San Diego Sport Innovators

ADVISORY BOARD

Bill Walton - Executive Chairman of the Board

William Theodore Walton, III (Bill) was born on November 5th, 1952, in San Diego, California. He was introduced to the game of basketball while in the fourth grade at Blessed Sacrament Elementary School by Coach Frank "Rocky" Graciano. Walton then attended Helix High School, where the basketball coach was Gordon Nash. At Helix, his team won the California Interscholastic Federation High School title two years in a row, while winning their final 49 consecutive games. Walton enrolled at UCLA in 1970 and played center for John Wooden's Varsity team for three seasons (1972-1974). He was a member of two NCAA championship teams compiling an NCAA record 88 consecutive game winning streak. He was the recipient of several awards, including the NCAA Player of the Year Award in 1972, '73 and '74. At UCLA Walton was a scholar-athlete who also earned Academic All-American honors three years in a row. He graduated with honors earning a B.A. in History. Walton's professional career began when he was the number one overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft by the Portland Trailblazers. He won championship titles with the Blazers and the Boston Celtics. He also played with the San Diego Clippers, and the relocated Los Angeles Clippers. Over the course of his NBA career, he was honored with numerous awards, including NBA's MVP and All-Star Team. Eventually Bill was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Walton started his broadcasting career in 1990 as an analyst for the then Prime Ticket Network. Walton worked for CBS Sports in the early 90's during the NCAA Final Four and then for NBC for many years, including work on the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games. Over the last 15 years he has worked for ABC, ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox, MSNBC, Turner Sports, KCAL, and the NBA. In 2001, Walton won an Emmy for best live sports television broadcast. Walton looks forward to building the San Diego Sport Innovators (SDSI) program with CONNECT. SDSI is a business accelerator that connects and drives the growth of San Diego's vibrant sports economy by offering innovative programs and services for start ups, mature companies and service providers.
Steven Astephen – President, Action Sports Lifestyle at Wasserman Media Group

Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Steve Astephen began his professional career in 1988 when he joined Vail Associates. While in Vail, he began to recognize the growth potential of the snowboarding and skateboarding industry. Expanding on his knowledge of the industry, in October 1989, Astephen and partner open The Other Side, the first snow and skate retail store in Beaver Creek, CO which quickly became one of the most influential shops among the top snowboarders in the region. In 1994, Astephen moved to San Diego, California and became Team Manager of Lamar Snowboards and was quickly promoted to Marketing Director. In his two years at Lamar, he developed a licensing deal with Nintendo for the first-ever snowboarding video game and assembled one of the top snowboarding teams in the industry. Astephen began a short career at Mantra Sunglasses as Director of Sales and Marketing. Astephen resigned from Mantra along with the president of the company and together they began consulting independently for several companies, including Sungold Eyewear. In 1998, Astephen founded THE FAMILIE an athlete management and marketing agency based in Carlsbad, CA. His success quickly grew to a roster of over 30 of the world's top action sports athletes in BMX, Motocross, Snowboarding, Skateboarding, Surfing, and Wakeboarding. By 1999 THE FAMILIE was established as the premiere action sports marketing and athlete management agency. Clients included ESPN X Games, Disney, Stat Card, Powerade and Nike ACG, among others. In early 2003, The Familie acquired Arizona based, Action Sports Management creating of one of the largest action sports firms in the world, with over 50 athletes competing in seven sports. Shortly following, Astephen partnered with Wasserman Media Group. Currently Steve Astephen serves as Principal of Action Sports Management for Wasserman Media Group and resides in North County.
Ludo Boinnard - Founder & CEO, KLIИT

A serious National Enduro motorcycle racer in his youth, Ludo experienced with California as early as 1987 in order to pursue his racing career. Instead, the dynamism encountered in the new world unleashed the entrepreneur in him. A successful brand builder with a knack for team synergy and global understanding of the markets, Ludo has developed and sold multiple industry-leading companies in the action sports space, particularly in the Motocross field. In some of those ventures, his involvement was just as a consultant but most were as co-founder, CEO & President, like ONE Industries, sold in 2007 to Los Angeles based private equity group Riordan Lewis and Haden. Ludo accompanied the sale of the company through May 2008, and kept increasing sales and profits by +35%. Free from the day-to-day management of ONE Industries, he then took a 2+ year sabbatical to enjoy life with his wife and three children. During that time, while still being an avid motorcycle racer, Boinnard competed in rallies in Africa and South America, co-owned a European-based rally team, and did finish the 2010 Dakar Rally. During his time off, Ludo kept light consulting jobs related to action sports & the ever present challenges met by consumer brands over a perfect integration of their marketing with global distribution. Ludo has 25 years of experience in product concept, brand launch, marketing, management, manufacturing and global distribution in both hard and softgoods. Ludo also serves as Co-Chairman of SD Sport Innovators (SDSI) managed by CONNECT, a Southern California business accelerating, trade organization headed by Executive Chairman & NBA legend Bill Walton. One of his current ventures include SnowFab, a premium snow goods licensing company which was revealed at SIA trade show this past January and newly released freeski Brand KLIИT.
Michael Brower - CFO, Gunnar Optics

Michael Brower is currently the CFO for Gunnar Optics, a market leader in the $24 billion Digital Performance Eyewear Category. Previously he was the CFO for Event Network, the leading retail operator of gift shops in cultural attractions across North America. Prior to Event Network Michael was the Additional prior experience includes; CFO for Cleatskins; CFO for Triple 7 Group, a holding Company for several companies who design, develop, and distribute products for the cycling and moto-cross markets; General Manager and CFO for PowerMetal Technologies, an advanced materials company providing nano-enabled components for the sporting goods and consumer products markets (investors included DuPont); CFO for Orange 21, a leading provider of eyewear products to the action sports and youth markets where he led an IPO. From 1993 through 1999 he held various positions with Odyssey Golf, a manufacturer of golf equipment, including Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and General Manager and Executive Vice President. As VP/GM, Michael managed Odyssey Golf through their rapid growth period in which sales grew from $6 to over $60 million in sales in two years and became the global market share leader in the putter category. Odyssey was sold to Callaway Golf for $130 million. Over this career, Michael has raised over $80 million in private and public equity and debt capital. Mr. Brower began his professional career as a staff accountant with KPMG LLP. Michael received a Bachelor Degree from Chico State, and earned an MBA from USD. He is also a CPA.
Brian Enge - VP of Strategic Projects, Active Network

Brian is currently VP of Strategic Projects at the Active Network, the largest global provider of integrated technology solutions, marketing services and online media properties that encourage and enable participation in activities and events. Prior to joining Active Network, Brian was CEO of Zoot Sports, a global leader in endurance sports focused on providing the athlete with the ultimate in performance apparel, wetzoots, footwear, and accessories, which was acquired by K2 Sports in early 2009. Prior to joining Zoot Sports, Brian held a series of leadership positions in the sports apparel industry. He also was the senior vice president of Saucony and the general manager of the Hind performance clothing division. Prior to Saucony, Brian was president of the North American subsidiary of Schoffel’s outdoor and ski apparel brand. Brian is a former professional soccer player for the Wichita Wings of the National Professional Soccer League, and a graduate of both Harvard Business School and Harvard College, where he captained the soccer team in 1991. In his spare time, he is a triathlete and marathoner.
Tony Finn - Founder & President, LiquidForce

In the early 1980s, Tony Finn developed the Skurfer - the first ever wakeboard. Initially selling them to friends in Mission Bay, Tony began mass producing in 1985 and it became a business. He began selling Skurfers worldwide and traveling around the globe spreading the sport. In 1988, Skurfers were successfully sold in more than 400 stores in the U.S. and 40 countries worldwide and Tony was featured on the cover of “Water Ski Magazine.” In 1989, Skurfer was sold to Kransco where Tony became sales manager and continued to develop the sport of Skurfing for Kransco. He was hired by ESPN as the voice of wakeboarding and announced multiple events including the X games. In 1997 Tony founded Liquid Force; widely recognized as the No. 1 wakeboard brand in the world dedicated to relentless innovation, progressive design, maximum functionality and unparalleled quality.
Kevin Flanagan - Founder & CEO, The People’s Movement

Kevin Flanagan, currently the CEO of The People’s Movement, has 14 years of diverse marketing experience in the action sports industry. Kevin began working at Oakley in the Sports Marketing department before moving to Europe to become the Director of European Marketing. Following his European experience, Kevin returned to Oakley headquarters as the Director of International Marketing, where he oversaw marketing departments throughout the world. After Oakley, Kevin joined Broadband Interactive Group as Vice President of Marketing where he created a cross platform media company focused on the convergence of broadband and TV. At Broadband, Flanagan also managed all creative for the Bluetorch properties which included a daily one hour action sports show on Fox Sports Net, four print magazines, a highly visited web site and major live events. Joining the Globe Shoes team as Vice President of Marketing, Kevin developed effective marketing plans for multiple actions sports brands including Globe Shoes, Gallaz Shoes, Mooks apparel and Whyte House Entertainment. Prior to his current position at Reef, Kevin spent 4 years as Group Show Director with SDSI partner, ASR. At ASR, Kevin had P&L responsibility for the Action Sports Retailer Trade Show portfolio where he increased profits in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 through sales growth and expense management. While at Reef, Kevin developed strategic 5-year marketing plans, conducted global consumer research and designed creative for print, proprietary events and digital media platforms. Kevin currently serves on the board of directors for the Surf Industry Manufactures Association and SD Sport Innovators
Dave Fredrickson - Auditing Partner, KPMG LLP

David Fredrickson is the KPMG LLP auditing partner responsible for delivering outstanding audit and accounting services to large and small, global and local, public and private clients in San Diego, and is primarily focused on consumer markets, biotech and middle market companies. He has spent 10 of his 11-year career with KPMG in the San Diego office. David has experience in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, retail, restaurant, government contracting, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, publishing, service, and software. David has served KPMG nationally as a national instructor and as a member of the Training and Methodology Team. He has also served the San Diego office as: a financial instruments and derivatives audit resource; a staff mentor; as the local office training coordinator and a supplemental reviewer on public engagements related to the audit of internal controls over financial reporting under PCAOB Auditing Standards. David is or has been active in several civic and charitable organizations, including serving on the board of directors of The John Brockington Foundation, CWI-USA, The Twin Trails Education Foundation and on the board of trustees of New Life Presbyterian Church of La Mesa.
Jeff Kearl - Chairman of the Board, Skullcandy & CEO, Stance

Jeff Kearl is an entrepreneur and angel investor. He is the Chairman of the board of Skullcandy and CEO of Stance, a company with an original point of view on socks. Jeff was previously the Executive Vice President and on the Board of Directors at Logoworks, a high-growth Internet startup backed by Benchmark Capital and Shasta Ventures. Logoworks was successfully acquired by HP in 2007. After the acquisition, Jeff headed strategy and new ventures for HP’s Internet services businesses. Prior to Logoworks, Jeff was an Associate at vSpring Capital where he worked on software and Internet investments including Altiris (IPO then acquired by Symantec), Avinti (acquired by M86 Security), Cerberian (acquired by Blue Coat Systems), comScore (NASDAQ:SCOR), Control4, MediConnect and Senforce (acquired by Novell). In addition, Jeff has invested in over 20 start-ups since 2004 including 99 Designs, Ancestry.com (NASDAQ:ACOM), Celtek, Coupa, Dynamic Signal, Familylink, Matuse, MovieClips.com, Needle, Omniture (IPO then acquired by Adobe), Outright and Skullcandy. Jeff is the Chairman of the Board of Skullcandy and a board member at Needle and Connect SDSI. He is on the investment advisory committees at Innovations Capital Partners and Mercato Partners. He holds a BA from Brigham Young University and lives in San Clemente, CA.
Alan Kidd - President, San Diego Sports Commission & San Diego Hall of Champions

Alan (Al) Kidd became the President of the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum in June of 2003 following a career in advertising, marketing and education as well as owning a business. Al spent much of his early years growing up in a housing project where he developed a close friendship with his coach and mentor, Paul Serra who helped shape his passion for working with kids, a commitment Al holds to this day. It was through Mr. Serra’s guidance and discipline that Al earned a baseball scholarship to the University of Toledo. Al taught school in Utah and Ohio for two years until he changed careers to work in advertising and marketing with Nationwide Advertising in Chicago in 1977. He moved his family to San Diego in 1979 when he was recruited by Knoth & Meads (K&M) Advertising to assist in the development and growth of their local advertising company. Al helped build up the operating division inside K&M which attracted a buyer, Saatchi & Saatchi (S&S) Advertising, then the world’s largest communications company. Al became President of one of S&S’s North American operating units, MDK Recruitment Advertising. He led a management buyout of his operating unit and started Kidd, Schneider and Dersh (KSD). Al then sold KSD to TMP Worldwide in 1994. Shortly thereafter, he retired for a brief period of time before starting ARK Enterprises a venture investing company and business consulting practice. ARK acquired a number of positions in emerging companies, which led to the purchase of a digital video sports technology. Al turned over the management and operations to his partners and new investors in 2002. Al has been a founding member of a number of private foundations developed to benefit kids-The Serra High School Foundation, Paul Serra Sports Foundation and the San Diego City High Schools Athletic Foundation. He has served on the board of the YMCA, The Police Athletic League, Tierrasanta Little League, and the Parks and Recreation board for Tierrasanta.
Dave Nash - President & CEO, Sun Diego Boardshops

David Nash has over 40 years of retail experience and is the founder, president/CEO of Athleisure, Inc., dba: Sun Diego Boardshops, an eight store chain of retail stores doing business throughout San Diego County since 1981. Sun Diego Boardshops was voted the best beach wear/surf shop for eight straight years by the readers of The San Diego Union Tribune. Sun Diego was also voted Retailer of the Year in 2005 and Women’s Retailer of the Year in 2008 by the Surf Industry Manufacturer’s Association and their retail peers though out the country. Dave is a founding and active board member of the Board Retailers Association (formed in February 2003), a non profit trade association representing over 550 action sport retailers in the surf, skate, snow, wake, kite and wind industry with approximately 3000 storefronts across the country. Dave and Sun Diego are actively involved in the community and promoting the industries Sun Diego represents. Dave and Sun Diego work with The Surfrider Foundation, Feeding America and Keep a Breast Foundation as well as helping local high school find funds for their programs. Sun Diego also provides a competitive surf series for surfers of all ages as well as AmSlam a competitive skate series. Prior to Athleisure, Inc., Dave was the EVP of Snowden-Mize Companies, Inc., dba: Snowden-Mize Sports and The Athlete’s Foot, a leading retailer in the 70’s and 80’s in the athletic shoe and apparel industry. A chain of 26 company owned stores in five states and a Franchisor of 150 The Athletes’ Foot stores.
Paul Rodeno - President & CEO, Security Business Bank

As the president and CEO of Security Business Bank of San Diego, Mr. Rodeno has more than 20 years of experience in business and retail/private banking at all levels and has served in a variety of senior management positions during the last 15 years. Mr. Rodeno first had the idea of creating a business bank specifically for San Diego's small to mid-sized businesses in August 2001. He felt a void had been created by the numerous big bank mergers of recent years and saw an opportunity to provide the local decision making and personalized service that many of San Diego's small to mid-sized business customers were once accustomed to receiving. It was then that Mr. Rodeno decided to create a business bank whose focus would be serving these unmet needs of small to mid-sized business owners in San Diego. Mr. Rodeno has had extensive experience in establishing and leading community based organizations. He serves on the Board of Directors of California Southern Small Business Development Corporation, a community based nonprofit State of California guaranteed lending program, Treasurer for the Downtown San Diego YMCA and a member of the Board of Directors of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, the California Bankers Association and the Community Bankers of California. He also serves on the board of the San Diego chapter of Legatus, a Catholic leadership group.
Bob Rief – COO, Boardworks Surf

Bob Rief is a long-time businessman in the ski, outdoor, golf and surf world. He started as a ski technician and lift operator while struggling through the University of Colorado. Rief has held positions as Marketing Director and Sales Manager at Nordica USA, VP of sales and Marketing for Swiss based Raichle-Molitor, GM of Merrell Footwear, President of Nike Golf, VP/assistant to Ely Callaway of Callaway Golf, CEO of Reef Sandals and Sanuk Footwear and finally now, Chief Operating Officer for Boardworks Surf. In the course of his life Rief has seen it all and has been fortunate to work with bigger than life Founders, great retailers and now a deep group of Waterman on a new stand up paddle venture. Rief hopes to pass on his experiences to younger entrepreneurs, in the hopes they will rise higher and make 1 less mistake.
Duane Roth – CEO, CONNECT

Duane J. Roth is Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of CONNECT. CONNECT is the globally recognized public benefits organization fostering entrepreneurship in the San Diego region by assisting new business formation of technology and life sciences companies. CONNECT has been directly involved with over 2,000 companies since its inception in 1985 and these companies have secured over $10 billion in funding. Prior to joining CONNECT Mr. Roth founded Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., where he serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Prior to Alliance, he held senior management positions at Johnson & Johnson and Wyeth operating companies. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors and executive committees of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) and BIOCOM (past Chair). Mr. Roth was appointed to the oversight board of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 and was elected Vice Chairman in 2009.
John Sarkisian – CEO, SKLZ

John Sarkisian, is CEO of SKLZ, the innovator in Athletic Training. John is also the Founding Investor and current Chairman of the Board of Semtek Innovative Solutions which developed and is commercializing patented encryption technology protecting sensitive data for the credit card industry. John is the Chairman of the Board and Founding Investor in Brightscope which has developed the industry standard for measuring company 401(k) performance. With his family he founded and developed Pat and Oscar's Restaurants which was sold in 2001 to a public company. John is active in Real Estate development and investment in San Diego County through his company Del Mar Heritage. John was awarded the 1999 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for San Diego County. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of San Diego County and as a Trustee of the San Diego Sports Commission.
Mark Schmid – CEO, Sk8ology

Mark ‘Schmiddy’ Schmid has developed multiple industry-leading companies in the action sports space. He has 25 years of experience in product design, brand launch, management, manufacturing, marketing and distribution in both hard goods and soft goods. Schmiddy is the CEO of Form Function Technologies, the housing company for Sk8ology, Bordzup, ArtFunction and GearUp, which manufactures and distributes patent-protected display and organizational systems for products that have strong emotional connections to their users. Schmiddy is also currently the western USA learning director of the Entrepreneurs Organization. His past experience includes being the founder/owner of Syndrome Distribution/Pro Skate Products, one of the largest manufacturers/distributors in professional skateboarding. He is currently working on a TV show that melds the art world with the action sports world and serves on multiple non-profit Board of Directors and Advisory Boards.
Dana Shertz - Partner, ART of the UNCONSCIOUS

Dana Shertz has a 30-year history of record sales growth, marketing innovation, revenue enhancement and expense reduction in management, sales and marketing roles at EnDev Enterprises, MacGregor Golf and Callaway Golf. From 2006 to January 2009, Shertz was COO and CMO of EnDev Enterprises, a partnership that owned and operated several nightclubs and restaurants in San Diego. Prior to EnDev, Shertz spent more than 20 years in the golf industry. He served as president and COO of MacGregor Golf. Prior to MacGregor, Shertz spent 13 years in senior sales and executive positions at Callaway Golf. His ability to consistently deliver unprecedented results led him through a rapid rise in the company's ranks, eventually resulting in an appointment as Callaway's Vice President of Sales. As a leader of the company's sales and marketing, he oversaw revenue growth from $5 million to $840 million, annually. Prior to Callaway, Dana founded and operated a successful retail golf operation in Palm Springs, Desert Golf and Tennis. Shertz also brings a unique understanding of business financial management. Prior to the golf industry, he worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Shertz is the currently the managing partner of The Art Of The Unconscious, which was formed to promote the works of the artist Max Shertz. http://www.maxshertz.com/
Jim Stroesser – CEO & President, Adio Footwear

Currently the CEO and president of Adio Footwear, Jim Stroesser has 25 years of global consumer branding experience in the sports, fashion, and entertainment industries. He was a partner with Converse during the initial purchase from bankruptcy in 2001, and drove the business from $120 to $285 million in three years. Jim was instrumental in the sale of the iconic American brand to Nike. Prior to this, he has been the CEO of Pony International and senior vice president and general manager of Quiksilver/Roxy global footwear. Jim also has prior executive and brand experience with Oakley, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, L.A. Gear, and New Balance. He serves on the board of directors for Dirtbag Music, and the Naval Special Warfare Foundation.
Marco Thompson - Vice President, Solekai Systems

Marco Thompson is a Managing Director of Express Ventures. He brings to Express broad technology expertise across the software, hardware and networking fields, and extensive business experience founding and running diverse technology companies. He has operational experience at up to $50,000,000 revenue run rates, and he has led marketing & sales strategy development for diverse technology enterprises. Marco Thompson graduated with a BSEE from UCSD in 1979. He worked for Megatek (acquired by Digital/Compaq) before founding Doctor Design in 1984. Doctor Design was funded entirely from its profit stream and grew to become San Diego's most successful Engineering Design Services firm, with 250 employees and $50,000,000 revenues. Dr. Design was acquired by Wind River in 1996 and grew to become Wind River Services, a leading developer of hardware and software for "smart connected devices". Wind River Services has been recognized as a market leader in building consumer devices supporting digital video and audio standards. WRS works for the leaders in the Set Top Box business including Sony, DirecTV, Phillips, Tivo, RCA, Thomson, Pioneer & others. Marco has founded, raised financing for, and guided and mentored numerous startups, and he currently sits on the board of directors or advisors of several early stage companies. Some of the companies that Marco has invested in or mentored include: Gift-Flix, Entropic, Vativ, Techflow, Profitline, Forza Semiconductors, Intellitouch, Rosum, Drivecam, Objectiva, V-Enable, Qthink, Philometron, Service-Now.com & Intellidot. Marco has been very active as a startup CEO mentor in the San Diego community, thru programs such as Connect Springboard, Commnexus Next Stage, and the Chairman's Roundtable. Marco is a founding Board member, past president, and past chairman of the San Diego Telecom Council (now CommNexus). CommNexus is an organization committed to developing the local communications community and making the rest of the world aware of the of San Diego's leadership in this sector. CommNexus is made up of the top 250 communications and wireless firms in San Diego, and the organization is the top regional communications trade organization in the world. Marco holds 3 patents and has written a book on high speed memory design. He has been honored in San Diego as "Technology Supporter of the Year", and is the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering Alumni of the year for 2003. Marco has also been awarded the Connect / Gray Cary Award for Technology Innovation in 2003.
Peter Townend – CEO, The ActivEmpire

Peter ‘PT’ Townend is the first World Champion of Professional Surfing (1976) and current CEO of The ActivEmpire, Townend has a 25-plus year career in action sports, including a 10-year term as advertising director/associate publisher of Surfing, Bodyboarding and Volleyball magazines; eight years as the marketing director of Rusty; and more recently publisher of Primedia's Surfing Group and marketing and events director for the Primedia Action Sports Group (ASG) division. Townend also served as president of SIMA ('88-89) and president of Surfing America ('97-04) which he founded. He served as head coach of the USA Surf Team in 1982-1984, when he led the team to a Gold medal win in '84, and most recently from 2004-2007 when he bought the USA Surf Team back to international credibility with a return to the dias in three of five international ISA World Championship appearances. Townend currently serves on the USA SkateBoarding board of directors, the umbrella organization that is endeavoring to bring skateboarding into the Olympics, and will field the USA National SkateBoarding Team. Townend also serves on SIMA's senior advisory board and the SD Sport Innovators (SDSI) advisory board managed by CONNECT.
John Vance – Former President & COO, Sanuk

John has a forty-year history in the action sports business beginning as a surfboard manufacturer in 1970 through High school and College. He spent eighteen years in sales and marketing for Swiss ski boot manufacturer Raichle. In 1994 he teamed as Managing Partner with a group of investors in a small snowboard company, 5150. In 1995 they built the “Thermal Structures” snowboard factory and in 1996 sold the brand and factory to publicly held Ride Snowboards (now owned by K2) KTO for $11.9 million. Following, John joined Quiksilver ZQK’s as VP and GM of the struggling “Snow” division. In three years John turned the $4.5 million snow division into the $23 million WinterSports Division. He led the $10 million acquisition of the Mervin Manufacturing snowboard factory. Late in 1999 John joined Op Sunwear as VP of Sales and Marketing where he oversaw the world-renowned Op Pro surf contest in Indonesia, as well as the total overhaul of their “Gen Y” core ad campaign. John’s next venture was as VP and GM of the clothing division of Airwalk shoes where he directed the successful launch of an entirely new collection of “skate” inspired clothing into major American icons of retail such as Sears, JCPenny, Kohl’s and May Company until its acquisition by “Collective Brands” 2003. Two days later John joined Sanuk as VP of Sales where he served until promoted to President in 2006 and to COO in 2007. John has lead efforts including the industrialization of design, development, production, sales and all aspects of marketing and message management. During John’s tenure, gross sales rose from $4.5 million to this year’s estimated $68 million with $90 million (domestically) estimated for 2012. This recently culminated in the sale to Decker’s Outdoor for a record (with-in surf industry footwear) 10 times EBITA and a total of $163 million. John’s greatest attributes are his calm domineer, ability to motivate and to coordinate many separate activities into one achievable goal and his unique 40 year history and understanding of the Action Sports, Outdoor and International business models.
John Wilson – President & CEO, Stance

Wilson has 24 years of experience in sales, brand marketing, financial and operational planning in the action sports industry. John began his career at Clairemont Surf in San Diego where he worked as a buyer and store manager while attending San Diego State University, where he received a BA degree in Marketing. While at Clairemont Surf, John was offered the Southern California sales rep position with Oakley covering LA, OC and SD. In addition to sales, Wilson also initiated grassroots marketing events, local athlete sponsorship, in-store merchandising and staff clinics. John was then promoted to brand manager in November of 1996 where he developed the strategic and operational plans for Oakley's U.S. sales in addition to collaborating with product, marketing and operations. John left Oakley in May 1999, to join Reef as the director of US sales where he was then promoted to vice president of US Sales in 2002. In 2006 Wilson was promoted to president, where he was responsible for global growth initiatives, brand positioning, product direction, and distribution strategies. Currently, along with Jeff Kearl, John heads Stance Inc., as president, chief operating officer and co-founder.

SDSI MISSION

ADVISORY BOARD