Skateboard entrepreneur has seen the light

PHOENIX — The only time Greg Rudolph tried skateboarding, he fell off and broke his wrist. He was in sixth grade.

That was the end of his skateboarding career. Or so he thought.

Now 23, Rudolph is blazing the way for skateboarders to be safer and hipper at the same time.

The Arizona State University alum and Tempe resident has a company called Board Blazers that sells adhesive LED underglow lights for skateboards, longboards and scooters.

The company, which is based in Southern California and has an office at SkySong, the ASU Innovation Center in Scottsdale, has seen sales soar. They grew 114% between 2013 and 2014 after increasing 94% the previous year, said Rudolph, who didn't disclose revenue numbers.

"Board Blazers has been more successful than I ever imagined," he said. "The beauty is in the simplicity. I didn't invent the LED light and I didn't invent the skateboard."

The product, available nationally and in 15 countries, is sold through Amazon, skateboarding shops, partnerships with skateboarding manufacturers and the company website, boardblazers.com.

Customers — who are mainly high school or college students or their parents — can choose among eight colors of lights, including "Radical Red" and "Lightning Lime." Each package, which sells for $24.99, contains an adhesive pad and four LED lights of the same color. Each light is about an inch thick and the size of a quarter.

The lights don't impede most skateboarding tricks if placed correctly, Rudolph said. They can be tucked behind the trucks —the metal axles that hold skateboard wheels — so they are protected when the user is doing maneuvers.

Rudolph came up with the idea for the product while a sophomore majoring in marketing and supply chain management at ASU's WP Carey School of Business. Walking across campus, he saw a skateboarder on a board that was lit up. He stopped the student and asked him about it. The skateboarder showed him how he had duct-taped Christmas lights to the bottom of the board.

Rudolph, who graduated in 2014 and had wanted to own his own business since he was a child, thought of the possibilities.

"Anybody can have an idea. The important thing is to act on it," he said.

Before launching his company, he spent time developing the idea and researching whether such a product would appeal to skateboarders.

In 2012, he set up what he thought was going to be a business that would keep him busy during summers, between semesters at ASU. He invested $1,000 — all the money he had at the time — and set up shop in the garage of his parent's California house.

Rudolph, whose company now employs five other workers, said the biggest challenge has been keeping ample inventory to handle the demand.

"It's a great problem to have," he said.

His two college majors have come in handy, said Rudolph, who was chosen as one of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com's 35 Entrepreneurs 35 and Younger in 2013.

Since the two target markets are vastly different, he has developed separate marketing campaigns. He promotes the product's safety aspect to parents and its customization and style potential to high school and college students who like to individualize their skateboards, he said.

Studying supply chain management has helped him in setting up manufacturing and distribution locations, he said. The lights are manufactured in China, the adhesive pad is made in Georgia and the product is assembled in metro Phoenix.

Plans include expanding the product's availability at skateboard shops, particularly in metro Phoenix, Rudolph said.

He also plans to continue working with his newest venture, the Beyond Business Institute, in which he does motivational speaking and consulting with other young entrepreneurs. He established the venture in 2014.

As for getting on a skateboard again?

"There's no way," he said.