On today's podcast, we present a rather quintessential American Success Story that goes by the name of ENVE Composites. If you ride bikes and have a thing for high-quality gear, you already know ENVE. But you almost certainly don’t know the whole story. You’d never guess from the look of things now, but ENVE’s trajectory wasn't exactly a rocket ship, but more of a roller coaster ride with lots of peaks and a number of nerve-wracking valleys.
Last week I headed to Ogden, Utah, to visit ENVE’s headquarters and tour their factory, and I then sat down for a conversation with three people who have each have played (and continue to play) an important role in ENVE’s past, present, and future: ENVE’s CEO, Sarah Lehman; ENVE’s chief engineer Kevin Nelson; and ENVE’s product manager, Jake Pantone.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Our guests introduce themselves, and we discuss the origins and the early days of ENVE (3:25)
- Sarah on the “Cinderella story” of ENVE, including the dark days, name changes, and the decision to keep manufacturing in the US (6:20)
- Why carbon, and what does it mean to “Do carbon right”? (29:45)
- Manufacturing in the US vs overseas: What are some of the misconceptions, challenges, and benefits? (36:10)
- Can an intermediate rider notice the performance benefits of expensive carbon wheelsets? (46:40)
- ENVE’s future: what is ENVE’s plan to grow, how is “price” related to that growth, and how does ENVE intend to differentiate itself as more companies get into this space? (50:00)
- Working with the Santa Cruz Syndicate — which Syndicate rider breaks the most stuff? Which rider provides the most product feedback? (1:00:00)
- Team Dimension Data vs The Syndicate — Which team is providing the most feedback? (1:03:30)
- Sarah’s best day at ENVE (1:07:57)
- What’s next? (1:10:00)
- My Grand Finale Question (1:11:53)
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