Monday’s Startup Junkie Underground featured Patti Serrano telling the story of building the Boogie Board into a national phenomenon and her role in that process. The story began when Serrano reconnected with an old friend, Tom Morey, who had come up with the idea for the Boogie Board, now known as a body board. Before Serrano agreed to join the venture, she “grabbed the board and got on a wave.” Serrano describes this ride as a near spiritual experience that served as her “a-ha moment” in the realization that she wanted to join Morey’s nascent venture. This moment also speaks to the central tenant of Serrano’s advice to other entrepreneurs “You’ve got to have enthusiasm [and] be in love with your product.”
Despite this passion, Serrano faced significant challenges in her initial role within the company. Serrano was tasked with visiting surf shops up and down the California coast to get them to stock the boogie boards and was initially met with resistance from the owners. These surfers did not share Morey’s vision of “getting the world in the ocean” but rather preferred to reserve the good waves for those skilled and athletic enough to ride a surf board. While Serrano espouses “belief” and “specific vision” as essential to entrepreneurial success, she believes with equal passion in “rolling up your sleeves and getting to work.” With her first attempts at sales unsuccessful, Serrano revamped her approach, seeking first to make friends with the surf shop owners before broaching the topic of the Boogie Board. She visited these shops for three to four months, a time she called “building her sales force”. Through this approach, Serrano generated $250K in sales, a level of sales that drove Morey to sell the business to Cransco.
Serrano went on to work for Cransco evangelizing the board at beaches around the country. Surf shop owners were still skeptical, but Serrano would arrive at beaches with 30 boards for beachgoers to try. After this trial, many would visit surf shops asking for the products, causing the shops to place large orders. Serrano later moved on to the media side of the body boarding business, creating a magazine, hosting events, and later podcasting and doing a web television show. Although the Boogie Board has provided nicely for Serrano – and her sister who owns a high end custom board maker Custom X – she concluded her talk noting the best path to success is to “forget about the money,” “show that enthusiasm,” and “just go to work” on an idea you’re passionate about.
The evening concluded with a panel discussion where Serrano was joined on stage by:
- Brett Greene, an expert in social marketing
- Bill Milner, a serial entrepreneur
- Michael Ward, founder of Net Results, a marketing automation company
The panel continued the generally upbeat tone set by Serrano, discussing the importance of entrepreneurs selecting the right idea to take a chance on and pursue. Milner called ideas “the smallest particle of matter” and believes the starting point is to “think it, dream it.” Ward noted that oftentimes the biggest challenge for an entrepreneur is “finding a way to believe [and continue to believe] that [the idea] will work,” as without this belief success will likely not be achieved. Greene offered hope that recessionary economic times may represent opportunities especially “if you’re a visionary” as more people recognize many things need to be done differently. Ward also offered hope for the downturn, noting that companies can “take advantage of competitors that pull back” on activities such as marketing. Serrano offered thoughts on what it takes to maintain business success, noting the importance of “taking care of your people” and “taking care of your sponsors” as well as surrounding yourself with the right team. Serrano looks to work with those who immediately come in and “show her what they can do” and take initiative.
The DaVinci Institute produces a variety of events designed to share the knowledge of the most talented thinkers and seasoned veterans who have fundamentally changed the business landscape. Upcoming events include a Night with a Futurist on “The Future of Innovation” with Dr. Todd Siler on June 1.
