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Dave's Open Road

DAVE JACOBS

CEO/Founder
Spyder Ski Apparel

“Usually things just go along as a progression of your interests and what you like to do.”

INTERESTS:

Entrepreneurship Fashion Sports

THEMES DISCUSSED:

Failure Fear Focus Goals Inspiration Planning Regrets

TAGS:

apparel, clothes, engineering, Europe, kids, Lang, progress, rationalize, reason, ski, ski clothes, ski racing, skiing, strong idea, time

BIOGRAPHY:

"My father wanted me to be an engineer, so I went to St. Lawrence University in New York State. And the reason I went there was because they had a great ski coach and great ski team." Over the course of his college years, David excelled at his sport, receiving national championships and competing at a world level. Realizing the snow in his bones, David deliberately flunked out of engineering school, and focused on skiing full-time. David pursued his passion, climbed the professional slopes of skiing, and eventually found himself as vice president of a huge ski boot corporation, Lange. David's step into ski apparel happened years later. Visiting the European slopes, David noticed children wearing a different, fashionable kind of ski clothing. All around him, the people were buzzing about the 'hot gear' in Europe. David was inspired. David quit his job and started the ski clothing line, Hot Gear. His company rocketed for two years. However, he couldn't finance it, so he sold it to a big company. In four years, it went bankrupt. One day, he saw his son, a ski racer, wearing a padded Italian ski jacket. The jacket, despite being admired, was impossible to buy. David once again took an interest in ski clothing, and founded Spyder ski apparel. This time around, his company gained success: Today, Spyder is the largest ski specialty in the world.

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