• News
    • Brands and Retailers
    • Industry Press Releases
    • People
    • Show News
  • Gear
  • Events
    • OR Snow Show
    • OR Summer
    • OAX
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
SUBSCRIBE
  • News
    • Brands and Retailers
    • Industry Press Releases
    • People
    • Show News
  • Gear
  • Events
    • OR Snow Show
    • OR Summer
    • OAX
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
Q

Backcountry.com co-founder and retail rebel John Bresee taught us that the best way to live is to embrace the extremes.
News:
People
January 14, 2020

Bresee’s Legacy

John Bresee, the disruptive visionary technologist, passed away on June 29, 2019.

By Mike Geraci
Share on Email
Share on Linkedin
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
[photo-by]
Backcountry.com co-founder and retail rebel John Bresee taught us that the best way to live is to embrace the extremes.
News:
People
January 14, 2020

Bresee’s Legacy

John Bresee, the disruptive visionary technologist, passed away on June 29, 2019.

By Mike Geraci
Share on Email
Share on Linkedin
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter

Writing about death is an art. I was recently reminded of this by a handwritten card my vet mailed to our family at the passing of Madison, our 14-year-old yellow lab. Compassionate, celebratory, and empathetic without smoothing the rough edges that made Madison, shall we say, lovable, it hit all the right notes. I won’t pretend to have that deft a touch.

John Bresee would appreciate that I introduced this mini-memorial to him with an anecdote about my dog. “Shock me” was one of his tenets. But we’ll get to that. John Bresee passed away on June 29, 2019. He was less the proverbial bull in a china shop and more the Ducati in the Prius-packed Whole Foods parking lot. He and Jim Holland co-founded Backcountry.com (nee BackcountryStore.com) in 1996. They were yin and yang: John, the disruptive visionary technologist; Jim the level-headed counterweight keeping the enterprise grounded in reality—their version of it, anyway.

Through the years we worked together (I was the PR “agency” for Backcountry), John and I shared many meetings, meals, and walks around the Backcountry.com warehouse—walks in which he attempted to debase me of what were obviously my misplaced beliefs about any number of issues, both personal and professional. In other words, John cared deeply about the things that John cared deeply about.

Hard on the outside, soft on the inside, John was opinionated, stubborn, gruff, candid, passionate, funny, charming, brilliant, joyous, and generous—with his time and advice. Reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, I was struck by the similarities.

Like Jobs, John believed in the future that technology promised and was eager to get there. “Drive fast, take chances”’ was not just a sound bite to John. Indeed, as anyone who has been in a car or on a motorcycle with him knows, John took the concept of “escape velocity” literally.

That was what was awesome about going along for the ride with John. The status quo was unacceptable. He knew that it takes extremes to break out of the pack. Which gets to John’s gift to me, one that I will always carry.

John’s many tenets surfaced during conversations in which we conspired on how to disrupt the PR game in the digital age. Many have stayed with me, but one in particular I think about every day: The risky way is the safe way; the safe way is the risky way.

“Drive fast, take chances” was not just a sound bite to John. Indeed, as anyone who has been in a car or on a motorcycle with him knows, John took the concept of “escape velocity” literally.

This was the cornerstone of everything John did, whether independently or in collaboration. And it’s a useful reminder for anyone trying to manage Backcountry.com today. In John’s world, a strategy was not a strategy if it just mimicked what everyone else was doing, only better. For Backcountry.com to realize its promise, we needed to focus more on the community than the corporation. We had to be willing to do and be and go where others were not. In true service, that meant using our talents, instincts, and experience to contain or leverage whatever disruption occurred.

The risky/safe paradox sounds callous and reckless. Sometimes it was. Usually it was calculated, but it always proved true. With everyone so focused on data these days, going with your gut is a bold step.

Just before his unexpected death this June, in response to one of our ongoing debates about the future, this one dedicated to the relevance and reality of the Segway (Yes, that Segway. Did I mention John was stubborn?), I sent John a link to a Wired article called, “Fifteen Years Ago, the Segway promised to make cars obsolete. Here’s why it didn’t.” Clearly, I was chumming for a bite.

John wrote back, “Mike, I know I wasn’t easy but I had such a blast working with you. Why don’t more people know that e-commerce and PR can be fun and funny? It really has to be that way to really kill it. Thanks for your brilliance, it was a joy.”

Perfect John. Just when I was ready to wrestle, he gave me a hug.

Mike Geraci is principal of Geraci & Co., a brand strategy and communications group in Jackson, Wyoming. He writes the marketing column for Outdoor Retailer Magazine and will be reporting on how brands are driving fast and taking chances at Outdoor + Snow Show 2020 for The Daily.

← Previous Article Next Article →
News People

Altra Running Taps Joe Toth to Lead Sales in North America

Toth joins Altra after 10 years of senior sales experience at Saucony.  The company also named Michael Dobbs Eastern U.S. sales manager.

News People

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Leadership Succession

Ken Hicks, chairman, president and chief executive officer, will become executive chairman of the board of directors. Steve Lawrence, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, will become CEO and a member of the board of directors.

News Industry Press Releases

Patagonia Names Nina Hajikhanian as New General Manager, EMEA

Hajikhanian has been part of Patagonia’s EMEA leadership team since 2019, most recently as director of direct-to-consumer.

News Industry Press Releases

Thermore Releases First Thermal Insulation Made from 100% Ocean Bound Raw Materials

Ecodown Fibers Ocean is Ocean Cycle-certified and made at Thermore’s production site in Hong Kong.

News Brands and Retailers

Hoka Adds More than $500 million in Revenue for Year

Deckers Brands expects to grow Hoka into a multibillion-dollar business in the near future.

News Industry Press Releases

DU/ER Appoints Burt Damsky as Vice President of Global Sales

Former Juicy Couture and Bench executive to drive global growth.

News Industry Press Releases

Christy Sports Opens New Location in Aspen, Colorado

The store, which opens May 26, sits inside St. Regis Aspen Resort and will provide year-round specialty outdoor rental and retail services.

News Brands and Retailers

Alterra Mountain Company Bets Big on Next Year

The Denver-based mountain resort company spoke with The Daily about its strategy to deploy $500 million for capital improvements at its resorts.

Subscribe for free today!

FOLLOW US ON

  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
© 2023 Emerald X, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

ABOUT    CAREERS    AUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERS   TERMS OF USE   PRIVACY POLICY