Travis Rosbach
I've spent more than three decades building businesses, developing products, working with manufacturers, launching brands, and figuring things out along the way. I've founded companies, advised entrepreneurs and business leaders, worked across manufacturing and sourcing, and experienced both the wins and the spectacular mistakes that come with actually building things.
Hydro Flask
Hydro Flask is probably what I'm best known for, but entrepreneurship has been part of my life for more than three decades. I've started, built, advised, bought, sold, and worked alongside businesses in a wide range of industries.
My experience reaches across product development, manufacturing, sourcing, branding, sales, distribution, business strategy, growth, and exit. I've worked with entrepreneurs, celebrities, established companies, executives, inventors, the U.S. government, and people trying to figure out whether the idea in front of them is actually worth pursuing.
I tend to look at a business as a whole. Product, brand, customer, manufacturing, distribution, people, money, and timing all affect one another.
“Sometimes the problem someone thinks they have isn't actually the problem at all.”
Outside the Boardroom
Business is only part of my story. Over the years, I've also worked as a commercial airline and charter jet pilot (ATP), served as a U.S. Merchant Marine captain (50 Tons), taught SCUBA diving (PADI 158190), worked in construction as the founder of Bend Fencing, worked in real estate, and spent a lot of time exploring the world above, below, and through the water.
Along the way, my experiences have included membership in The Explorers Club and Fellowship with the Royal Geographical Society. Those chapters may seem unrelated to business, but they've shaped how I think about preparation, risk, decision-making, leadership, problem-solving, knowing when to change course, and when to do cool shit.
I've never been particularly interested in staying in one lane. I like learning how things work, figuring out why they don't, and finding a better way forward.
Selected Interviews & Features
I've had the opportunity to share parts of my story with universities, business organizations, publications, and interviewers over the years. Here are a few places to hear or read more about the journey.
Hydro Flask: Travis Rosbach. How a thirsty surfer changed the water bottle industry.
University of Notre Dame IDEA Center
Thirst for Innovation: Dive Into the Hydro Flask Revolution with Founder Travis Rosbach.
Selected Hydro Flask product designs naming Travis R. Rosbach as inventor.
University of Virginia, McIntire School of Commerce
Hydro Flask founder Travis Rosbach joins student entrepreneurs and founders.