"On the Rise" – SVPN features SVSEF athletes in its January 2017 issue
SVPN highlights some of the athletes who make this organization what it is. Read the full story here.
Alumni Spotlight: Taylor Sundali '07
Taylor grew up in the ranks of the SVSEF cross country program, graduating from Wood River High School in 2007 and heading east for school in 2008. After attending Middlebury College and skiing for their cross country team, he moved to Detroit after being selected as a Venture for America fellow. Taylor went on to start a company, Compass, that orchestrates the implementation and finessing of websites for small businesses. Taylor now lives in Philadelphia, where he continues to help business owners improve their web presence and grow their companies. We took some time to chat with Taylor about the unique path he took to get to where he is today, and how SVSEF has influenced the way he approaches work and life.
What was it like to make the transition from growing up in the Wood River Valley to attending a small liberal arts school across the country? Did you feel prepared for that change?
I was more prepared than I initially thought. I remember thinking how hard it was for me to get into this school, and how studious most of these other students must have been in order to make it there. After a while, though, I realized how many were very similar to me. Good student-athletes who were, overall, more intellectually curious than anything.
One of the harder things to get used to, to be perfectly honest, was the climate. It was the first time I was entrenched in high-humidity and high heat… it was weird for the weather to stay warm all night.
How did you hear about Venture for America? Why did you choose that route after college?
Venture for America was introduced to me by a great friend from college, Astrid Schanz-Garbassi. She heard that I was unhappy working at a stuffy, corporate gig that I landed right out of school. Basically, I needed a change. We spent about 1.5 hours over the phone one night talking about the program, and how good of an opportunity it was for me.
Did you have a sense for a while that you wanted to start your own business, or is that something that developed over time or with certain experiences?
Totally. I always knew I wanted to do something entrepreneurial and on my own. VFA was a perfect opportunity to safely play in that space. I cut my teeth a bit with a window washing company I co-ran in high school, but it wasn’t anything to create a career around.
How did Compass come about?
Compass was an idea that me and my friend (Mike) had when in the VFA Fellowship in Detroit. We were dabbling with ideas on the side of our main jobs, and his parents were in the market for websites. They had just gone to an agency, and had been quoted at obscene rates. We realized we could provide the service they needed at a much lower cost.
After we helped them out, and made a little bit of side cash, we saw the seed of an idea. Digital marketing services vary wildly in quality and price, and there wasn’t any centralized marketplace that addressed the core problems of small business owners (like Mike’s parents). On the other side of the marketplace, Freelancers were having a hard time finding work, managing projects / client expectations, and dealing with the overhead involved in building websites. There are plenty of talented designers, but not all of them are willing to deal with the additional work to freelance. A marketplace that matches the two intentionally was clear to us, and that’s what we’ve been building ever since.
What are the goals, mission and values of the company?
A lofty question!
Goals
Our current goal is to hit $1mm in run rate (annualized revenue). This is very specific, but it indicates a somewhat-scaled company. It would also, based on our projections, get us to a profitable stage.
Our goals after that are much loftier. We really want to be the go-to digital service provider for all small businesses. If someone is looking to get a business off the ground, they’ll come to us to get started for all digital marketing.
Values
We explicitly value Alignment, Transparency and Sustainability. These three have manifested in a lot of cultural and business practices that go counter to both startups and other digital agencies. We think this is a very good thing!
Were there moments of doubt at all starting out?
Of course. Many. That being said, my cofounder is much more of an eternal optimist than I am, so it helped to keep me motivated. (note, I also helped keep him a bit more down to earth).
What do you enjoy most about the job?
It’s oddly addicting to build a company, and it’s really hard to put a finger on this feeling I get when doing so. It’s oddly similar to the feeling of improving in an endurance sport like Nordic Skiing. The more intentional, good work you put into it, the better it performs and the more positive feedback you get for it. I’d say this feeling I’m trying to describe is best correlated to building the strength and endurance for a sport like skiing.
How does your business stand out from other companies that focus on website building services?
Above, I mentioned one of our values of Transparency. We keep open and transparent throughout the entire process of building a site, which is something that many agencies hide.
We like our customers to know precisely what they’re paying for, how long it’s going to take, what tools we’re using to build it, etc. Our level of transparency sets us apart from all the other guys.
The other major thing is purely our model. We’re outsourcing all work that can be done by freelancers. Many shops that build sites have every type of person in house (developers, designers, project managers, sales people). Compass… we have project managers.
Development can be outsourced by tools and Content Management Systems.
Design is outsourced to our freelance designers.
Sales is largely outsourced by our referral system and other hacky-growth systems.
On the most challenging aspect of building a company:
The lifestyle. I miss being outside.
How do you describe the value of a program like SVSEF? What aspects of the program have you carried over or applied to your current job, or any steps or experiences that have come in between?
The work ethic it requires to be a dedicated athlete at SVSEF has helped me build this company. I think that was something I always had, on a base level. That being said, SVSEF helped me hone it and apply it to something that matters.
Without the real experience of refining that skill with skiing, I think I would have had a very difficult time picking up this business and running with it.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Save your money.
How have you come to define success?
One word: Happiness.
Learn more about Compass here. Thanks, Taylor, for sharing your story and insight.
Alumni Ski Day and Après-Ski Party – December 21, 2016
In operation for over 50 years now, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation has seen a number of athletes grow through the program and go on to apply experience and qualities adopted while with SVSEF to other interests and pursuits. The Alumni Association is intended to advance the commitment that athletes demonstrate to the organization both while they are in the program and beyond, and to continue to engage and connect graduates of the program with each other and with future generations of SVSEF athletes. Bound by the mutual experience of growing up in the Wood River Valley on the hills of Baldy and Dollar and on the trails from Lake Creek to Galena, the SVSEF alumni form a unique community that reaches across the United States and around the world.
We're excited to host our first annual Alumni Ski Day and Après Ski Party on December 21. Come ski Baldy or Lake Creek, reconnect with teammates and friends, and enjoy some beverages at Apple's Bar & Grill and The Cellar. We hope you can make it – looking forward to seeing everyone!
If you are an alumni and you have not received an invitation, please email jseyferth@svsef.org – we may not have your contact information.
Athlete of the Month, November – Maddie Ferris
For the athlete who has grown up on snow, who knows what a good turn feels like and who has cultivated a love for the sport, dryland training can drag on for a bit; especially when we’re still patiently waiting for more of the natural stuff to fall into place while December quietly creeps in. Dedication is indeed a virtue in these circumstances for the SVSEF athlete; with this in mind, our inaugural SVSEF athlete of the month for the 2016-2017 season is Maddie Ferris, for embodying this and embracing the rigors of dryland training in the lead up to what is sure to be a season with plenty of snow, soon enough.
Maddie is an alpine skier on the SVSEF Alpine USSA Team, and is a tenth grader at the Community School. After a number of successes last season, she has been working hard to make gains both in the weight room and with on-snow technique. Maddie has been putting in the time, and the benefits of doing so are showing through. Aside from the sessions here at home, she has attended three training camps, in Mammoth, Colorado, and New Zealand. Said Will Brandenburg, Head USSA Coach, “Maddie has had a great offseason. She worked hard to make some major improvements on snow, and off the snow she dedicated herself to the gym, making huge changes in her strength. She has pushed herself to new limits and it has been super fun to see the hard work!”
We’re looking forward to seeing how Maddie’s commitment and resolve translate onto snow this season.
FIS Athletes Start Off Strong at Copper
SVSEF alpine FIS skiers had a successful start to the season on snow with super G and giant slalom races down at Copper Mountain in Colorado. Athletes competed in two super G and two giant slalom events. In the women’s first super G on November 28, Haley Cutler, a SVSEF PG athlete, skied to 15th place. Skylar Cooley was 18th and Erin Smith was 24th. Kipling Weisel, a SVSEF Gold Team skier, grabbed the win in the men’s event on the same day with a time of 1:06.81. John Blackburn was 34th and Spencer Wright was 39th. In the second super G race on November 29, Cutler finished sixth, Smith 8th and Cooley 22nd. In the men’s race, Wright was 42nd and Blackburn 45th. The athletes transitioned to giant slalom for the following two days. On November 30, Cutler cruised to 17th and Ruby Marden to 49th. Cooley and Smith did not finish their first run of the day. Blackburn skied to 55th on the men’s side, and Wright to 76th. On December 1, Cutler finished 11th, Smith 23rd and Cooley 38th for the women. Blackburn skied an impressive race, as he started with bib 76 and finished in 28th in the men's event. Filippo Collini skied into 57th and Wright finished 64th.
Full results: http://data.fis-ski.com/alpine-skiing/results.html
Cross Country – West Yellowstone Rendezvous Results
On Saturday, November 26, SVSEF cross country skiers got back into the swing of racing in West Yellowstone, Montana, after spending a week of training on the Rendezvous Ski Trails there. West was hit with about a foot of snow the day before the Comp and Prep contingents were to depart Friday, November 18 – the athletes, who were prepared for a continuation of the running and roller ski training they’ve been stacking up all spring, summer and fall, stepped onto snow on Saturday, November 19. With two sessions a day, the skiers were fitting in a hefty amount of on-snow hours. Gold and PG skiers arrived Monday and got some solid time on snow before the races that were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Both races were FIS-sanctioned and drew athletes from across the U.S., most of whom consider West Yellowstone a staple in their schedule for early winter on-snow training. In the men’s 10km skate race on Saturday, Gold Team skier Rogan Brown powered into second place with a time of 20:59.1, behind SMS T2 skier Patrick Caldwell, who claimed victory in 20:32.4. Teammate Jack Hegman wasn’t far behind, taking fourth place overall, only .3 seconds out of third. PG skier Eli Jensen had a standout race, with a 17th place finish overall and a win in the U20 age group. In the women’s 5km skate on Saturday, Gold Team skier Mary Rose took sixth, Annie Pokorny 14 and Kelsey Phinney 16 in a field of 76 competitors. Comp Team skier Eve Jensen was 43, Lily Brunelle 51, Ella Wolter 55, Sophia Mazzoni 56, Laine Allison 59 and Katherine Estep 69. In the U16 men’s race, SVSEF’s Johnny Hagenbuch took the win in a time of 11:28.7 in a field of 24 on the 5km course.
Sunday featured a 10km/5km classic race. Gold Team skier Matt Gelso looked strong throughout and claimed silver in the men’s division, which included 70 athletes. He broke a pole with .5km to go, but was able to maintain composure and secure his spot on the podium. According to Chris Mallory, Gold Team Head Coach, most of the athletes opted to double pole the course, as the biggest climb was taken out of the race due to conditions. Gelso was one of only two skiers in the top ten to choose to use classic skis and kick wax. In the women’s 5km classic with a field of 74, Deedra Irwin was just out of the top ten, skiing to 11. PG Kae Fink came in 23, and teammate Sarah Goble was second in the U20 category and 32 overall. Kat Paul, an Australian skier who has skied for SVSEF in the past, was 34, Kirsys Campbell 54, Jenna Nurge 56, Chloe Tanous 57, Laura Anderson 63 and Michaela Petty 69.
With an influx of skiers throughout the week and warm temperatures, Mallory commended the organizers of the event, as they “put together some really good tracks with only a few inches of snow on the ground.” SVSEF Comp Team athletes head back to West Yellowstone today to join Gold and PG skiers who stayed there to get more training on snow – they’ve been getting in some good intensity workouts, and conditions should be better this weekend as a few more inches accumulated on Sunday. A total of 30 SVSEF athletes will compete in the SuperTour opener that was moved from Bozeman, Montana, for lack of snow there.
Results from last weekend can be found here.