logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
44m 43s

HIBT Lab! Cotopaxi: Davis Smith

Guy Raz | Wondery
About this episode

Davis Smith has spent the last nine years building the outdoor gear and clothing brand, Cotopaxi. The company’s slogan, Gear for Good, encapsulates everything about the way they do business, from using recycled and remnant materials to donating a portion of their revenue to nonprofits that fight poverty. It’s a story that Davis told when he was first on How I Built This in 2020.

This week on How I Built This Lab, Davis returns to give Guy an update on how Cotopaxi weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and transitioned to a remote-first workplace. Plus, why Davis is stepping down from his role as CEO to pursue another passion: serving his church for three years as a mission leader in Brazil. 

This episode was produced by Chris Maccini and edited by John Isabella, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was Katherine Silva.

You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Jul 10
Advice Line with Norma Kamali of Norma Kamali (2024)
Iconic fashion designer Norma Kamali joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early stage founders. Plus, Norma shares her take on balancing a strong creative vision with the financial realities of building a worldwide brand. First we meet Ahmed in the ... Show More
50m 34s
Jul 7
Rick Steves' Europe: Rick Steves (2021)
Rick Steves spent the summer after high school backpacking through Europe on two dollars a day—sleeping on the floor, sneaking into museums, and subsisting on a diet of bread and jam. When he came home, he found people were hungry for tips on how to visit Europe on the cheap, so ... Show More
1h 17m
Jul 3
Advice Line with Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company (August 2024)
Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three founders about finding product-market fit.Today, we meet Kim, whose tropical-inspired apparel company in Florida is venturing into the rum market. Then Llance from Washington ... Show More
51m 11s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2023
20VC: Cotopaxi: From Selling $6M of Pool Tables to Scaling $150M in Revenues and Challenging Patagonia, Fundraising Lessons from 100+ Rejections & What Founders Do Not Understand About VC with Davis S
Davis Smith is the Founder and Chairman of Cotopaxi, an outdoor brand with a humanitarian mission. The company has assisted over 4 million people living in poverty. The company has been profitable for the last 4 years and is expected to do $160M in revenue in 2023, up from $55M j ... Show More
58m 28s
May 2021
Sponsored: Small Business Stories | Columbia Sportswear | 2
This episode is brought to you by Wondery in partnership with Dell Technologies. In honor of small businesses, we're featuring inspiring stories of successful companies that started out small.It’s 1970 and Gert Boyle’s life is in ruins. Her husband’s just died, and now, as a midd ... Show More
31m 23s
May 2022
Sponsored: Welcome to the Future of Work (Dell Podference) | 2
Since the pandemic began, many of us have traded our blazers for t-shirts and loafers for slippers as remote work has become the new normal. There’s been a fundamental shift in what employees expect from their workplace — and spoiler alert, going in five days a week isn’t it. So ... Show More
32m 5s
Feb 2022
Joey Levin - Building an Anti-Conglomerate - [Invest Like the Best, EP. 264]
My guest today is IAC’s CEO, Joey Levin. IAC is a unique business in that it’s a holding company which builds world-class digital businesses. Since Barry Diller created IAC over two decades ago, it has produced 11 public companies, including Match Group, Expedia, and Live Nation. ... Show More
1h 10m
Dec 2021
Where Are They Now? David Orozco
#1199 In today's "Where are they now?" episode, David Orozco of OrozcoNutrition.com returns to talk about what's happened for him and his business since our first conversation in episode 1,141. Back then, he was balancing a couple of brands and trying to figure out which one to f ... Show More
28m 57s
Apr 2024
Twitter’s former Head of Product opens up: being fired, meeting Elon, changing stagnant culture, building consumer product, more | Kayvon Beykpour
Kayvon Beykpour was the longest-serving head of product at Twitter and was GM of Twitter’s consumer division until the platform was acquired by Elon Musk. He originally joined Twitter in 2015 through the acquisition of his company, Periscope, the largest live video streaming plat ... Show More
1h 35m
Jun 2024
Episode 697: How One Entrepreneur is Making Multiple 7-Figures with a Low, Low Ticket Offer with Allison Hollinger: A Digital CEO Success Story #WednesdayWeeklyWin
Today’s #WednesdayWeeklyWin features an incredible entrepreneur that is making multiple 7-figures with her low, low ticket offer, and the cool part is that when Allison Hollinger first joined Business By Design, she didn’t even know what her business would be!  Allison didn’t let ... Show More
48m 23s
Apr 2022
#590: Tony Fadell of iPod, iPhone, and Nest Fame — Stories of Steve Jobs on “Vacation,” Product Design and Team Building, Good Assholes vs. Bad Assholes, Investing in Trends Before They Become Trends,
Brought to you by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions marketing platform with ~770M users, LMNT electrolyte supplement, and Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating. More on all three below.Tony Fadell (@tfadell) is an active investor and entrepreneu ... Show More
1h 52m
May 2024
Episode 693: How To Go From $40k a Year to $90k a Launch And Live Your Most Aligned Life with Eliza Kingsford: A Digital CEO Success Story #WednesdayWeeklyWin
In today’s #WednesdayWeeklyWin edition of the podcast, you’ll meet a Digital CEO who not only exponentially grew her business in terms of the revenue she is generating, but as a result, she is now impacting so many more people with the work she does each day!  As you’ll hear in t ... Show More
59m 8s