Show HN: Cotopaxi – Gear for Good

http://www.cotopaxi.com

by jacoste • 12 years ago

59 30 12 years ago

jacoste8• 12 years ago

Thanks HN! I am one of the founders of Cotopaxi. We are a direct-to-consumer outdoor brand focused on humanity, ie. each product contributes to various social causes. Having worked in non-profit and built e-commerce businesses before, my co-founders and I are eager to find a way to give back more sustainably. We would love your questions and feedback! Thanks!

rpiip• 12 years ago

Love it!

jacoste8• 12 years ago

Thanks rpiip!

philco• 12 years ago

Homerun team. I'd love for everything I buy in the future to be direct to consumer goods.

jacoste8• 12 years ago

Thanks philco! We share your passion for D2S ;)

gaylemcd• 12 years ago

Love the designs and approach!

jacoste8• 12 years ago

Thanks gaylemcd, really appreciate it! Our designers are pushing hard to innovate while designing for versatility, ie max opportunities to use/wear each Cotopaxi product.

jmathai• 12 years ago

Looks really awesome. Will definitely have to look around and recommend to others.

Is the ambassador model similar to the "jewelry parties" or Pampered Chef? Are you a non profit?

My wife just started working with Noonday Collection [1] which seems somewhat similar but for women's jewelry.

[1] http://www.noondaycollection.com/

jacoste8• 12 years ago

Thanks jmathai. Re ambassadors, we got so many request of people who just wanted to help out, so at this point this is just an awesome group of early brand supporters. Love noondaycollection.com, would love to connect!

ronbo• 12 years ago

two bricks in a school from an $89 satchel? Might one not do better there?

jacoste8• 12 years ago

The problem with this project is crazy inflation in Ghana. We were actually really surprised about the prices for building material but the good news is that the community is coming together to provide the labor to make it happen. Very inspiring story of the guy who is behind this project. His grandmother (who is illiterate) insisted that he would go to the school regularly. This enabled him to get a scholarship for a statistics undergrad program in the US and he just graduated from UofU with a PhD in Public Health with emphasis on bio statistics. He has now returned to Ghana to rebuild the school (which is cancelled during rainy season as the roof is totally leaky and turns the school into a mud pool).

wilsonfiifi• 12 years ago

Absolutely right about the inflation in Ghana! A bag of cement has gone from ghc19 to ghc33 in about a year and the exchange rate is nuts! But as a Ghanaian I really appreciate your effort and what you are trying to achieve.

The satchel is really nice and I hope you ship to Ghana!

Can I make a few suggestions in order to reduce the construction cost for the school? Since there appears to be quite a bit of laterite in the area you could investigate hydraform blocks a bit further http://www.hydraform.com. The blocks use much less cement, are interlocking so construction is quicker and you need less mortar. Also the use of laterite should ensure a cooler interior.

Best of luck and we'll done.

davismsmith6• 12 years ago

ronbo, we work hard to find a measurable way to show our impact and I think you're right in pointing out that this isn't great. The way we calculated this was by dividing the entire cost of the project by the number of bricks needed to rebuild the school. The money we donate from each pack buys significantly more than 2 bricks, obviously, but this also includes concrete, roofing materials, labor, architectural plans, rebar, etc. We'll work on finding a better way of communicating this. We loved the idea of showing the impact by the number of bricks needed, but I think it falls short of showing the actual impact. Thanks for the feedback - very helpful!

podviaznikov• 12 years ago

Great name. Are you from Ecuador or have you been there?

davismsmith6• 12 years ago

podviaznikov - This is Davis Smith, the founder of Cotopaxi. I also love the name! I'm not from Ecuador, but I moved to Latin America when I was 4 years old and spent part of my childhood and teenage years in Ecuador. I used to go camping with my dad at the base of Cotopaxi, so it has always had special meaning to me. I thought it was the perfect name for a socially minded outdoor brand. Have you been to Ecuador?

bikamonki2• 12 years ago

https://www.equiposcotopaxi.com.ec/

mholt• 12 years ago

Very cool. As you expand your product line, I doubt it will be too long before Backcountry (also based in Utah) takes notice.

holychiz• 12 years ago

@jacoste: I'm a good guy so I only wear black tees. :) any plan for something in that color? I'll probably break my own rules for your products since you guys support water accessibility in poor countries, a cause near and dear to me.

mauricio-OH• 12 years ago

I thought I was the only one thinking this! I only wear black tshirts at work so +1 for this!

jacoste8• 12 years ago

Great, thanks for the feedback. Black tees will happen soon!

jacoste8• 12 years ago

Point taken and passed on to design team. Next batch of tees is coming up very soon, so will make sure to have a black one! Thanks!

lizzardgizzard• 12 years ago

The VOLTA roll top is amazing!...coming from someone who works at Cotopaxi and has been testing a prototype. It fit my 70m climbing rope, quickdraws, shoes, harness, water, and chalk bag....and goes to a great cause.

bikamonki2• 12 years ago

Disclaimer: I am ecuadorean. Unless you are the same company as these guys: https://www.equiposcotopaxi.com.ec/mobile/ then your social good cause will lose ground on the fact that you would be damaging a local industry by using an established brand. Now, please allow some criticism to your logo. I am sure you were after a cool name like Patagonia, and el Cotopaxi is indeed super cool, it is the highest active volcano in the world, a perfect cone covered with snow all year round, located in a magnificent valley (el páramo) and surrounded by other beautiful ancient mountains and lakes. A must-add destination for anyone's bucket list. Wild life includes the mighty condor (biggest flying bird on the planet), andean fox, deer, falcons, mustangs and bulls (both introduced by humans); and exactly zero llamas ;) Okay, maybe there are five or six at the tourist area brought in by a local entreprenuer to sell la foto to los gringos. So, I advice you scratch the andean camel off your logo and use the superb volcano instead (assuming you can legally use the brand that is).

http://kantoborgy.com/leonardo_salvador_vivar_ayora/2012/ant...

jpatokal• 12 years ago

Isn't the company you link to just a retail store, not a manufacturer?

davismsmith6• 12 years ago

bikamonki, que tal? Thanks for your feedback. I'm the founder and while I'm American, I moved to Latin America when I was four. I spent my entire childhood and early teenage years in the region, including Ecuador. I've also spent six years of my adult life in Latin America as well. I chose Cotopaxi because I lived in Quito and would often go camping at Cotopaxi with my dad. Additionally, I went to school at Academia Cotopaxi. The name has always had special meaning to me. Additionally, I saw llamas for the first time when I was at Cotopaxi. I've since lived in Peru and Bolivia and have seen thousands of llamas in the wild. I feel the llama is a perfect representation of our brand: rugged, but kind. ¡Viva Ecuador!

frequentflyeru• 12 years ago

Would love to see more info about the factories, average wages, ages, etc. Looks great otherwise!

davismsmith6• 12 years ago

Absolutely. We had an AP photo journalist visit us on trips to our factories. Our pack factory has over 3,000 people who have worked there for over 10 years (the factory only had about 4-5k employees 10 years ago), so retention is insanely high. They pay livable wages, have a healthy culture (volleyball and basketball clubs, etc). We care deeply about where and how we source our products. We're working with an organization that helps brands certify responsible sourcing. Keep in mind that we're only 4.5 months old. We have a lot of work to do still, but we'll get there! Thanks for your feedback. We'll work on providing more details shortly!

micro_cam• 12 years ago

This is a really crowded space, what sets you apart?

Patagonia, GoLite, Nau and others all have social commitments and are doing rally cool things in terms of supply chain transparency or you can buy from a small cottage maker like nw alpine, cilogear or westcomb (all made in the usa or candada). Are you a B-corp like some of the others mentioned?

Do you have any connection to the culture you appropriated for your name? Sherpa Adventure Gear is at least owned made and tested by sherpas...

Looking at this stuff as an experienced climber/hiker/mountaineer/skier it looks poorly thought out or poorly described. Ie either the designes were thrown together or the guy who wrote the description wasn't aware of the purpose and has no experience layering for the outdoors.

Focusing on the Pacaya coat for example, Polartech alpha is a really cool breathable puffy coat fabric released in the last couple of years but you don't mention that or if the face fabric you use complements that (ie the westcomb tango similar to your pacaya uses pertex equilibrium. See also the rab strata, marmot isotherm, and new patagonia nano air (non alpha but similar fabric) all of which make a big deal of the increased breathability of these new fabrics) or even list a denier for it...it could be some pu coated nylon that breathes like a ziplock.

You mention polartech power stretch which is a specific fabric but don't mention where it is used or why you would want to add a breathable fleece panel to an already breathable alpha jacket.

And what the hell is a scuba hood? Does it go under or over a helmet? And how much does this thing weigh? This is the single most important piece of information most serious outdoor people will look for.

Some of the pieces seem technical and some are made from waxed cotton with buttons...as a young brand i'd suggest focusing either on pieces that actually work in the outdoors or stylish ones but not trying to do both until you develop a following.

I can't tell what is up with the packs. I'm ignoring the cotton/leather ones and the luzon does look okay (similar to athe popular rei flash) but the rest have tons of zippers in strange places and there is a hugh gap in your line in the "actually useful for serious outdoor pursuits ranging from 1-3 day trips" 30-55 liter size.

My suggestion would be that, if you want to market yourself as an outdoor company focus on making quality pieces that fill outdoors peoples needs and be better about listing specs to help people decided if what you have is better then what else is out there. Being "for good" is not particularly unique in this industry.

If you want to do fashion do fashion.

davismsmith6• 12 years ago

Thanks for the feedback, micro_cam. We just relaunched our site today and simultaneously launched our apparel today. We had to rush to get everything live, so many of your requests are coming soon. Thanks for your patience! Keep in mind that we're only 4 months old. We certainly have plenty of work to do.

Regarding the product feedback, our designers are award-winning gear and apparel designers who previously worked at Black Diamond, Gregory, Marmot, Dakine, Columbia and Nike. We used data to determine which products to launch with - more is coming soon, so keep an eye out for the 30-55 liter packs.

Regarding your feedback about sticking to core outdoor products, we aren't looking to be like everyone else. I'd be happy to discuss in person or offline, and I think you'd understand why we're going with this approach. I've spent 10 years as an entrepreneur, building e-commerce businesses and brands. We have plenty to learn, and we'll certainly make some mistakes, but I feel pretty confident in our brand positioning, line logic and product strategy. Loved the feedback though. I'm going to share it with our team. Really appreciate you taking the time to give it to us!

Show HN: Cotopaxi – Gear for Good

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