CROSSNET Co-Founder, Chris Meade, sat down with Failory to discuss the growth of their four-square volleyball game. Alot has changed in the past two years, but the demand for CROSSNET has never been stronger. Chris discusses some of the challenges, best moments, and the light bulb moment where CROSSNET was created.
Below you'll find some of our favorite excerpt's from the piece. To read the full article visit Failory - https://www.failory.com/interview/crossnet
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Hi Chris! What's your background, and what are you currently working on?
I’m a 26-year-old entrepreneur living in Miami and running the world’s first four-way volleyball game company. I grew up in a small farm town in North East, Connecticut called Woodstock. I graduated with a film degree from Quinnipiac University in 2014, got into sales to pay off college debt, and now have built a multi-million dollar company in less than two years with my two best friends. Â
CROSSNET combines aspects of volleyball and four-square by having four players compete against one another in a challenging game to 11, win by 2. I’m responsible for all things and marketing, as the Chief Revenue Officer. We sell our product at our website and about 20+ other marketplaces including Target, Walmart, Amazon, Scheels, and Academy.
What were the biggest challenges you faced and the obstacles you overcame?
Our biggest obstacle has been creating a brand new product and sport with very little money in the bank. Being patient, when you have this crazy idea, was tough for us. We wanted to get a million nets out there and send them to everyone, but financially that was simply not realistic. We did not want to bury ourselves in so much debt, where we were working for the first two-three years simply to recoup our losses. We started small, purchased 100 nets, sold them and rebought 200. Now we’re buying in 7500 unit increments. It’s an awesome feeling.Â
If you had the chance to do things differently, what would you do?
Break down every single cost and find ways to improve your margins from day one. Negotiate on everything possible. If you end up saving $50 here and $200 there, you may end up saving yourself a month’s pay. I wish we did this in the beginning instead of feeling helpless to these larger companies manufacturing your packaging and product. It would have helped us become profitable much sooner.