CEO of Cotopaxi, entrepreneur, global adventurer, humanist, UNF Global Entrepreneurs Council member, Presidential Leadership Scholar, father of four.

Cottonwood Heights, Utah
Joined April 2009
I've done 3,129 20VC episodes. @davismsmith is one of the most special people I have interviewed. 🎱 Scaled pool table business to $6M a year. 🇧🇷 Raised $Ms to build Amazon of Brazil. 🚀 Started & scaled Cotopaxi to challenge Patagonia + $150M revenues. 8 Lessons: 👇
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Davis Smith retweeted
Sponsored by @OfficeDepot. Cotopaxi Founder and CEO Davis Smith prioritizes wellness in his workday and advises other small business owners to do the same.

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One of the hardest (but most exciting) decisions I’ve made in a long time: I just bought back my first business, PoolTables.com, and have converted it into a benefit corporation to fight poverty. On the hunt for a CEO to scale beyond billiards. bit.ly/3AwqKOa – at Little Cottonwood Creek Valley, UT
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Cotopaxi + REI – at Little Cottonwood Creek Valley, UT
The humanitarian brand is known for its colorful packs and poverty-fighting mission. Now, it’s focusing on COVID-19 relief.

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If you're interested in @BCorporation's, this might be worth a watch. @KaraEGustafson is a social impact expert and was great to chat with about how and why @Cotopaxi got started (including raising venture capital with little more than a big vision of social impact).
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Washington’s culture is broken. Divisiveness, personal attacks, demonization of opponents, and tribalism define our national politics. It’s no wonder better candidates don’t run for national office. Great people have no desire to join toxic cultures. #UtahLeads #StandUnited – at Little Cottonwood Creek Valley, UT
I’m not sure this has ever been done before...but as our national political dialogue continues to decline, my opponent @PetersonUtah and I decided to try something different. We can disagree without hating each other. Let’s make Utah an example to the nation. #StandUnited #utpol
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2020 has been full of anxiety, but it has also been one of my most fulfilling years as an entrepreneur. Here are some lessons I’ve learned as a survivalist that prepared me to manage a business through crisis. bit.ly/34dXY84 – at Little Cottonwood Creek Valley, UT
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If you’re considering an MBA, speak a foreign language at an advanced level, and have a passion for all things international (culture, language, politics, economics), definitely check out @Wharton’s @LauderInstitute. It was life-changing for me. – at Little Cottonwood Creek Valley, UT
"I only applied to one school. I'd always known I wanted to go to the Wharton School. They had a program called the @LauderInstitute... It was exactly what I wanted." @Cotopaxi founder @DavisMSmith (WG'11) talked his journey & the role Wharton played on @NPR's @HowIBuiltThis ⤵️
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This is a life highlight for me. I hope some of you enjoy this Guy Raz interview!
It's Monday and there's an ALL NEW How I Built This ☀️ @cotopaxi founder @davismsmith believes that ethical businesses can make a big difference. He launched the outdoor gear brand with a couple of llamas (Coto + Paxi) and a focus on giving back. npr.org/2020/05/01/848975432…
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There are some silver-linings to this crisis, and this is one of them. Edgar, a street kid I met in Peru in 2001 has a life-changing opportunity right now. $7k+ in virtual walking tours of Cusco already sold. link.medium.com/nOwDnI3d05 – at Little Cottonwood Creek Valley, UT
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Davis Smith retweeted
All #OneUtah t-shirt proceeds will be directed to local partners including the @intermountain Healthcare Foundation, the @utahfoodbank, and Utah’s Department of Workforce Services, @jobsut. Pre-order your shirt here: cotopaxi.com/one-utah
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I lived and built a business in Brazil. Consumer goods (electronics, baby products, cars, etc.) cost 50-100% more than in the US. It doesn’t matter much that you’ve created tons of low paying manufacturing jobs when an iPhone costs $1,800 and Chrysler minivan costs $100,000. 2/2
Replying to @realDonaldTrump
....better off without them. The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing..
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Brazil should serve as a warning to the US about protectionist trade policies. Closed economies indeed provide business opportunities for uncompetitive industries because foreign products become too expensive to import but low productivity and sky-high prices are the outcome. 1/2
Replying to @realDonaldTrump
....better off without them. The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing..
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This is the first time I’ve seen a campaign event where not a single dollar is going to the campaign, but instead is being raised for charity. @SpencerJCox is shaking up politics as we know it. Join us tonight in support of these amazing and inspiring refugees in our communities.
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Davis Smith retweeted
Formal startup business plans may have gone out of style, but study after study shows their value: planning ups the chance of business success by 10%-20% or more! Plans help generate agreement, surface assumptions, ensure things aren’t missed, and highlight potential dangers.
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Ramiro from @WCKitchen has been doing relief work for the last month traveling only with his @Cotopaxi Allpa travel pack. This is what that bag was designed for. Proud!
Meet Habib from the fishing village of Labuhan! His home was destroyed after the Sunda tsunami. He now volunteers in a group of 20 that stay up from sunset to sunrise to alert the village of danger. We were happy to bring him a meal during his night watch. #ChefsForIndonesia
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Davis Smith retweeted
My colleague Matthew Bidwell & I surveyed every living Wharton MBA alumni. The happiest people (in terms of job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and work-life balance) were entrepreneurs. On the graph you can see the orange bar is for founders, other industries listed below.
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Davis Smith retweeted
Helpful video compilation of the things the president says he knows more about than anybody:
Trump is the #1 expert on… - Taxes - Construction - Campaign finance - Drones - Technology - U.S. History - Infrastructure - ISIS - Facebook - Renewables - Polls - Courts - Steel workers - Golf - Banks - Nuclear arms - The system - Debt - Politicians …according to Donald Trump
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