Word: valleys
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Firmage grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, with one eye fixed on his math and science textbooks and another on the stars. He launched his first start-up, Serius Corp., in 1989 and sold it to Novell for $24 million four years later. He moved to Silicon Valley in '95, co-founded USWeb and joined the Internet gravy train...
...growing skateboard-shoe company with $40 million in annual sales. "Look at Nike. They're the best marketing machine in America, and they couldn't buy their way into skateboarding." Ironic that in the pre-nose-ring generation, Nike invented core. Coreness can reach ridiculous extremes. Almost every Velcro Valley firm has erected a half-pipe skateboard ramp on its premises. "We used to have one right out in the middle of the place," says Volcom's Woolcott, "but skateboards were, like, hitting people at their desks." Bummer...
...those who succeed in communicating core, the youth-apparel industry is a wholesome business activity. Teenagers spent $91.5 billion last year, and the men's and women's active-wear markets grew from $69 billion to $73 billion, according to the NPD Group. For leading Velcro Valley manufacturers like Quiksilver, that means a one-year, 37% increase in sales, to $316 million. Smaller firms like Hurley, Split, Girl, World, Ezekiel, Rusty and Shorties are reporting steady growth on sales of anywhere from $10 million to $70 million...
These explosive growth rates cause companies to confront the recurring Velcro Valley conundrum: What starts out as a couple of bros silk-screening T shirts and writing invoices on brown paper bags can quickly grow into a multimillion-dollar business. When that happens, it gets a little harder to take the afternoon off to go surfing. "If you want to grow," says Danny Kwok of Quiksilver, "you gotta give away a little bit of your life-style...
...sports magazines, and Woolcott further infuses his brand with coreness by sponsoring--for as much as $100,000 a year--alternative-sports stars such as skateboarder Rune Glifberg and snowboarder Terje Haakonsen. As a result, Volcom commands almost universal respect throughout the bro-brah network, as Kwok calls Velcro Valley's web of business connections...