HydraPak - Focused on Hydration

This episode is brought to you by Sendlane and Mercury.

Starting HydraPak in the wake of the 9-11 tragedy might have given the business an added bump, says Matt Lyon, president, and CEO of the hydration brand for athletes.

"All things considered, if you're trying to start a business and in the middle of an expansion and everybody's running around doing everything they can, you've got to do everything just to get their attention," Matt says. "Trying to do it when things are slow, and people have stopped, and they're standing there, and they're looking around, that's the great time to get their attention and a great time introducing them to something new."

The lightbulb moment, Matt says, was when he realized that backpack manufacturers already made great products - they just didn't understand the hydration and plumbing side. Partnering up to help solve that problem was the open door they needed to find.

"Water always boils down to something simple, right? It's you don't want to spend too much weight on it. You don't want to spend too much time. You've got to clean it. So simple things always work better," Matt says. And so when you boil it down to these simple elements, it's usually just one or two things that really work better for what you're doing versus something else. And yeah, you can get by with something else. You could get but, but it's those one or two features that really can make your experience better. So I'd say I start with the question, What are you doing? What are you using it for? And probably make something just for you.

In Part 2, Matt talks about:

* How great businesses can be born during recessions and downtimes.
* How focusing on hydration solutions helped drive innovations in HydraPak's products.
* Sticking to their guns despite initial resistance from brands made all the difference.
* Why he enjoys talking to athletes at consumer events and professional athletes at larger companies.
* How the brand's focus has allowed them to specialize over time.

Join Ramon Vela and Matt Lyon as they break down the inside story on The Story of a Brand.

For more on HydraPak, visit: https://hydrapak.com/

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