The Last Time Someone Reinvented Camping Was 1962
About this episode
Matt Oesterle built his first company, Callisto Media, from zero to $85 million in revenue by using data to disrupt the book publishing industry. Then he sold it to Penguin Random House and asked himself: what's the next industry that hasn't been forced to evolve? The answer was camping — an industry whose biggest brands were founded in the 1960s and haven't changed much since.
In this conversation, Matt walks through the framework he uses to pick businesses, how he designed the Ramble campground experience from scratch, and what it takes to build a hospitality brand that maintains a 4.98-star review score while scaling to 100+ locations. He also gets into the role of data versus instinct in entrepreneurship, why type two fun is a hiring requirement for his team, and why you don't have to be a sociopath to build something great.
If you've ever looked at an industry and thought "someone should fix this" — this is the episode for you.
Show Notes:
Popfly for Brands
Matt Oesterle
Ramble Campgrounds
Next Ventures
Mel Strong on Second Nature
Callisto Media
HipCamp
Net Promoter Score (Term)
Solo Stove
Zendesk
The Everything Store (Book)
BPC - Brand, Product, Content:
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