A few years ago, 12-year-old Carson Kropfl and his parents met one of the executive producers of the entrepreneur pitch show “Shark Tank” in an elevator in Mammoth.
At age 7, Carson had already created a skateboard accessory giving skaters the experience of surfing and getting tubed.
The Kropfls immediately launched into an elevator pitch about Streetubez to the producer, who thought the product was “cool, but not worthy of ‘Shark Tank.’”
“Keep in touch,” he told them.
They did.
A few years later when Carson created a 17-inch nonfolding skateboard, and it gained traction quickly, they let the producer know. He told them to submit an application.
Carson did and ended up on the season premiere of “Shark Tank” on ABC on Oct. 1.
The end result: a $65,000 investment from Sir Richard Branson for a 20% stake in San Clemente-based Locker Board, a company DBA Streetubez LLC.
Locker Board already received the funds and is using them for manufacturing, marketing and web development, Carson’s mom, Carrie Kropfl, said. It’s sold 460 skateboards for $31,000, including $17,000 since “Shark Tank” aired, “the most in one week,” she said.
Carson said the biggest lessons he learned along the way are to be patient and believe in yourself. He’s received mentorship and advice from companies such as Nike Inc. and entrepreneur Wing Lam, co-founder of Santa Ana-based Wahoo’s Fish Taco. Local businesses, such as Cypress-based Vans, have also been part of the story, giving Carson their old decks.
How It Started
Carson got the idea for Locker Board during his first week in middle school when he got a locker for the first time. Skateboards don’t fit into most school lockers. The only alternative to carrying it around—it wouldn’t fit in his backpack either—was to put it in a “cage” that the school provided. He was concerned his skateboard might get stolen.
He told his parents his idea, and they both thought it was a good one. His dad, Keith Kropfl, said he used to make his own skateboards as a kid. He took Carson into the garage, and they worked on sawing off Carson’s old skateboard decks to make them smaller. Carrie Kropfl helped with marketing and web design. She had been an account executive for companies such as Disney and Wells Fargo in her early career. Both parents thought it would be a great hobby to get Carson away from his phone and video games.
It wasn’t until Keith and Carrie asked Carson to start doing chores to pay for his private surfing coach that Carson came up with the idea of selling the “locker boards.”
Keith Kropfl, a principal at Avison Young—a global commercial real estate services firm with international headquarters in Toronto—taught Carson how to write a business plan. Carson came up with the goal of selling 200 locker boards in the first year. He also decided to make the skateboards sustainable by hunting down old skateboard decks and “upcycling” them.
Besides Vans, San Clemente-based Republik of Kalifornia and Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach give Carson their old decks.
As he started making the locker boards in a backyard workshop his dad created, he would make just the decks, without any wheels, put five in his backpack, sell them at school for $20 each, and come home with $100, his mother recalled. He eventually exceeded the goal of making 200.
It all exploded when a San Clemente newspaper published an article about Locker Board that was picked up by education website Newsela, which created a lesson plan on how Carson started his business. Soon kids from all over the country were contacting Carson saying, “I had to do homework on you. Can I order one of your skateboards?”
Carson started officially selling the locker boards last October. Carrie Kropfl set up an online store on the website, and within a few months, 120 locker boards were sold.
Carson was also invited to participate in St. Louis, Mo.-based Independent Youth’s Teen Entrepreneurship Network to receive one-on-one mentoring with Nike managers. Independent Youth is a nonprofit organization that motivates students to consider entrepreneurship. There, he met Noah Murphy-Reinhertz, a sustainability expert with Nike’s sustainable innovation team. Murphy-Reinhertz now serves as a mentor to Locker Board.
Carson’s dad said that he was impressed with the way Carson interacted with Nike executives.
“He thinks like a kid when he talks about his product and how other kids would like it and why,” Keith Kropfl said. “I’m very pleased to see him participating in discussions and asking questions that I myself may be fearful to ask a major exec at Nike.”
On TV
The Kropfl family found out in May that Locker Board had been selected to be on “Shark Tank.” Forty-thousand entrepreneurs had applied to be on the ninth season of the show, and only about 150 got on, Carrie Kropfl said.
The show taped in June. They didn’t find out that Branson would be the guest shark until the day of the taping.
Carson said he’d heard of Branson before.
“I heard he’s done all these amazing things and he owns Virgin Airlines and he has an island,” he said. “He hasn’t invited me to his island yet, but I hope he’ll invite me to kite surf.”
When Carson made his pitch—$60,000 for 15% equity—the shark fight began. Shark Mark Cuban, a billionaire businessman and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, offered $60,000 for a 20% stake. Branson made his offer. And another shark, Robert Herjavec, a tech entrepreneur and investor, offered a $60,000 loan, and no equity.
Branson started as a young entrepreneur himself and ultimately founded Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic Airlines—successes he’s grown into a multinational venture capital conglomerate with more than 400 companies. Forbes estimates Branson’s net worth at $5.1 billion.
Branson said on the show that Carson reminded him of himself. That made an imprint on Carson.
Carson and his mom then got a few minutes to call Carson’s dad to talk about the offers and decide which one to take. Carson’s dad said to take the highest offer.
“It was (also) what I wanted to do, and he’s Richard Branson!” Carson said.
The family had to keep mum about the results until the show aired. Lam’s first reaction to hearing of Branson’s investment was, “It’s a small world.”
Lam and Branson are friends. They met about seven years ago at multiple charity events in Los Angeles that Branson was hosting, as well as subsequent conferences where they were both speakers.
The day the show aired, Locker Board launched upcycled socks made from Levi jeans and other clothing, to be worn while skateboarding. The socks are made by Miami-based Osom Brand, in alignment with Locker Board’s focus on sustainability, Carrie Kropfl said.
Next Steps
Branson invited Carson to the Virgin Sport Festival of Fitness in San Francisco this month to participate in a private one-mile marathon with some chief executives Branson invited. Carson asked if he could invite some CEO friends of his. Lam will be participating, as will Mark Rose, chief executive of Avison Young.
The “Shark Tank” appearance and investment spawned national exposure and outreach from retailers across the country, Carrie Kropfl said. Erik’s Bike, Board & Ski in Bloomington, Minn., placed an order for 150 locker boards.
“There is nothing else out there like these boards,” Product Manager Andrew Pettis said via email. “Can’t wait to get the boards in our stores and get kids on them! Erik started his bike business in his parent’s barn back in 1977 when he was 13, so it’s really cool to see Carson starting something so young.”
Locker Board also switched manufacturers to PS Stix, a Costa Mesa-based custom skateboard manufacturer, mainly based on its manufacturing capacity, Carrie Kropfl said. The company can produce up to 80,000 locker boards a month, she added.
Oh, and Locker Board just debuted four new Carson-Kropfl skateboard designs. One is called “British Invasion,” based on a thank-you note that Carson wrote to Branson.
