This will never be acknowledged by Bode, as he is just too pig-headed and stubborn. He is also brilliant, in a non conventional way. Keep in mind that this is a guy who decided that he was going to dig in and refuse to edit and resubmit an English paper as a senior in HS, therefore passing up a high school diploma. Bode has always done things Bode's way. This is not new ground for me, BTW. Bode is brilliant, but a total non conformist.
Now, in recent years, as an adult with a growing young family, and a lifestyle that costs a small fortune, these pigheaded decisions come with consequences that often have long term effects. He made a decision to end a very strong relationship, including a close personal relationship with the CEO, at Head. He chose to fight his way out of the final year of his contract to "invest" in Bomber. Those in his inner circle are very quiet to this day about they terms of that investment. It may have involved no money on Bode's part. BUT, what he left on the table with Johan Eliasch and Head was considerable. He would have commanded likely the biggest personal services contract in the ski business for a retired athlete. He has big name recognition in Europe. Bode is a very good tennis player, and a pretty decent golfer and Elias would love to have Bode's presence at events in both sports....let alone his affiliation with skiing. Bode has a following.
There are other guys earning very good money doing this with Head: Cuche, Svindal, even The Kaiser, Franz Klammer. I assume that LV has worked out a nice retirement deal. I hear that both Fenninger and Wierather have. Bode's deal would have dwarfed theirs. So, to many of us.....but not necessarily to those who truly know Bode....the decision to "invest in Bomber" and pass up what would have been $500K to $1Mil a year, at the least, for probably 25-30 days a year of real "work," made both perfect sense and NO sense at the same time.
Nobody is going public on how Bode came out of Bomber. My strong hunch? He neither earned much, nor lost much....other than the multi million dollar opportunity cost. He did the same thing with clothing. He very likely could have worked out a deal with one of the big, global, successful ski brands for a cash deal, if he did not like his deal with Kjus. Like Spyder? Or, he could have stuck with Kjus. Instead he is an "equity partner" and design wizard with Aztech. They might be building great stuff. He might even be providing design input to great apparel. Is it selling? Do they have any margin? What's his deal?
So now he's affiliated with Crosson. With who? What's his deal? How will he monetize this? What's his role? Bode can be very articulate, and almost compelling. There are people who actually "bought" his pitch for Bomber. Experienced skiers who actually skied the skis? Maybe not as many. I would bet that Crosson made this deal based on a couple of conversations, and based on Bode making a strong personal pitch. Do they have any quantitative data that indicates just how much impact Bode can have? Dunno. I'm not sure if Bode attaching his name to a premium ski translates to sales. I assume it's all contingent on the results.
When Bode joined Bomber, those who I know in the race business thought that his "pitch" about providing world class race skis to the younger Americans who could not get them otherwise was just nonsense. But, among those not in the business, and tangental to the race world, somewhat believable. Of course the quality of the skis, and costs were never mentioned. Maybe not "quality" but how fast they truly were. It never happened. Bomber had zero race presence with Bode on board. It was a luxury brand, based in NYC, pitching skis. Continued good luck to them.
Do we think that people will sign up to buy {or sell} this brand because of Bode Miller's name? It did not happen with Bomber. I'll just leave it at that. The numbers demo'd with no followup decision to buy were legendary. The biggest shops promoting them had them on concession from Bomber, to my understanding. I know many who tried them. VERY good skiers, many with great skills, who were just non plussed. I know one former USST skier who demo'd them for all of ONE run in Aspen. I heard rumors of remarkably low sales. Could be unfounded and inaccurate, but......
Bode's going to continue, IMO, to sell his personal brand to anybody who will buy-in. And I'm told by close mutual friends that his mindset, which drives his advisor/agents crazy is that every deal has to be "an equity or ownership" deal. Sometimes a fat paycheck or royalty deal works very well. No, Bode sees himself as a right hand partner to the CEO. And bringing a lot of value. He wants to be listened to, as he feels that he has so much knowledge. He may. I hope he hits on a few. Maybe a home run, or three. Rumor has it that he has hit on a couple of home runs outside of the ski world.
Do we think that Bode has more ski deals left in him? I would have advised him to go beg to rejoin the Head stable, with a very long term deal. but that is he antithesis on stubborn Bode Miller. Has been since he was a teen.
If I were looking for an American WC skier to recommend skis with some degree of credibility, I would think of Daron Rahlves. Of course he lives in Norden, CA {Tahoe} and he and his family ski all the time. DR rips in any kind of terrain. He's, IMO, very credible. And to this day, Atomic and DR are good for each other, and for their businesses.
We'll see how things go with Crosson, with Aztech, with his new virtual academy, with Spanish Peaks and Moonlight Basin.
No lack of ego with Bode. This will be interesting to watch. Better success than with Bomber, I hope.
Now, in recent years, as an adult with a growing young family, and a lifestyle that costs a small fortune, these pigheaded decisions come with consequences that often have long term effects. He made a decision to end a very strong relationship, including a close personal relationship with the CEO, at Head. He chose to fight his way out of the final year of his contract to "invest" in Bomber. Those in his inner circle are very quiet to this day about they terms of that investment. It may have involved no money on Bode's part. BUT, what he left on the table with Johan Eliasch and Head was considerable. He would have commanded likely the biggest personal services contract in the ski business for a retired athlete. He has big name recognition in Europe. Bode is a very good tennis player, and a pretty decent golfer and Elias would love to have Bode's presence at events in both sports....let alone his affiliation with skiing. Bode has a following.
There are other guys earning very good money doing this with Head: Cuche, Svindal, even The Kaiser, Franz Klammer. I assume that LV has worked out a nice retirement deal. I hear that both Fenninger and Wierather have. Bode's deal would have dwarfed theirs. So, to many of us.....but not necessarily to those who truly know Bode....the decision to "invest in Bomber" and pass up what would have been $500K to $1Mil a year, at the least, for probably 25-30 days a year of real "work," made both perfect sense and NO sense at the same time.
Nobody is going public on how Bode came out of Bomber. My strong hunch? He neither earned much, nor lost much....other than the multi million dollar opportunity cost. He did the same thing with clothing. He very likely could have worked out a deal with one of the big, global, successful ski brands for a cash deal, if he did not like his deal with Kjus. Like Spyder? Or, he could have stuck with Kjus. Instead he is an "equity partner" and design wizard with Aztech. They might be building great stuff. He might even be providing design input to great apparel. Is it selling? Do they have any margin? What's his deal?
So now he's affiliated with Crosson. With who? What's his deal? How will he monetize this? What's his role? Bode can be very articulate, and almost compelling. There are people who actually "bought" his pitch for Bomber. Experienced skiers who actually skied the skis? Maybe not as many. I would bet that Crosson made this deal based on a couple of conversations, and based on Bode making a strong personal pitch. Do they have any quantitative data that indicates just how much impact Bode can have? Dunno. I'm not sure if Bode attaching his name to a premium ski translates to sales. I assume it's all contingent on the results.
When Bode joined Bomber, those who I know in the race business thought that his "pitch" about providing world class race skis to the younger Americans who could not get them otherwise was just nonsense. But, among those not in the business, and tangental to the race world, somewhat believable. Of course the quality of the skis, and costs were never mentioned. Maybe not "quality" but how fast they truly were. It never happened. Bomber had zero race presence with Bode on board. It was a luxury brand, based in NYC, pitching skis. Continued good luck to them.
Do we think that people will sign up to buy {or sell} this brand because of Bode Miller's name? It did not happen with Bomber. I'll just leave it at that. The numbers demo'd with no followup decision to buy were legendary. The biggest shops promoting them had them on concession from Bomber, to my understanding. I know many who tried them. VERY good skiers, many with great skills, who were just non plussed. I know one former USST skier who demo'd them for all of ONE run in Aspen. I heard rumors of remarkably low sales. Could be unfounded and inaccurate, but......
Bode's going to continue, IMO, to sell his personal brand to anybody who will buy-in. And I'm told by close mutual friends that his mindset, which drives his advisor/agents crazy is that every deal has to be "an equity or ownership" deal. Sometimes a fat paycheck or royalty deal works very well. No, Bode sees himself as a right hand partner to the CEO. And bringing a lot of value. He wants to be listened to, as he feels that he has so much knowledge. He may. I hope he hits on a few. Maybe a home run, or three. Rumor has it that he has hit on a couple of home runs outside of the ski world.
Do we think that Bode has more ski deals left in him? I would have advised him to go beg to rejoin the Head stable, with a very long term deal. but that is he antithesis on stubborn Bode Miller. Has been since he was a teen.
If I were looking for an American WC skier to recommend skis with some degree of credibility, I would think of Daron Rahlves. Of course he lives in Norden, CA {Tahoe} and he and his family ski all the time. DR rips in any kind of terrain. He's, IMO, very credible. And to this day, Atomic and DR are good for each other, and for their businesses.
We'll see how things go with Crosson, with Aztech, with his new virtual academy, with Spanish Peaks and Moonlight Basin.
No lack of ego with Bode. This will be interesting to watch. Better success than with Bomber, I hope.
Last edited:
