Author Topic: AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKE SINCLAIR, SKATEBOARDING’S MOST FAMOUS TEAM MANAGER  (Read 16551 times)

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GardenSkater77

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I don’t understand how having a TM is necessary. Just make the oldest rider the TM.
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When you graduate from high school, you might learn that the oldest person isn't always the responsible one. Aside from that shit, I don't think the oldest dude on the team wants more responsibilities while trying to balance their career.
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I’m 40 but whatever age means. All I’m saying is middle management is where you look to cut when times are tough. The problem seems Tod and Ed are detached from their companies. So, if you don’t care don’t have a company. I think Billy Marks would want the job if it meant more money for his family—and beanies.
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Just a few questions. 

1) What do you think the average age is of the "oldest RIDER" on an average tour? Billy is 30 right? I think he is adult enough.
2) What percentage of those have actually EVER held a full time job? No idea but moving to skater/TM sounds better than a real job.
3) Do you have kids?  2 If so, have you ever tried to get a GROUP of them that are hungover skaters in the van on time to get to a demo? My kids are 6 and 9 so they aren’t hungover yet, but getting the in the Forester can be a pain at times.
4) You ever get a phone call hours before an international flight from someone saying they don't know where their passport is? No. Most people I know take care of their travel with no issues.

Being a TM (even a Euro TM!!) is a pain in the ass and a 24 hour job of babysitting.  The oldest pro doesn't want that job unless the company owner says "due to your age/ability, you're no longer the oldest pro in the the van, you're merely just the oldest person - but I'll give you X amount of money to babysit these ungrateful, Peter Pan complexed tweeners."
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I answered your questions I just hate to think these skaters who are Thrasher and YouTube fucking shit up are scrounging for food. Are there any brands that are truly employee/skater owned? Is WKND and equally owned collective? What about Alltimers? I doubt they have a TM but can they function and make money? I don’t know that either. Never really spent much time with the business end of skateboarding but it is interesting.
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I don't understand why you think a "skater-owned" company is better. Who do you think has been screwing all these guys over for decades? "Skater owned" companies, that's who.

Skateboarding is riding a skateboard and running a business is a completely different thing. "Skater owned" is a popular excuse for being an incompetent business person. It took outside companies (run by successful business people) to force "core" companies to stop treating skaters like shit.

I didn’t say skater (singular) owned companies were better. I think that equal partnership of the riders on the team would be the best way to set up a company in this day and age. I was just wondering if any of the newer brands were run like this? And, again, if Tum Yeto has no budget how can the afford a warehouse in San Diego that is probably a short distance from Tod’s house in San Diego. They can’t be hurting that bad.

Dermbot

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I don’t understand how having a TM is necessary. Just make the oldest rider the TM.
[close]

When you graduate from high school, you might learn that the oldest person isn't always the responsible one. Aside from that shit, I don't think the oldest dude on the team wants more responsibilities while trying to balance their career.

So Corey Duffel would be TM... imagine that...

stevedave

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I don’t understand how having a TM is necessary. Just make the oldest rider the TM.
[close]

When you graduate from high school, you might learn that the oldest person isn't always the responsible one. Aside from that shit, I don't think the oldest dude on the team wants more responsibilities while trying to balance their career.
[close]

So Corey Duffel would be TM... imagine that...

For some reason, i can see him actually being a decent TM.  He's been through EVERYTHING and has been in a van since he was a kid.  I bet he'd be able to relate a lot more to skaters than you think.  He's older now and probably has some sort of understanding of the logistics of sending people boxes, arranging hotels, flights etc.  Also, probably an easier time getting demos.  If a TM called a shop and said "Hey, this is Jimmy NewKnees from Asshat Skateboards", you'd probably blow him off, but if it was Corey Duffel, an ex-pro who's career you had seen, you may be a bit more receptive to lining up the demo.
"See you are like Mark David Chapman and my posts are John Lennon. You having nothing to offer so the best you can do is try to assassinate my beautiful posts. My Dental Plan is Strawberry fields and you are a sexually frustrated fat man."  ---NigNogNooo---

Dermbot

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I don’t understand how having a TM is necessary. Just make the oldest rider the TM.
[close]

When you graduate from high school, you might learn that the oldest person isn't always the responsible one. Aside from that shit, I don't think the oldest dude on the team wants more responsibilities while trying to balance their career.
[close]

So Corey Duffel would be TM... imagine that...
[close]

For some reason, i can see him actually being a decent TM.  He's been through EVERYTHING and has been in a van since he was a kid.  I bet he'd be able to relate a lot more to skaters than you think.  He's older now and probably has some sort of understanding of the logistics of sending people boxes, arranging hotels, flights etc.  Also, probably an easier time getting demos.  If a TM called a shop and said "Hey, this is Jimmy NewKnees from Asshat Skateboards", you'd probably blow him off, but if it was Corey Duffel, an ex-pro who's career you had seen, you may be a bit more receptive to lining up the demo.

so what you are saying is you have no idea who corey duffel actually is or heard him talk.

reptar_bar

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between this interview and the bits and pieces of kotr i have seen this year, i like sinclair more then i used too.

RCB3

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Hating on Sinclair for pulling in $15 an hour.

He says he started at that and has gotten raises with experience. And that's just with Tum Yeto. He's also a TM for Nike. Between the two of them, I would imagine he does pretty well.


Irvine-Sucks.com

IanBZHD

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Hating on Sinclair for pulling in $15 an hour.
[close]

He says he started at that and has gotten raises with experience. And that's just with Tum Yeto. He's also a TM for Nike. Between the two of them, I would imagine he does pretty well.
Dude has a house with a back yard in California from what I can tell, which says he's doing pretty good.

feedmeseymour

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Hating on Sinclair for pulling in $15 an hour.
[close]

He says he started at that and has gotten raises with experience. And that's just with Tum Yeto. He's also a TM for Nike. Between the two of them, I would imagine he does pretty well.
[close]
Dude has a house with a back yard in California from what I can tell, which says he's doing pretty good.

Who says this house is paid off? Not hard to get a mortgage.

Francis Xavier

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Big pink is married,she probably brings in more than 30k

Damn I left my bubbler at my parents house

Fred Savage

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SINCLAIR RULES
gipper is a big POOSEY
See you at sizzler bitches

Coolhats

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Hating on Sinclair for pulling in $15 an hour.
[close]

He says he started at that and has gotten raises with experience. And that's just with Tum Yeto. He's also a TM for Nike. Between the two of them, I would imagine he does pretty well.
[close]
Dude has a house with a back yard in California from what I can tell, which says he's doing pretty good.
[close]

Who says this house is paid off? Not hard to get a mortgage.

He can afford the mortgage and hasn’t lost his house, is the point.

Hoeboi

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you know fools are fuckin broke boys when they over here mind boggled that some 40 year old fat dude is able to afford his mortgage. stay broke.

expired

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Hating on Sinclair for pulling in $15 an hour.
[close]

He says he started at that and has gotten raises with experience. And that's just with Tum Yeto. He's also a TM for Nike. Between the two of them, I would imagine he does pretty well.
[close]
Dude has a house with a back yard in California from what I can tell, which says he's doing pretty good.
[close]

Who says this house is paid off? Not hard to get a mortgage.
[close]

He can afford the mortgage and hasn’t lost his house, is the point.

On his 9 club he talked about having multiple different jobs he works hard for to support his candy addiction, tum yeto, nike, judges contests does him well. Considering how much money nike has id be surprised if he has an issue getting money, he's worked for them for a couple years and seems to find a bunch of skaters for nikes program.

Also I wish Cole could live off skating but I got so much respect for him when I found out he won real street 2 years in a row and still works at happy hour to support himself.

Atiba Applebum

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Hating on Sinclair for pulling in $15 an hour.
[close]

He says he started at that and has gotten raises with experience. And that's just with Tum Yeto. He's also a TM for Nike. Between the two of them, I would imagine he does pretty well.
[close]
Dude has a house with a back yard in California from what I can tell, which says he's doing pretty good.
[close]

Who says this house is paid off? Not hard to get a mortgage.
[close]

He can afford the mortgage and hasn’t lost his house, is the point.

Surprised to have to say this, but not everywhere in California is nice or prohibitively expensive to live in

mclovin1336

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Hating on Sinclair for pulling in $15 an hour.
[close]

He says he started at that and has gotten raises with experience. And that's just with Tum Yeto. He's also a TM for Nike. Between the two of them, I would imagine he does pretty well.
[close]
Dude has a house with a back yard in California from what I can tell, which says he's doing pretty good.
[close]

Who says this house is paid off? Not hard to get a mortgage.
[close]

He can afford the mortgage and hasn’t lost his house, is the point.
that has to be one of the most american things ive read on here hahahah

Dad you're embarrassing me

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BehindTheLens

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Just got around reading this and really enjoyed it. I definitely have some mixed feelings on this part of the interview.

"For example, I still feel that shop decks are making Tum Yeto smaller and smaller. People don’t see how the shop blank or the random local company that has 50 boards for sale will mean there aren’t gonna be any more demos coming through town or your favorite pro isn’t going to get paid by the board company in the future."

So in theory that's great and all, but at the store I work for if I want to buy Tumyeto decks they typically go for $34-$36. They usually don't carry enough product or move fast enough for me to do a large enough order that will get free shipping. So if the store is going to pay $36 for a deck and then pay another 2-3$ per deck shipped where is my profit margin left? Buy a deck for $39 and sell it for $55? Anyone who owns a business knows you aren't paying bills on that.

Then there is shop decks and local brands. I can order 100 shop decks at $16 a pop that locals love and sell them for $40 at a great margin. Local brands typically sell for $30 and will drop off for free shipping and contribute way more to the local skate scene then big brands do on the east coast. I'm not sure what the right answer is and I would love to see them sell more decks and be able to pay there riders, but Sinclair isn't looking at it from a shops perspective.

calvinsdream

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Just got around reading this and really enjoyed it. I definitely have some mixed feelings on this part of the interview.

"For example, I still feel that shop decks are making Tum Yeto smaller and smaller. People don’t see how the shop blank or the random local company that has 50 boards for sale will mean there aren’t gonna be any more demos coming through town or your favorite pro isn’t going to get paid by the board company in the future."

So in theory that's great and all, but at the store I work for if I want to buy Tumyeto decks they typically go for $34-$36. They usually don't carry enough product or move fast enough for me to do a large enough order that will get free shipping. So if the store is going to pay $36 for a deck and then pay another 2-3$ per deck shipped where is my profit margin left? Buy a deck for $39 and sell it for $55? Anyone who owns a business knows you aren't paying bills on that.

Then there is shop decks and local brands. I can order 100 shop decks at $16 a pop that locals love and sell them for $40 at a great margin. Local brands typically sell for $30 and will drop off for free shipping and contribute way more to the local skate scene then big brands do on the east coast. I'm not sure what the right answer is and I would love to see them sell more decks and be able to pay there riders, but Sinclair isn't looking at it from a shops perspective.

When was the last time anyone saw a Toy Machine demo "come through town"?


IHOP

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Hating on Sinclair for pulling in $15 an hour.
[close]

He says he started at that and has gotten raises with experience. And that's just with Tum Yeto. He's also a TM for Nike. Between the two of them, I would imagine he does pretty well.

In the interview he did not say it was just tum yeto,  Im sure he makes more at tum yeto than when he started, but like I said earlier in the thread, with how much time being a nike tm takes im sure nike is covering most of his salary and tum yeto making up for less than half.  So if tum yeto is hurting, I dont think big pink is asking for raises or demanding more money, at this point it i would guess he does it for the love of the brands, not the mediocre pay check he could get elsewhere.   

Craig Lutzka

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Pretty positive his role at Nike is not a TM, it's actually "amateur consultant ", whatever that means.

mclovin1336

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Just got around reading this and really enjoyed it. I definitely have some mixed feelings on this part of the interview.

"For example, I still feel that shop decks are making Tum Yeto smaller and smaller. People don’t see how the shop blank or the random local company that has 50 boards for sale will mean there aren’t gonna be any more demos coming through town or your favorite pro isn’t going to get paid by the board company in the future."

So in theory that's great and all, but at the store I work for if I want to buy Tumyeto decks they typically go for $34-$36. They usually don't carry enough product or move fast enough for me to do a large enough order that will get free shipping. So if the store is going to pay $36 for a deck and then pay another 2-3$ per deck shipped where is my profit margin left? Buy a deck for $39 and sell it for $55? Anyone who owns a business knows you aren't paying bills on that.

Then there is shop decks and local brands. I can order 100 shop decks at $16 a pop that locals love and sell them for $40 at a great margin. Local brands typically sell for $30 and will drop off for free shipping and contribute way more to the local skate scene then big brands do on the east coast. I'm not sure what the right answer is and I would love to see them sell more decks and be able to pay there riders, but Sinclair isn't looking at it from a shops perspective.
what, are american prices this low (even for cost prize)?

straight fucking edge

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it's a double edged sword.  they both need each other
i don't want to link to the channel because is promotes athiesm.

Atiba Applebum

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it's a double edged sword.  they both need each other

That would be a “symbiotic relationship” dingus

StabMasterArson

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Pretty positive his role at Nike is not a TM, it's actually "amateur consultant ", whatever that means.
He works the casting couch.

Francis Xavier

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Pretty positive his role at Nike is not a TM, it's actually "amateur consultant ", whatever that means.
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He looks like a casting couch.

Damn I left my bubbler at my parents house

TITANIUM NIPPLES

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Pretty positive his role at Nike is not a TM, it's actually "amateur consultant ", whatever that means.
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He works the casting couch.

New Nike rider: "So Mike, when's the last time you did anal?"


pizzafliptofakie

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He was making 30k a year and was trying to shit on someone for being a teacher? Even I make more than that, and my job is far less important.



Yes, I realize he probably makes more than that now, but still.

botefdunn

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it's a double edged sword.  they both need each other
[close]

That would be a “symbiotic relationship” dingus


 faustian bargain?  love/ hate relationship?
Who is "they" anyway? Sinclair and the team? Shops and board brands? Swank and Sinclair?
C'mon straight fucking double edge, get it together