Nathan Resnick is an interesting
guy. Inspired by a novel idea for a watch clasp, a crappy job, and a
passion for time management, he founded Yes Man Watches. When the
Kickstarter campaign wrapped up on February 14, Yes Man had raised over
$32,648 on a $15,000 goal. The watches are expected to be delivered
shortly. From the information available, the watch is a Miyota quartz
three-hander in a round stainless steel case, with a minimalist dial
distinguished by the Yes Man stick figure logo at 5 o'clock. The buckle
is a unique design that locks against a series of notches in the back of
the strap. It seems nice enough, but the watch is not what caught my
interest. What got me was the fact that Resnick is a 19 year old college
student who founded a watch company in his spare time. As a 19 year old
Time Bum, I spent my spare time getting loaded and listening to The
Ramones. Designing, engineering, funding, and marketing my own product
was not even a thought. Internet connectivity and global manufacturing
have made the process far more accessible, but that is really only half
of the story. I needed to know what makes a teenage entrepreneur tick.
So I asked a few questions to find out.
First of all, I am knocked out by
the fact that you decided to design a new fastener, start a watch
company, and actually bring them both to fruition. Why did you do it?
What inspired the idea?
Thank you, without your support I
wouldn’t have been able to start. The idea came from my schedule last
year. As a college student, I am always doing more than just going to
class. My friends are amazed by my ability to get the most out of my
day. Upon completing this past school year, I was excited to start what I
thought to be an amazing summer job. Though after weeks of working the
tiresome 9-5 job, I realized how constraining that monotonous routine
feels, and started Yes Man Watches out of my passion to inspire people
to consider their use of time.
The conventional wisdom is that millennials don't wear watches, and don't want to. Is the conventional wisdom wrong?
We like to think of our watches as
more than timepieces. You can always tell time on your phone, yet a
watch is special and is a direct representation of you. We strive to
utilize this accessory to empower people to consider their use of time.
So what got you into watches? What watches do you wear or admire?
I honestly didn’t know anything
about watches before starting Yes Man Watches. Our patent-pending buckle
is what got me in the game though. Just like any motivated entrepreneur
should, I dug deep and learned everything I could about watches and the
watch market.
I usually rock our original navy on
white watch. It’s the perfect watch for everyday wear. Before starting
Yes Man Watches I really admired Original Grain for their unique take on
making stainless steel wooden watches.
Where did you get the idea for the watch buckle?
While shopping last year, I saw a
similar apparatus applied to a belt. I am always thinking how to apply
innovations in other ways so as I was checking the time on my watch, I
realized this apparatus could be applied to a watch strap. Right now all
watches with leather straps have holes in them. This damages the
leather and restricts the wearer to a certain number of sizing options.
Our patent-pending buckle allows for twice as many sizing options and a
sleeker fit while keeping the leather on your watch strap fresh.
So you wake up and decide, "I'm going to start a watch a company." What happens next? Tell me about the process.
Turning my idea into a reality was
the most incredible part of starting. My favorite day of this experience
was when our first prototype arrived in the mail from our manufacturer.
The startup process was pretty crazy for me—at the time I was working a
9-5 summer job. I’d get home around 5:30pm, eat some dinner, and then
start working. At one point I was balancing the time zones of four
different cities to get this bad-boy made. I was based in Washington
D.C. leading everything, had a buddy in San Diego designing our logos,
had an engineer in Budapest developing our computer aided designs, and
have our manufacturer based in China. Every night I’d be up till about
4:00 am because 4:00 am my time is 4:00 pm in China where our
manufacturer is based. Dialing in our supply chain was probably the
hardest part, yet is also the most crucial part of our business. I knew I
was going to look in China for our manufacturer because I used to live
in China and speak Mandarin relatively fluently. Once I had our supplier
set, I turned to Kickstarter to launch because I needed a way to fund
the first production run.
Has the project met your
expectations? What lessons did you learn from this project? What were
some of the challenges in bringing this project to fruition? In what
ways was it most rewarding?
This project has met my wildest
expectations. I am blown away by everyone’s support and this couldn’t
have happened without it. One of my favorite lessons from this project
has to be the power of perseverance. It is an invaluable characteristic.
If you really want something, keep going at it. The most rewarding part
of this startup has been the ability to empower and captivate our
supporters. It’s incredible to have people reach out and share how
excited they are about Yes Man Watches.
You are no doubt tired of hearing
that "Yes Man" is generally a pejorative term, but I have to ask, did
you know what it meant before you chose it as the name?
Though this seems to be the
connotation of ‘Yes Man’, I believe the words have a different meaning.
When my team and I use the phrase ‘Be A Yes Man’ we are trying to
empower each other to make the most of our time. This includes
considering every opportunity and weighing the potential outcomes. Even
when people tease, “Nathan, you must say yes” it makes me consider the
given situation, which is better than overlooking it completely. A great
brand revolutionizes the way people act, think, or interact. Yes Man
Watches is striving to do just that; revolutionize the way people
consider time.
You have said you started the
company after enduring a tiresome 9-to-5 job for a summer. What kind of
soul-sucking job was that?
I was a sales intern making about a
hundred cold-calls a day. The job taught me to pick up the phone and
just call people but I realized I wanted to do more with my life.
You have said the Yes Man is more
than a watch; it's a way to consider your use of time. Not to be harsh,
but this is a watch. It tells time, it is not a life coach. What
exactly makes it do "more"?
Saying this is more than just a
watch is our brand motto—we’re trying to inspire people to do more with
their time, just as Nike says "Just Do It." Simple design aspects like
placing our logo at the 5 o’clock mark reflects this. Our logo was
placed that way from the feeling we got after our 9-5 jobs.
Now that Yes Man watches have taken off, what's next?
First and foremost, we are pushing
to fulfill our initial Kickstarter orders and preorders through our
website. You can still preorder a watch at our special price of $119.
This price will be raised to $139 once we fulfill production. We’re
adding designs to our line of watches and improving our patent-pending
buckle to make it even smaller. We’ll also be expanding our line into
shirts, sunglasses, hats, and more. For now, check out our website,
yesmanwatches.com and remember to make the most of your time by
considering your use of it.
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