(Photo above: by Steve Kadel | Tom Fristoe talks with Wendy McGrane after this year’s final PubTalk)
The chief executive officer of Bend-based TeamUnify encouraged local business owners and potential entrepreneurs to “be relentless and trust your intuition” during his keynote address at EDCO’s PubTalk last week at McMenamins in downtown Bend.
Tom Fristoe is a 10-year Bend resident who swam in the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials and competes in open-water marathons. His company provides a platform specifically designed for swim team coaches to chart upcoming meet entries, meet results, best times and other information.
“It’s all one island,” he said, adding the goal is to increase coaches’ efficiency and organization, allowing them more time to work directly with athletes.
Fristoe told audience members success will come only by giving top effort.
“Come to work before your boss and leave after your boss leaves,” he said. “That’s my bit of advice for you whether you’re a company leader or a team member. And if you’re not making mistakes you’re not trying hard enough.”
However, he warned against trying to expand a company too quickly into more market areas. TeamUnify considered delving into volleyball and other sports besides swimming, but decided that would be a mistake.
“Less really is more,” Fristoe said. “Learn to say no.”
He began working on the software forerunner to TeamUnify to help a swim team coach who was a friend. What he came up with was relatively simple, although it was a hit with his friend and other members of the local swimming community.
“Eventually it dawned on me this might be a good idea,” said Fristoe, who formed the company in 2007.
TeamUnify is now used by more than 40,000 swim team administrators, according to the firm’s website at www.teamunify.com. Current team membership in TeamUnify is more than 1 million with almost $25 million dollars in fundraising facilitated through the product.
Coach Mike Ashmore of the Santa Maria, California, Swim Club attested to the product’s value in a note on the company website. He wrote that SwimOffice, a part of the platform, “has been incredible at reducing the time I spend on the ‘dry side’ of running my team. I have never been so connected, organized and efficient and now with the power of MainSet my kids are more engaged than ever before.”
MainSet is a platform tool that allows swimmers’ workout histories to be logged as well as video analyses of performances.
The company employs 45 people in Bend, 20 in Vietnam and one in London. It was purchased by NBC in an acquisition that closed June 3 and will bolster TeamUnify’s financial health, Fristoe said.
“It gives us the confidence to stay here in Bend,” he said. “There’s an astonishing amount of financial support for TeamUnify now. For sure, we will have more features. This will only improve our way. This change will be good. Our culture is strong.”
About a half year into NBC ownership, Fristoe said, all the promises that were made have been kept.
“Needless to say, their healthcare packing is better than ours,” he said with a chuckle.
Growing the company in Central Oregon “was nine years of the most fun of my life,” the former Bay Area resident said.
Asked why the company’s engineers are in Vietnam, Fristoe explained that “we just could not find engineers in Bend. It’s not a massive pool. We have been challenged by that, but we keep finding talented people and we grow.”
Fristoe told his audience that starting a company, and nurturing it through the years, isn’t for everyone. It takes someone will strong will and nerves.
“Running a company is the craziest, scariest thing in the world,” he said. “You must decide what you want to be, focus on that and be relentless.”
Ripclear
Another Bend company got some exposure to the PubTalk audience after Fristoe’s keynoter. Ryan Doherty, president and chief business officer of Ripclear, discussed their goggle lens protection system. It began as something for the ski and snowboard industry, he said, and now includes kits to prevent scratches on cameras and electronic devices in addition to goggles.
“We realized we had something more than visors,” Doherty said. “We realized our target market is about 150 million people.”
With that in mind, Ripclear will soon begin producing helmet lens protection for football, hockey and motocross uses. In addition, Doherty noted Ripclear will begin testing with military outlets such as the Army, Air Force and Marines.
“We are working on our international patents now,” he said. “We are looking to partner with as many brands as possible.”
Ripclear’s goal is to sell 8 million units by 2021. Doherty said they enjoy an 88 percent profit margin on each product “so we have a lot of wiggle room.” The former Mount Bachelor ski employee said he realized the need for visor protection while going through three or four visors each season. This was the year’s last Central Oregon PubTalk, a series presented by nonprofit Economic Development for Central Oregon. Title sponsors are Columbia Bank, Karnopp Petersen LLP and UBS. Supporting sponsors are Jones and Roth, Small Business Development Center, and Central Oregon Association of Realtors.
