Katie: Welcome back to the BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com/overtime. We're here in chapter 2 with Russ Cappers's interview with Nate Alder, Founder and CEO of Klymit, a company that specializes in inflatable insulation gear for the outdoorsie type. So this is going to be a great one where we actually hear a snowboarder turned CEO and his vision for the athletic future.

Nate: Well Klymit is a new outdoors technology company where we've innovated all kinds of new product for outdoor athletic sports, snow sports, and one of our first products primarily being a insulation technology we came up with where we use noble gases, like argon, to insulate outdoor gear and apparel. It's the lightest and the warmest, most eco-friendly insulation. It'll keep you warm no matter what the conditions are; even if you fall in a river and get wet, you'll still stay warm.

Russ: Okay, now argon. I'm a little bit familiar with that. They use that in some of the double-paned window insulation, correct?

Nate: Exactly. We're actually not the inventor of using argon as an insulator. It's been proven in a number of different industries, number of different products we just happened to find a way to be able to take that same concept and put it into clothing and gear.

Russ: Okay. Wow. Are you the first to do that?

Nate: We actually are.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: Very first ones to be able to insulate gear with any kinda gas.

Russ: Okay. I'm just real curious about this, Nate. What was the idea trigger that caused you to think, "Hey, I can do this,"?

Nate: I actually never knew that I could do it until we did it. [Laughter] It was, you know, it was kinda one of those things where you've just got a good gut feeling and you believe it and you wanna prove it out but the idea came from when I was scuba diving off the coast of Brazil and I learned about how they use argon inside of dry suits for extremely cold Arctic diving as part of the training for scuba diving. I was a snowboard instructor at the time while trying to put myself through college and I figured, "You know, if they can put it there, why can't we put it everywhere else?" Just thought there could be some great value in the snow sports apparel industry and just came up with a little idea on how to do that. Started out with our university business plan competition and took fifth place that year but then the next year we came back and with a prototype and pretty much blew everyone's socks off and won more competitions than any other team or university so far.

Russ: Wow, okay so what university was that at that you started?

Nate: It was at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Russ: Okay. Very interesting. Now I know the vest that you have on is one of your products, correct?

Nate: Yeah, that's right.

Russ: Okay. Now today is the vest the only product that you use that you actually fill up with argon gas for this insulation?

Nate: Currently it is, but by the summertime, we expect to have a number of other products that we'll be introducing to the markets, very lightweight, compact camping pads and some other products as well, too. But then we're also innovating other products that don't use gas. We're a solutions company. We're a innovation company and so we're not sticking to just one thing. We like to create multiple platform technologies and so the argon gas can - the platform technology can be - because it can be applied to so many different places and different products and markets and we like to invent other products that could do the same thing as well, too. So we've got some pretty other unique lightweight, very efficient, equipment for the outdoor -

Russ: Well give us a sample of those.

Nate: The one I'm probably most excited to launch next would be a camping pad that rolls up to a little bit bigger than my fist.

Russ: Wow.

Nate: And it weighs under eight ounces.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: So it's the world's lightest and most compact camping pad. It can be used by itself in spring and summer or you stick it underneath any other camping pad in the wintertime and it'll double to triple the R value or the insulation value of another camping pad. And that one's pretty cool because, you know, in the outdoors exploration industry we're always pushing to get lighter and more compact.

Russ: Right.

Nate: And so we've definitely taken it to a new level where the current lightest one from another company that was launched last year - their lightest weight that they boast of is about 16 ounces and so we're cutting that in half and cutting the size in about a third.

Russ: Wow, real cool. Well, so was there always sort of an interest in your background in apparel or in, in fabrics and doing things like that?

Nate: [Laughter] Oh, you know what, actually I am not an apparel person.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: [Laughter] I, I mean obviously I wear clothes, so that's about as far as I go and I - but I, I'm a gear junkie.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: I love high-tech gear and I love stuff that works. I love stuff that works really, really well and - but of course you know while building a business you gotta keep your mind open to the value of branding and marketing and other things - where I'm mostly a science geek guy and outdoor enthusiast. I usually don't buy into the whole branding thing, myself. I won't buy a pair of jeans just because they're from a famous designer.

Russ: Right.

Nate: You know, I buy my jeans at Walmart for 15 bucks. So -

Russ: Okay.

Nate: But I've learned the value of being able to do that so we've, you know, obviously brought in some people that do help with the brand building and also the product line extensions with other things such as shells and base layers that don't have the NobleTek insulation but they do have some pretty unique characteristics to them that are pretty cool.

Russ: Okay. And you're actually selling product and bringing in revenue, now?

Nate: We are.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: We launched our product a few months ago and when we first launched it, we had sold out so quickly, we got backordered four months. So -

Russ: Wow!

Nate: - it was doing - pretty exciting.

Russ: That's a cool problem to have, too. So how did you launch it? How is it distributed?

Nate: The way it's distributed is right now we offer it through our website where people can buy it there and then it's fulfilled by our retail partners. So essentially we have an online store through our website but instead of competing directly with our customers, with the retailers -

Russ: Right.

Nate: - we're trying to support those specialty shops and the small businesses. We actually will send the order to them and they fulfill it.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: Or you can actually go to one of those retail locations and pick one up and try it on, test it out, and buy it directly there as well.

Russ: And which stores carry the product?

Nate: You can go to our website and contact us there and we can send you a list.

Russ: Okay, okay. And what's the website address?

Nate: It's www.klymit.com -

Russ: Okay.

Nate: - and that's K-L-Y-M-I-T.com.

Russ: Okay and I understand too, Nate, that you've actually sort of been doing some high level advertising these days as well, correct?

Nate: Not necessarily advertising but yeah, a lotta grassroots efforts, actually.

Russ: Okay. I heard some things about some Olympians that might actually be using the product?

Nate: Yeah, we've got an athlete that has picked up on this technology. His name is Erik Fisher.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: And incredible downhill skier. I believe he did a Super G and just a few months ago, he had actually broken his wrist. He had broken his arm and it was really pretty messed up -

Russ: Right.

Nate: and he had, just before the Olympics, had the cast taken off and to go do his training and do his qualification rounds and also when he went to compete in the World Cup, he actually taped the ski pole to his hand because it was so messed up he couldn't hold onto it, it hurt too much.

Russ: Okay. Okay.

Nate: But that's how hardcore and dedicated kinda guy he is.

Russ: Yeah.

Nate: And he's been wearing our gear for the last, I think two or three months and he just loves it. He blogs and tweets about it all the time and how much he loves the stuff.

Russ: Okay. Now, are you tellin' me that he was just a regular customer that said, "Hey I'm gonna try this out," and wears it or is he like -

Nate: He, he read about it and he wanted to first approve, you know, make sure that it was something that he believes in -

Russ: Right.

Nate: - because you know, it's not really good for an athlete to sell out just to, you know, get a contract. So he wanted to test it out and validate the technology for himself.

Russ: Sure.

Nate: And then he fell in love with it and we were able to offer him a small sponsorship, 'cause we're, we're a very small company but he was enthusiastic to take whatever we're able to offer because he was just a very passionate person for the technology.

Russ: Wow, that's sort of a real cool endorsement for sure.

Nate: Oh, it's exciting, yeah.

Russ: You bet. All right. Well, I find your innovation to be very interesting and extraordinary, actually. but I'm real curious - were you always an entrepreneur as a young kid, as a middle-schooler? Were you already doing things like this?

Nate: I was probably an inventor, first and an entrepreneur second. I always try to, you know, find the crazy little gadgets I can create. My favorite show, ever, was MacGyver and I - yeah, you know, my dad was always happy I was learning things but afraid that I would actually try them.

Russ: [Laughter] Okay.

Nate: And I did. I tried 'em all. And so I just loved inventing things and then the idea to be actually - start doing some businesses came when I was - ah, you know, I obviously did the little things. The lemonade stands and -

Russ: Right.

Nate: - babysitting and then lawnmowing and I became a lifeguard. Got certified and so - and then I would go out and start my own little swimming school -

Russ: Okay.

Nate: - program and stuff but I think the real, I guess, startup business experience I had in the real world was with a previous company of my friend's that he started. I helped invent a technology that they use that's now getting picked up by the major cell phone carriers in the United States. So -

Russ: Whoa! Whoa.

Nate: - it's pretty exciting.

Russ: Well and at what age did you do that?

Nate: I was 22, 23.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: You know, just getting back into college after a mission I took for a two-year break and then as soon as I left that company, I took a little vacation down to Brazil and that's when I had the idea when I was going back to school. So it seems like I can never really finish school 'cause I keep getting involved with new inventions and new businesses and they're just too much fun.

Russ: Well what kinda student were you?

Nate: I was studying, really, just a - everything.

Russ: Right.

Nate: I had switched to probably every single department you can name.

Russ: Right.

Nate: But the good thing about that is it helped me learn a lot about how to bring together the business side of things, the engineering side of things, the sociological and psychological sides and just bringing teams together. Something - one of the most important things I've learned about the skills required for CEO isn't that you really have to be really good at a particular thing, more so that you can attract the right people that are good and help -

Russ: Okay.

Nate: - the team function together well.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: That's what I've learned to do.

Russ: Okay. Now your comment about your bopping around and not finishing, does that - which is very common here -

Nate: [Laughter]

Russ: - with guests on The BusinessMakers Show, I might add. Does that mean you've not achieved a degree yet?

Nate: I haven't, unfortunately. [Laughter]

Russ: Not an undergrad or not a grad. [Laughter]

Nate: My - yeah, it's one of the few times you'll have your university professors encourage you to leave school on a good note.

Russ: [Laughter]

Nate: They kick you out on a good note. They - but, you know, they're very closely watching and have me back to present frequently.

Russ: Right.

Nate: So it's fun.

Russ: Do you ever see yourself going back and actually getting the degree?

Nate: Absolutely. Because I am just too darn stubborn to quit at anything -

Russ: Okay.

Nate: - so I absolutely want to finish that one day but taking a break for now 'cause Klymit definitely needs my full attention.

Russ: Well, well your hands are full and you already mentioned kinda the importance of the team - how big is the team that you have today?

Nate: Currently we got six people full-time in the company.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: One of the most exciting additions to the team is we just hired a new VP of Sales who's got over 30 years of experience in the industry.

Russ: Wow.

Nate: So it's really nice - somebody who's got some executive level and some small leveling so starting new brands to working for large companies such as The Coleman Company or ACR Electronics and -

Russ: Cool.

Nate: So they know from beginning to end how to go from small new product or small new business to becoming very profitable and large.

Russ: Okay. Now before we wrap up this segment and get to the next, where we're actually gonna have you demonstrate the vest, filling it up, let's imagine that there's a young, aspiring entrepreneur just totally impressed with your achievements and what kind of advice would you give to them?

Nate: If I had to sum it up into one thing, I'd probably say the most important thing is that there's a lot of people who've been there before and although there's no one expert on everything, seek out as many mentors as you can get because there's a lot of stuff you don't know and you're gonna learn along the way but you need to have somebody there to guide you through it.

Russ: Well Nate, now I understand it's time. You're gonna demonstrate - before you do that, just explain once again, exactly what you're doing.

Nate: Yeah, so right now I've got the vest already partially inflated and so you can see that there's ridges on there and what those ridges are is actually chambers filled with argon gas.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: Argon happens to be one percent of the atmosphere so you're breathing it right now.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: And it's 100 percent safe, non-toxic, non-flammable and it's a very effective insulator. So by trapping it inside of these chambers, it makes you reflect your natural body heat back in towards you, keeping you very, very warm.

Russ: Okay. And you're gonna show us by filling it up all the way, now, correct?

Nate: Absolutely.

Russ: All right, let's take a look at this. I've seen this already once and it is -

[Laughter]

Russ: - it is really cool and impressive.

Nate: It's already partially inflated there so you'll see the majority of the effect already but what you do is you take a little valve system like this and it's got a little canister attached to it. Each canister can fill a medium vest about four to five times. Then you just take this and you plug it in this little valve thing, a little connector inside of the pocket and then what you do is there's a button right here. You just push that button and that starts to inflate the vest there.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: And when you're done inflating, you can leave this in your car, leave it wherever. The gas can stay in the vest for up to six months per inflation, so it can last a very long time.

Russ: Okay.

Nate: And then when you wanna cool off - if you're starting to overheat, all you have to do is turn this dial.

Russ: Yeah.

Nate: And then it releases some argon from the vest to help you cool off.

Russ: Wow, that is so cool. So is there, by chance are you gonna make coats and jackets and pants at some point, probably?

Nate: Absolutely. Within the next year or two we'll have a whole range of different products from apparel that people can buy.

Katie: Well that was pretty cool Esther, I kind of feel like going and pumping up some of my outterwear with gas.

Esther: I know.

Katie: Which is probably one of the weirdest things I have said on the show. [Laughter] Thanks Nate.

Esther: That's great.

Katie: Well be sure to stick around for a great Chapter 3 where we are learning all about some companies that have bounced back and lessons that BP can learn from those guys. Stick around. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com/overtime.