Pat Cuartero was a Merrill Lynch analyst. But as he says – he discovered a higher purpose – getting more people in New York City to play with yo-yos. He funded his startup with $8,000 on credit cards and netted $32,000 in the first five months. It was enough to persuade him to leave his “real job” and develop his passion for yo-yos.
Instead of just selling yo-yos, Pat developed YoYoNation – a robust community of enthusiasts. There are blogs, forums, contests, and yes, you must register to be part of the community before you can buy a yo-yo.
He’s projecting $1.6 million in sales by the end of this year. You can get cases, string, bearings, t-shirts and other gear once you’re part of the community. You can start with the standard Duncan Butterfly Yo-Yo for $2.99 or step up to the handmade Oxy Ti titanium model for $549.99.
Anyone remember Tiddlywinks or the Slinky? Probably just waiting for a champion to come along.
What’s your passion and what are you doing to develop it?
Dan Miller's Blog 
June 30, 2010 at 12:10 am
I had a Slinky as a kid. loved it.
June 30, 2010 at 12:37 am
This goes back to building that Tribe of raving fans. We need to avoid being everything to everybody in business because we will be nothing to nobody.
Josh Bulloc
Kansas City, MO
June 30, 2010 at 2:16 am
[…] Dan Miller, an author and business coach, posted a blog today about a stock analyst who quit his job because he wanted to get people interested in playing with yo-yos. Read Dan’s blog here. […]
June 30, 2010 at 8:01 pm
I’m realizing more and more the importance of creating a following or community. Whatever your passion or expertise, if you don’t have a following, I don’t know if you have much of anything.
If you build it, they won’t necessarily come.