Meet Gareth M and Mark F | Outdoor Enthusiast & Software Engineer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gareth M and Mark F and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gareth & Mark, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Customer service has been an important factor in our success so far. My partner and I made it a point to make customer service a top priority and I think it is paying off. Happy customers tell their friends and family about their experiences with us, and allow us to grow organically. We enjoy talking with potential and existing clients, and are always available to answer any questions.
Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are software engineers by trade and outdoor enthusiasts by hobby. Our careers/day jobs have afforded us the ability to fund our startup without reaching out to investors or taking loans, something we are extremely proud of. Pre-Covid, we were in search of an inflatable kayak that seemingly did not exist. We began brainstorming what we wanted, why we wanted it, what need it met that didn’t exist, and spent the early months of Covid reaching out to manufacturers and working through blueprints and CAD drawings until we felt we had the prototype nailed. Every step of the process has been unchartered waters and we’ve managed to navigate with success. What we’re most proud of is how fast we were able to come to market. From concept to conception, we used some of our software development principles of agile development to set aggressive timelines, perform a finite amount of design/prototype iterations, and know when was the right time to transition from prototype to production.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First, we’d tell them to visit in June so they could do nearly everything. For day 1 we would stay in Golden and grab a burrito at Bonfire, followed by some climbing in Clear Creek. A MTB ride up Chimpex or kayak from Tunnel 1 to Vanover would be next. Grab an early dinner at El Dorado and some beers and live music at Goosetown Station. That’s day 1… If they can get out of bed on day 2, we’d have them venture out of Golden and send them to some NoCo breweries. Over the next few days make sure they hit Red Rocks, a few summer laps at ABasin for their Instagram feed, and to Berthoud Pass for some stargazing. We love the Vapor Caves in Glenwood, the Frying Pan River for monster trout, the SLV for remoteness within a reasonable drive from Denver, and maybe even show Eastern Colorado some love with a rodeo in Lamar. RIP to the Snowmass Chili & Beer Festival, else it would have been at the top of this list.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our spouses deserve huge shoutouts for their strong support during these formative years of our business. From rubber-stamping approvals for on-river field-testing to late-night quality control sessions before sending kayaks out the door (leaf blowers inflating multiple kayaks at 11pm?!), they have permanently set the traffic light to green – even as our garages transformed into warehouses. Our young kids also deserve shoutouts for their fun ideas, photo ops, and even planning for the day they take over the business from us.

Website: http://www.nycekayaks.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nycekayaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nycekayaks