Hayden Cox is the designer and founder of Haydenshapes Surfboards and the inventor of FutureFlex technology. Best known for his award winning (3 x Surfboard of the Year – USA and AUS) and global best selling surfboard design, Hypto Krypto, Hayden and the brand are also recognized for notable brand projects both within and unconventional to the world of surf.
Check out the Haydenshapes website here.
This is the first in the series of “Business StartUp Stories and lessons learned” as told by me, your host Ingrid Thompson
Hayden is on my list of people to interview in person and while we wait for that interview, here is his story as interpreted and told by me.
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The episode is available here on the blog and the full transcript follows:
This is the first in a new series in my So You Want to Start a Business podcast series.
There are a number of businesses that have terrific stories and it’s just not possible to interview all of them – for a whole range of reasons. Hello I’m your host Ingrid Thompson and
I’ve decided to bring you their business startup stories through my telling it as best I can – based on the information available and my interpretation of their story. If we manage to have them live on our podcast show in the future, then that will be just great
Today I’m going to talk about Hayden Cox and his business Haydenshapes
Haydenshapes is a surfboard design and manufacturing enterprise. Theses are not just any surfboards, these surfboards are pretty special. They involve a completely new design using technology called “futureflex”. Hayden Cox was determined to reinvent the design and construction of the traditional ‘wooden stringer’ surfboard, he began experimenting with unique materials and construction techniques to test new flex patterns and how it affected performance. Hayden is the founder of Haydenshapes. He likens his design to that of a tennis racket frame where there is a frame on the outside and strings in the centre.
Former world champion surfer and fellow Sydney Northern Beaches local Tom Carrol was the first person to road test Cox’s newly created prototype “FiberFlex” – now known as FutureFlex which was later refined and launched into the market in 2006
Tom Carroll says the Haydenshapes are “the Ferrari of surfboards”
The surfboard story is an interesting one and the business story is even more fascinating.
Hayden started surfing as a 5 years old. His engineer dad taught him how to repair all the surfboards’ dents and dings himself working with resin and hardener.
At 15 he broke his favourite surfboard and he didn’t have the $600 he needed at the time to purchase a new one, besides with how much he knew about fixing boards he figured he would be able to make his own. He contacted a local surf board manufacturer to ask if he could do work experience.
He was super curious; why were some boards different shapes? What was it that made some shapes work better in certain waves? What difference did the materials make? And more….
He watched the elite surfers and tried to figure out what they seemed to like about their surf boards. This was around the year 2000 and the surfing world was becoming fully corporatized. The big players dominated; Billabong, Quiksilver and Rip Curl.
Instead of looking at the other surf board manufacturers Hayden Cox looked outside the surfing industry – at brands like Audi to see how did they position themselves in their industry. This is what he wanted to do with his business.
Hayden was handmaking each and everyone of his boards and using a local factory to finish the glassing/ laminating. At 16 he’d set his own website so that he could sell his surboards online. He was selling mostly to friends, classmates, teachers and making about 100 boards a year. He was making the boards and then taking them to a factory to be glassed – fibreglassed.
The owner of that factory was heading to Japan on a surfboard selling trip, so Hayden invited himself along.
Not only that, he designed a catalogue of his boards and had it translated into Japanese so that he could show people. Neither of them spoke a word of Japanese. Hayden had made 12 boards to take to Japan and he and Brad, hired a car and headed to Chiba a Japanese surfing province near Tokyo. He says that they were powered by nothing but naivete. They went from surf shop to surf shop offering their boards for sale.
Hayden tells the story of stopping at a particularly dingy surf shop in Toyahashi and being shocked to see 3 or 4 of his own boards. It turned out that Satoshi had been visiting Curl Curl in Australia and had noticed the boards in the water. He’d ordered a few online and was selling them for more than 3 times what he was paying for them from Hayden. Hayden was selling them for $400 and here they were for sale for $1400 plus….. Satoshi became Haydenshapes distributor in Japan.
That was the beginning of overseas expansion and Haydenshapes now ship to more than 70 countries around the world.
It certainly has not been all plain sailing for Hayden – who now employees more than 300 people in Australia and Indonesia. He also spent time in LA. He misses being in the US because the business mentality is so very different – bigger and more expansive and supportive.
In everything I’ve read about Hayden there are a few things that really stand out:
He looks out side his industry for inspiration. Yacht design, architecture, textile industry. He has studied the interiors of Audi cars and recently has used a carbon fibre similar to a material used on the interior of an Audi R8 for a paddle board project.
Over the years he has been very hands on and has done a lot of things himself – so he knows what’s involved and he says he “is always learning from mistakes.” He claims mistakes are a good thing and that he has become used to being punched every day – whether from critics or just “the struggle of being in business”
He likes to see his critics as motivators – and to understand that they have an agenda and the only thing he, Hayden, has control over at any point in time is how he reacts…. Self control is very important to him.
Surfing is a bit like that as well… every time you catch a wave it’s different. Business is the same, every day is different. You just don’t know what’s going to happen.
So to sumarise what we learn from Hayden Cox:
Dream big, he always knew he was going to have a global business and he has stayed true to his dream and his goals.
Be curious – what’s really going on?
Look outside your industry for inspiration – that’s where the good ideas are
Self – control. Be aware of hat’s going on “out there” don’t let that define you.
A good friend of mine says on a day where you might be wondering whether to have a surf or not … “If in doubt, paddle out”
I reckon that might be a great final point for Hayden Cox – he has taken lots of chances. He’d say – take the chance, do the thing, and if it doesn’t work, learn from the mistakes …
I trust you have found this story about Hayden Cox and Haydenshapes interesting and inspiring as you plan for your own business startup.
If you want to check out these terrific surfboards and watch some fabulous surfing footage – head over to haydenshapes.com
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Happy reading!