, which we designed with skateboard historian Dale Smith.  The graphic for the deck featured a samurai warrior in a forest with peaceful Japanese trees in the gray horizon against the dark violent weeds in the foreground.  The warrior was designed so the natural bamboo would show through the warrior’s armor.  The next was a 42” double-kick, with one of our best graphics yet, featuring a Japanese tsunami.  The sketched art contained a boat with BambooSK8 written on it, fighting the violent waters in the same way that reflects us fighting the good fight for sustainability. 

In the distance were birds flying out of the white light tunnel representing peace and hope.  We also created new 65mm gold wheels with matching tsunami graphic.  The third deck was simply shrinking down the pintail from 46” to 44” and changing the veneer layout.

In the fall we again supported Tony Hawk’s Standup for Skateparks charity event by donating longboards and short decks, which we were proud to see our decks earn the maximum bids for charity.

 

 

 

 

Sales increased significantly early on in 2011, which was proof that our brand was finally being accepted and valued in the industry.  We weren’t going anywhere – despite the economy, the competition, etc.  It was quite interesting to hear how one distributor perceived us as a much larger company than we were, which was quite flattering.  We were saddened to see more shops go out of business, grateful for the ones who survived and continued to support us and those new ones who found us allowing us to expand into Brazil, Germany, etc.

By spring we launched a new 7”x29" grom deck, a new 10”x33" pool skool deck and our own custom grip tape with our logo die-cut into it.  We released 3 new SUTSU graphic decks, a "Ride for Earth" graphic and another called "Don't touch my wood".  We were surprised as skaters seem to be moving up in sizes as we saw a major increase in 8.25 and 8.5" decks being sold.

Due to the devastation in Japan after the tsunami, we immediately donated $10/deck to the Red Cross and continued throughout the year.  We also supported the Grind for Life charity by sponsoring the Clash at Clairemont event and we were all featured on NBC news.  As a part of earth day, we were featured on Fox 5 and CW 6 news.

We brought on an amazing videographer named Nate Wooldridge who moved from Las Vegas to sunny Oceanside.  In a short period of time, he worked tirelessly producing a series of trick tip videos, a BambooSK8 commercial, and much more while bringing a new high-def edge to BambooSK8.  As a result, YouTube views went up, Facebook likes went up, Twitter followers went up, etc.

By November, we completely revamped our skate team due to the incredible work of Nate helping us out..  He took on the daunting task of weeding out hundreds of young skaters who had applied, dwindling down the current skaters and seeking out new ones that would legitimize our brand into 2012.  Towards that end, we proudly added Ryan Strader and Matt Cartledge, whom were both sent by us to compete in the Tampa Am.  The fall team consisted of am's Ryan, Matt and Mikee Brown, as well as flow skaters David Kahn, Nick Sauls and Terrence Marshall. 

We graduated class 9 of our interns in May, who were by far, the best class to date.  Geoff C. would be offered a position helping manage our warehouse.  Class 10, we had graduated just 1 intern who survived named Timo who was from Finland (and loved Paul Stanley of KISS).  Class 11 graduated 3 solid interns.  In August, we also brought on a new graphic artist intern named Jacquelyn, who continues to do an amazing job.  We owe a great deal of gratitude to these interns and all of our interns who have been instrumental in helping us get to where we are at.

2011 has been an awesome year and we are thankful to all who purchased our products.  Happy Holidays!

In January, we will be launching a brand new 4th generation 6-ply design, which we are stoked on.  In addition, we have a new 44" pintail design based around the Mayan Aztecs.