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Josh
Reid
Co-founder of Rome Snowboard Design Syndicate, an
up-and-coming snowboard maker. The company sells its boards and
other snowboarding gear through nearly 500 retail outlets in North
America.
Annual revenue and employees:
Less than $4 million (estimated by industry analysts); 12
Age and home: 38; Waterbury, Vt.
Jumping off the lift: Reid and Rome's other co-founder, Paul
Maravetz, are serious snowboarders and college pals who worked together
in marketing and product development at Burton--the pioneer snowboarding
company. As the sport gained in popularity, Reid says, he and
Maravetz noticed the industry was becoming saturated with companies that
us3ed a standard formula: Team with an Olympic snowboarder, slap a logo
on a mediocre product, and market, market, market. "They didn't
really care about snowboarding," says Reid. In late 2001, the duo
launched their own company. |
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Building cred: Rome Teams up with boarders to help
market its products too, but instead of Olympians, Rome goes for stars of
snowboarding videos like Jonaven Moore, whose edgy stunts are popular with
hard-core boarders. Today, Rome sells 51 snowboard models, as well as
bindings and gloves.
Work and play: Although Reid snowboards much less now than h4e
did when he was a tester for Burton, he still makes getting out on the
mountain a p0riority for himself and his employees. "We're a
half hour from the resort of Stowe, " he says. "If you get
there right when it opens at 8 a.m., you can have fun for an hour and
still be at your desk before 10." --John Fried |
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CANON POWER-
SOT SD100
CAMERA, $300
"I use this to take photos and short videos of my kids. I
also take pictures at events to publish on our website." |
NEW ERA RED
SOX CAP, $30
"It keeps the hair out of my eyes. I wear New Era caps
because they allow me to not necessarily groom myself every
day." |
PIERCE
BROTHERS
ORGANIC COFFEE,
$10 A POUND
"Coffee provides added fuel for 15-hour days. And their Fog
Buster flavor tastes great." |
...and What I Covet
A SEVEN-DAY EXCURSION (BY HELICOPTER) TO THOMPSON PASS IN VALDEZ,
ALASKA, $6,000
"It's the best place to snowboard. It combines amazing lines
down large mountains with a safe snow pack. If you see
something cool in a video you can actually go do it there."
Photographs by Bob O'Conner
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