Nate Checketts: Rhone
Nate Checketts is the co-founder and CEO of Rhone, a men’s performance lifestyle company founded in 2014. Prior to Rhone, Nate worked for and consulted with some of the biggest technology and entertainment properties in the world including Cisco, the NFL, Legends, FanVision, and Sport Radar.
In this episode, Nate joins Pat and Posh to share his story of growing up in Connecticut and always having an entrepreneurial bug in him. His father was a successful business executive in the world of sports (former GM of the Utah Jazz and CEO of NBA International) and Nate always felt pressure to be a success as well, in his own way.
While in college, he started a technology company which was a mobile app that allowed fans in a stadium to order food directly from their seats, and the company was sold the San Francisco 49ers after 3 years. While selling a company in your mid-twenties may cause people to believe you’ve reached a point of massive success, Nate ultimately felt like a failure. Things just hadn’t worked out the way he had planned and he was eager for more.
After a brief stint working for the NFL, Nate left his job to launch Rhone. He had seen a gap in the men’s activewear and lifestyle category and was on a mission to create a brand that made an impact. He also noticed that the behavior of men was changing when it came to their relationship with clothing, and he was compelled to do something about it.
Today, Rhone is one of the fastest-growing brands in the activewear category and is the #1 men’s brand sold at Equinox and Peloton.
During this conversation, Nate also sheds light on the valuable business lessons he’s learned throughout his career, what takes an idea from zero to one, the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur, fundraising, “athleisure” vs. performance lifestyle, and the challenges as well as benefits of Ecommerce vs. Retail.
Nate Checketts: @natechecketts
Rhone: @rhone
The Founder Hour: @thefounderhour
Pat: @patricktanahan
Posh: @posh
