Expansion
The Ridge $1B exit media tour is kicking off, as Ridge CEO Sean Frank was on the Modern Retail podcast last week.
Frank, one of the industry’s most prolific Tweeters, has been unafraid to make public his goals: 1) to build the next Yeti and 2) to sell it for $1B+. On the podcast, he said Ridge is getting close. Maybe a year away:
“If I want to sell for $1 billion, you need $100 million in adjusted EBITA, or we need roughly $50 million in net income… I think next year, we’ll probably get to $50 million in net income.”
There are many pieces of the Ridge story that are interesting, but given proximity of the milestone, there is one worth focusing on: The way Ridge has become a brand as its product line expands.
Go to Wayback Machine and look at some early day ridgewallet.com messaging. It was feature heavy (“aluminum,” “titanium,” “carbon fiber,” “RFID-blocking”) and trend heavy (“lose the bulk”). It was, in a sense, tactical core meets skinny wallet trend.
Since moving outside wallets, though, Ridge is less feature and more brand.
On its homepage now, is this:
THE RIDGE CRAFTS PRODUCTS MADE TO LAST A LIFETIME WITH SIMPLE, FUNCTIONAL DESIGNS READY FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. OUR MATERIALS ARE CHOSEN WITH CARE AND A THOUGHTFUL CONNECTION TO THE INSIGHTS OF OUR GROWING COMMUNITY - SETTING OUR NORTH STAR AS WE STRIVE TO IMPROVE EVERYDAY. TOGETHER WE CAN DO MORE WITH LESS.
DESIGNED FOR LIFE.
That mention of “titanium?” It’s a product category now, not a feature. RFID blocking? It’s buried deep inside product descriptions on a PDP.
Ridge isn’t selling features, because they are a luxury version of “tactical core.” Their original selling points are the foundation of the brand, but only in the abstracted sense (durable, minimalist).
Their website history shows it wasn’t there from the beginning and it wasn’t some sort of hard pivot. It was a brand positioning that evolved over time, particularly as the product category expanded from a brand-first perspective as opposed to “what do you sell with wallets” perspective.
Doing so, though, allows for the same narrative to run through all products, meaning Ridge could launch nearly anything and make it feel “right.” (Who else can put rings next to wallets?) Because it’s less about the product and more about the quality of the design and the materials.