Kevin Plank The Rise Of Under Armour

Think like an entrepreneur. Create like an innovator. Perform like a teammate. The now famous ethos of Kevin Plank, founder and former CEO of one of the biggest sportswear companies in the world, Under Armour. Unlike its major rivals Adidas, Nike and Reebok, Under Armour is still a surprisingly young brand but one that has grown exponentially in a very short time. It’s also a brand that came into existence because it’s future CEO was the sweatiest man in the football locker room. This is the story of the meteoric rise of Under Armour and its founder Kevin Plank.

ALWAYS HUSTLIN’

Kevin Plank has always described himself as a hustler and in an interview with inc.com in 2003, Plank shared his first memory of realizing he was good at business. “When I was 14 or 15, my brother Scott, who works with me at Under Armour, came back from Guatemala with a bunch of knitted bracelets you see at Grateful Dead shows. Scott had this proposition for me and my brother Colin: “Listen, there’s a Dead show coming to town. We’ll go down and sell these bracelets and make a lot of money.” We took the subway down. At noon, Scott said, “We’ll meet back here in three hours.” Later, we meet up. Colin--he’s a writer and works for Disney in L.A. now--said, “I sold the first two. Then I started feeling guilty about how much money I was charging, so I gave the rest away.” Scott, who’s more of a finance guy who loves the Wall Street thing, says, “I made about 70 bucks.” I say, “I have about 580 bucks in my pocket. And I need more bracelets.” Right there, I knew I was pretty good at this.” And it was his gift of the hustle that led to various business ventures for the young man, but it would be thanks to his college football career and his disdain for sweat-soaked cotton t-shirts that would spark the billion-dollar idea.

NO SWEAT

Becoming frustrated with his t-shirts constantly sticking to his body and listening to complaints from teammates, Plank decided to look into a material that would absorb the sweat but still keep the shirt as light as possible. In the 2003 inc.com interview, Plank fondly remembers the initial stages of his hunt for the no-sweat t-shirt.