Podcast Summary

Consumer VC: Holiday Highlights – Ty Haney (Outdoor Voices, Joggy, TYB)

Host: Mike Gelb
Guest: Ty Haney
Date: December 27, 2022
Episode Theme:
A candid, wide-ranging conversation with Ty Haney about founding Outdoor Voices, lessons learned as a first-time and young entrepreneur, the tough realities of growth and board relations, and Ty’s foray into new ventures through Joggy (CBD) and TYB (blockchain-based community platform).

Episode Overview

This special highlight episode features an in-depth conversation with Ty Haney, the founder of Outdoor Voices, and more recently, Joggy and TYB. Ty discusses the original vision for Outdoor Voices, important lessons from her leadership journey, the challenges she faced with investors and the board, and her transition into emerging sectors like CBD wellness and Web3. Ty passionately describes her "community-centric" approach to brand-building and details her current work utilizing blockchain to align incentives between brands and their most dedicated customers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Founding Outdoor Voices: The Inspiration and Early Mission

• Personal Inspiration:
  Ty grew up in Boulder, Colorado, surrounded by a culture of daily movement and outdoor activity. Moving to NYC for art school, she felt the lack of movement’s impact on her mental health, inspiring the creation of Outdoor Voices to “inspire people to move, not necessarily be the fastest or cross the finish line first.”
  • “How cool would it be to build a brand not necessarily around being the fastest or crossing the finish line first, but all around inspiring people to be active. And that kind of simple mission…we then called it doing things really took off.” (02:51, Ty Haney)
• Inclusivity:
  The brand emphasized inclusive, daily activity rather than elite athletics or specific body types, aiming to redefine who could see themselves as "active."
• Female Founder:
  Ty emphasized wanting a brand that “looked and felt different” because most sportswear was started by men. (03:39, Ty Haney)

Challenges as a Young Founder & Lessons from the Board

• Blind Spots & Board Dynamics:
  Ty started Outdoor Voices at 23, surrounded by a highly experienced board, which was both a strength and a source of challenge due to misaligned visions and her own inexperience with boardroom politics.
  • “I now understand from personal experience why a lot of people say, I don’t invest in an entrepreneur until their second time around. Because starting at 23, I certainly had blind spots.” (04:38, Ty Haney)
• Retail Strategy Tensions:
  Ty believed in community-driven local retail and experiential marketing, while some board members, especially retail legend Mickey Drexler, leaned toward traditional big-box strategies.
  • “I pretty much felt this kind of go-local community effort was the way to grow. [Mickey] felt very strongly about big-box, more traditional retail… I wasn’t politically savvy enough to convince the board my way was correct.” (07:42, Ty Haney)
• Resignation Story:
  Feeling sidelined, Ty ultimately resigned after a press story highlighted the rift. Her resignation was “the most formal resignation ever,” written after a Google search on how to resign. (08:22, Ty Haney)

Rethinking Growth: Offline Activation Over Paid DTC

• Community-first Playbook:
  Outdoor Voices’ success was rooted in local IRL events, activating community engagement offline and amplifying it via digital/social, opposed to reliance on paid digital ads.
  • “What had really worked for us from a growth perspective was something I called activate offline, amplify through digital and social.” (05:37, Ty Haney)
• Critique of the DTC Narrative:
  She called DTC “a lie,” given the heavy dependence on platforms like Facebook/Instagram, noting 30-40% of raised dollars went to advertising. (05:17, Ty Haney)

Post-Outdoor Voices: New Ventures in CBD (Joggy) and Blockchain (TYB)

• Joggy – CBD for Movement:
  Ty experimented with CBD/THC to recreate a runner’s high, resulting in the brand Joggy centered on CBD products to promote joyful movement.

  • “With the right kind of CBD dosage and formulation, you could unlock [a runner's high]. It felt really interesting to me in that if we could get this to more people, we could help them move again.” (12:15, Ty Haney)

• TYB and Web3 Opportunities:
  Inspired by projects like CryptoKitties, Ty saw potential for consumer brand communities where fans receive real stake in a brand’s success.

  • “If I were to simplify why I'm attracted to Web3, it's this: I love the idea that users of a product or loyalists of a brand have stake or aligned incentive in the success of that brand and something to show for their continued loyalty, contribution, and participation.” (11:36, Ty Haney)
  • TYB enables brands to reward loyalists via digital “collectibles” (not NFTs, rebranded for accessibility), unlocking perks and forming a new kind of loyalty program.

Community, Brand-building, and The Future with Web3

• Brand-Community Synergy:
  Ty’s thesis: the future of brands is co-creation and incentivization, with users earning rewards and even ownership for their involvement.

  • “The future of brand building… is about co-creation. Empowering your most trusted fans and customers to truly influence, shape and have a voice…” (13:06, Ty Haney)

• Entry Point for Brands:
  Joggy launched with 500 “Joggy Doggies” collectibles ($250 each), assembling an initial community while demonstrating the blockchain-powered model for other brands.

  • “We launched Joggy… sold 500 joggy doggies, these brown animated collectibles for $250 each. It came with a suite of perks. That was our first 500 community members. And from there we’ve grown it.” (15:53, Ty Haney)

• Consumer Crypto Education:
  Focus is on simplifying crypto onboarding (avoiding jargon like “NFT”) and attracting non-crypto-native users, especially young women. (14:27, Ty Haney)

Broader Reflections and Lessons for Founders

• Fundraising Pitfalls:
  Ty warns that raising too much too quickly invites pressure to pursue multiple strategies simultaneously, risking dilution and trend-driven burnout. (09:47, Ty Haney)

• Advice for Founders:

  1. Have an Exit Plan:
     • “As a first time founder… you lose sight of, oh, we should have a plan or potential to exit… three to five years from now. I wish someone had told me that.” (20:42, Ty Haney)
  2. Leadership and Team Building:
     • Don’t over-index on hiring for a ‘perfect’ team. Focus on complementary strengths and speed in assembling a solid core group.
  • “Gary Keller… said to me, like, Ty, the only thing you need to focus on is your five to seven people around you… I spent way too much time trying to find the perfect person… which it is. But there's really, really capable, fantastic people that just need to have a spike in one area and then find five to seven of them.” (21:33, Ty Haney)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the OV Mission:

• “It wasn’t about a certain body type or big muscles, again… but all about connecting the dots on a daily basis to move your body, also changing the chemistry.” (03:25, Ty Haney)

On DTC ‘Mythology’:

• “Direct to consumer was a lie. It was not all direct whatsoever. Thirty, forty percent of the dollars that we had raised would go to Facebook or Instagram, et cetera.” (05:17, Ty Haney)

On Why Web3 Is Exciting for Consumer Brands:

• “I love the idea that users of a product or loyalists of a brand have… something to show for their continued loyalty, contribution, and participation.” (11:41, Ty Haney)

On NFTs & Collectibles:

• “I also don’t call it an NFT. We politely rebranded it to collectible… I think it has less baggage.” (14:37, Ty Haney)

On Community Ownership:

• “Ten years from now, the next great Nikes are going to be fully community founded, led and owned. And that means full decentralization…” (16:24, Ty Haney)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:56] – Ty describes the foundational insight behind Outdoor Voices
• [03:59] – Lessons as a young founder; board composition
• [05:14] – DTC vs. local community activation
• [07:32] – Ty’s departure from Outdoor Voices and Board dynamics
• [10:47] – First exposure to blockchain and founding TYB
• [12:02] – Origin of Joggy and use of CBD for runners' high
• [14:27] – Web3, NFTs, and mass consumer adoption
• [15:53] – Building early communities with collectibles
• [20:42] – Top learnings: exit plan, team assembly wisdom

Conclusion

Ty Haney's journey illustrates the highs and lows of startup life, especially for first-time founders disrupting legacy categories. This episode unpacks the critical importance of community, the pitfalls of unchecked fundraising, and the constant search for new paradigms—whether offline activation in apparel or blockchain-enabled co-ownership for the next generation of consumer brands. Ty’s openness and willingness to challenge the status quo offer actionable lessons for founders across industries.