Unbeaten Path Podcast: Jason Levinthal
[Words by Sean Sechrist]
Jason Levinthal is a visionary, entrepreneur, and skier. He created the first twin tip ski for a senior project in college, which led to Jason’s first company Line skis. The twin tip ski revolutionized the industry and made skiing cool again. Line was eventually bought by K2 and Jason continued with the company under the K2 umbrella for several years. However, Jason’s entrepreneurial itch came back to him, and he started the company he runs today, J skis.
On today’s episode, Jason and I discuss:
- Jason’s background growing up
- Finding a way to apply his creativity
- Going to college but not the business school
- Jason making the first twin tip ski for a senior project
- Deciding to turn his senior project into a business
- Having the vision to revolutionize the ski industry
- Ignorance is bliss
- The early days of Line Skis
- One order from Japan launching the business
- Larger ski brands getting into making twin tips and helping grow the market for Line
- Struggling even when the brand is growing
- Trying to revolution the industry again but coming up short
- Line being bought by K2 and staying on for 7 years
- Moving on from K2 and starting J Skis
- Looking at running the business like being a skier
- Lessons learned
- Advice for taking your first action step
- How Jason has overcome failures
My 3 Big Takeaways
- Don’t become stagnate, continue to evolve
- Go out and fall and figure out what you need to do for the next time
- Don’t have tunnel vision with creating the life you want, think outside the box