One Old Guy Who Won’t Be Annoyed, Sorry

Image isn’t everything, but it can help sell the goods.

I thought of that as I read through this profile of Danny Kass, a 24-year old snowboarding phenom turned businessman.

Kass started competing in skateboarding and then snowboarding events at a young age. By 17, he had a sponsor to pay some of his bills.

He started his own snowboard-themed company, and being a bother to adults was part of the plan:

Kass turned his love of a sport that annoys the grown-ups into two Olympic silver medals, a bunch of X-Games medals and his own company, Grenade Gloves, whose products, from outerwear to goggles to gloves, are sold in 25 countries, 600 retail outlets in the United States and online at www.grenadegloves.com.

Kass’ elder brother, Matt, is the company’s CEO, and Kass is the vice president. They do their own designs, with the object, he laughed, being to scare the adults.

This year, he said, it’s “loud, vibrant colors all mixed together like a paint spill.”

Actually, I’m not sure whether “annoying the grown-ups” is part of Kass’s plan, or if it’s simply the words of a reporter going back to a cliche.

To be truthful, I couldn’t pick Kass’s clothing from out of a pile of stuff at a sports shop if I had to. But if it is designed to annoy or scare the adults, I have this to say: so what?

I respect the enterprise of business, and everyone in business has to find some comparative advantage. If annoying the adults is the advantage that some business owners seek, well, that’s the way it is. Just don’t expect me to go along. The sport is too great, the mountains are too big, the rides are too sweet, to let anyone else’s attitude, or business plan, get in my way of enjoying a ride.

(Source: “Mike Celizic,” Danny Kass is living the good life, Straus Newspapers, February 22, 2007)