BFV — Founder Q&A — Rhoback

7 min readMay 30, 2017

It’s been fun writing about trends in the consumer brands space and in VC since teaming up with Brand Foundry Ventures last year. I’ll continue to do so. But I think a change of pace is in order. Successful venture investing is predicated not only on identifying key macro trends but of course on effective due diligence on/with company founders. As such, I’ve wanted to put together a series of interviews with startups that are getting off the ground. Checking the pulse of what challenges founders are facing today is critical for understanding the bigger picture issues in retail.

The first company that came to mind in launching this endeavor is Rhoback. [ https://rhoback.com/ + https://www.instagram.com/rhoback/ + https://www.facebook.com/rhoback/ + @RhobackWear ] Conceived of by a few classmates at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in Charlottesville, VA, Rhoback is a high-end, lifestyle activewear company, sometimes pitched as “Under Armor meets Vineyard Vines.” The company was founded by Kristina and Matt Loftus and I.S. Dunklin in 2016, with its initial performance polos, t-shirts, and hats sold during the 2016 holiday season. Rhoback participated in the UVa iLab’s ten-week summer accelerator program last year, placed first in the national EDENS Retail Challenge and third at the national Baylor New Venture Competition (winning grants at both), and has become an increasingly prominent brand in Charlottesville over the past 12 months.

I recently spoke with Kristina and Matt about their venture, with a focus on the practical challenges they have confronted to date, Rhoback’s message, and the lessons they would pass along to aspiring entrepreneurs with ambitions in consumer brands:

Brand Foundry Ventures: Kristina and Matt, thanks for taking the time to introduce us to Rhoback! I appreciate your willingness to share your insights on the world of a consumer brands startup. Welcome.

Rhoback: The pleasure is ours! Thanks so much for having us.

BFV Q: Of course! Let’s jump into it then. It feels like half of the UVa Darden student body has at least one piece of Rhoback apparel. The company has clearly achieved a ton of exposure locally in a short amount of time. What have you done to make that a reality?

Kristina: First, we couldn’t be more thankful for the supportive community we have here at Darden. We’ve been active members in the community and with a few of the clubs — to our luck, we’ve garnered a lot of support from not only our friends but also the clubs that span across most members of the student body. The Darden Golf Club and Darden Racquets Association have been particularly pivotal in getting Rhoback on the backs of Darden students. There’s no better feeling than seeing our brand in the halls.

BFV Q: Got it. And looking ahead, what are your biggest obstacles as you evaluate how to grow outside of the Charlottesville area?

Matt: Our next step is to sell to strangers — people who we have literally no connection to. This is certainly a challenge that we’re ready to tackle. We’ll be on the road all summer selling gear and spreading our brand up and down the East Coast (see below). We’re also leveraging our social media presence (links above) to partner with influencers and get our name out there.

**Kristina and Matt Loftus and the Rhoback team are heading on an East Coast road trip this summer**

BFV Q: Turning to product, I believe you initially looked at manufacturers in L.A., South Korea, and elsewhere. Where do you stand today?

Kristina: We’re currently manufacturing our performance polos in South Korea, and we couldn’t be happier with the quality of the product. For our hats, we source from an American company, and we are also currently developing a proprietary fabric in the U.S. for our performance t-shirts. We are constantly evaluating our supply chain and looking for ways to improve the Rhoback product line.

BFV Q: Okay, great. And beyond price, what has factored into your decision-making re: picking a supplier(s)? What questions did you ask in diligence, and what ultimately made you decide on your manufacturer in S.K.?

Kristina: Quality is always first. We prototyped with countless manufacturers for each of our products, and ultimately quality was the deciding factor above all else.

BFV Q: More fundamentally, what do you value in a partnership? What have been your most effective forms of partnering with other companies to date?

Matt: We understand that a partnership is a two-way street — not only do we want to collect value from our partners, but we want to make everyone associated with Rhoback grow and improve, as well. For example, we are partnering with a high-end woodworking company, Chesapeake Light Craft, who has agreed to supply us with a beautiful wooden camper for our summer road tour in exchange for marketing their product on Instagram and on tour. We’re also partnering with EDENS, a retail development company — they’ve agreed to let us sell on their retail properties this summer, and we’ll create an exciting pop-up shop to drive more traffic to their various centers.

BFV Q: Rhoback is an activewear company, so one SKU would be unlikely to get you too far. By my count, Rhoback currently offers a polo (in three colors), a sweat-wicking tee, and four caps (in numerous colors). How have you thought about new product introduction to date? As an early-stage company, how do you strike a balance between offering a) enough appealing options to consumers and b) perhaps too many, risking losing focus?

Kristina: Glad you brought that up. In fact, we just released five new performance polo styles and are currently prototyping new products to round out the collection. By the fall, we’d like to introduce our Q-zip in multiple colors and prints. We’re also developing athletic shorts. Once we’ve added three or four styles of Q-zips and a couple styles of shorts, our collection will feel more complete. Beyond that, we don’t want to overwhelm the customer with too many options or deviate far from our core focus. We’ll always be looking to introduce new colors and prints, but when it comes to the core product line, we want to perfect polos, t-shirts, hats, Q-zips, and shorts first.

**Proudly wearing Rhoback while hanging out on Daufuskie Island in South Carolina**

BFV Q: Switching gears, how are you doing your accounting right now? (Is QuickBooks sufficient?) What’s the best advice you’ve received (or action you’ve taken) regarding staying organized from an “admin” standpoint? Any pain points that you would suggest to any founder readers to avoid?

Matt: We currently use QuickBooks for our day-to-day accounting needs, but we’ve also tapped into our Darden resources to stay on top of the more intricate financial reporting and inventory tracking. We’d strongly suggest tapping into your personal and professional networks. Dan Savage, our friend from Darden and Kristina’s MBA “learning team” buddy, has stepped up and really helped us out in getting our books together. In terms of pain points, if you’re in a business that keeps inventory, develop a process early on to track inventory because it will almost certainly get overwhelming as you scale.

BFV Q: Dan’s a smart guy: excellent choice. Here’s a short (but important) one: what has been your biggest challenge getting Rhoback up and running?

Kristina: Our biggest challenge is time. There’s just not enough to get everything done that we need to on a day-to-day basis. Prioritizing is key.

BFV Q: Messaging and vision is so, so critical in the consumer space. What [values] does Rhoback stand for? How have you crafted your message to customers?

Matt: Above all, Rhoback operates with integrity in everything we do. With that, we always make sure our customers are happy and are receiving the best product and service we can offer. We are always sure to have fun every day and constantly live by our motto: crave activity.

BFV Q: I am interested in hearing your opinions on your both having pursued an MBA in the midst of launching Rhoback. Specifically, critics of business schools focus on what I’d call “inside-the-box” thinking. To prove the haters wrong — what would you say is the most creative or unique part about Rhoback?

Matt: We saw an opportunity in the market, and we created a brand by leveraging powerful social media marketing. While our competition spends millions on commercials and billboards, we’re reaching our customers through social media influencers and creative partnerships.

**The company draws its name and inspiration from the Rhodesian Ridgeback**

BFV Q: Kristina, you recently said that “there is no line between [your and Matt’s] personal lives and Rhoback right now.” That’s awesome. What’s inspiring the two of you to go all out on Rhoback? Do you have any closing advice for founders in retail/consumer?

Kristina: A passion Matt and I share is to create something valuable that can help those around us live a better and a more fulfilling life. We believe we have the opportunity to do this with Rhoback, and we’re determined to make it happen. My biggest piece of advice to new founders or potential entrepreneurs is as follows: bet on yourself, and do it. You won’t get far with analysis if you don’t execute.

More good stuff on Rhoback:

Note from AD:

If you’re a founder and interested in A-ing some Q-s, please tweet @ADonnantuono and we’ll try to sort something out!

Previous BFV research posts:

Fresh track(s) of the day:

Three live jams by Tame Impala for the price of one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOtye4edBbA

BFV — Founder Q&A — Rhoback

Written by Andrew Donnantuono