How Not to Start a Backpack Company
The debut book from Jason McCarthy, founder of GORUCK.
My life was a mess. I had just gotten out of the military, I was going through a divorce from the only love of my life, and the financial crisis was in full swing.
My company, GORUCK, was little more than a hobby in the Summer of 2010. I was broke and thought I had nothing to lose, so my dog Java and I hit the open roads to visit all 48 contiguous states, to meet people and get into adventures. I thought we could sell a few backpacks, too.
I was searching for something, I just didn’t know what. And I found some answers, just not the ones I expected.
Jason McCarthy, Author
Since Jason and I got back together, I find myself glossing over the tough times when the inevitable questions come up in casual conversation. I feel relieved that we worked out - yet disingenuous because it was far from pretty or easy to reach where we are today. So while the idea of this book and its actual coming into existence makes me uncomfortable, ultimately I trust that sharing our struggle is cathartic for me and helpful to others who need to believe in a life worth living after the fairy tale comes crashing down.
— Emily McCarthy
FROM JASON
Direct to You
The publishers I chatted with wanted this story to be more of a business book with bullet points and to-do lists. Or they wanted it to be about how my life was like a bad country song where I had a broken heart and a dog and a bottle of whiskey. I wanted to one-up them both, and just give you both sides of building a business amidst personal chaos.
So I decided to bypass them, and go direct to you, just like we did with GR1 way back when.
Signed hardback.
Comes with exclusive Java Summer 2010 patch.
