Meet Matt Weilbacher | Entrepreneur & x2 Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Weilbacher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

From the beginning I’ve had entrepreneurship in my blood. I’ve started two companies so far; Cali Trend which is a California based sunglass brand and Easy Apparel which is a wholesale custom screen printing and embroidery company.

With both companies I saw opportunity and a gap in the market. They were started with little to no money just an idea and a way to build off that. The rest came naturally. I let passion take over when creating Cali Trend as it was my first company which felt new and exciting as I grew it during college at San Diego State and watched it grow to over 35 countries, become a top listed product in its category on Amazon back in 2015, expand to retail shops across the country and become a household named brand especially in California.

By the age of 22 I was running two businesses. I sold Cali Trend in 2019 and went full time into Easy Apparel which I was running on the side at the time. Easy Apparel now has a network of 15 screen printing and embroidery facilities nationwide and makes about 150,000 custom printed t-shirts a year.

The biggest take away after selling my first business was all the small things that I thought really mattered at the time, really didn’t. Working tirelessly at night and on the weekends and stressing about the small stuff made no difference. At the end of the day I got a paycheck and moved onto the next business.

Now I have a hard cut off time for work, don’t work on weekends, my team and I work fully remote and I have a much more balanced schedule and lifestyle. Because the thing is business never ends. There will always be work to do so it’s important to be aware of that and relax.

Building two businesses from scratch as a sole founder has provided a lot of perspective and lessons. Here are some that’ve stuck with me:

– Not everything is worth fighting for, even if another party is at fault. Choose your battles.
– Always put service first
– Trade margins for scalability
– Eliminate stress factors
– Without a dedicated team your business is nothing
– Delegate as much as possible
– Everything works itself out in time

Things are just getting started in my career and entrepreneurial journey.

I hope to inspire others along the way and build many more businesses in my lifetime!

What is the most important factor behind your success?

Externally it’s my team. Without a dedicated team, your business and your brand are nothing. We are very selective during the recruiting process and make sure that they are a good fit for us, as we are for them.

This includes longevity at other companies, being on the same wavelength as the team, open communication (especially with us all being remote), willingness to put the businesses needs before their own, and a good culture fit.

Internally it’s self discipline, focus and perseverance. As a solo founder it’s incredibly important to stay focused on the most important things that are really going to turn the needle in your business. You have to have a burning desire to achieve what you set out to achieve and be willing to overcome any obstacle to get there.

I believe results are based on your focus and where you spend your time. There’s always going to be stuff that gets in the way. That’s why it’s important to get the most important things done first thing, which can be challenging as you deal with a mountain of chaos on the side.

The growth and results of how you grow your company I believe, especially as a sole founder, is a direct correlation to how you are as a person including your habits, focus, management skills, and self discipline.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Having lived in Southern California my whole life I recently decided to move to Denver trading the ocean for the mountains.

There’s a ton to do in Colorado. I’m a big fan of Red Rocks and snowboarding which is a dream for most visiting. Recently I had my friend James visit where we did both of those.

First we went to a ski resort called A-basin where it snowed all morning while we did many runs with no waits for the ski lifts.

I attempted to take him to a secret part of the resort and accidentally took us off course where we got stuck in the backwoods for 3 hours. We somehow missed the boundary line and had to crawl across a meadow and over a stream in waist high snow. Guess I’m not that great of a host haha.

After that we got a nice warm meal near Breckenridge, then somehow had enough energy to go out later that night to some of my favorite nightlife spots downtown.

The next day we slept in, walked over to an outstanding brunch spot called Luciles in Wash Park and ate like kings.

I showed him Wash park which is easily one of my favorite spots to go due to proximity to my place, scenic views and the good energy it brings. It was a bright sunny day and we threw the frisbee and football around on an open, grassy green field.

Later that day we went to Red Rocks and saw an artist Bob Moses perform live which was a ton of fun. It was James’ first Red Rocks and I love being the one to introduce my friends to the venue.

To finish up the trip I showed him Ruby Hill Park, which is what I would consider the best view in Denver because it showcases the mountains and the skyline of the city.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

One of my best buds deserves a shoutout – AJ Swamy!

Back in college I had taken on too much and had burnt myself out bad. I had a choice to make between finishing school only getting into more debt, or taking my sunglass brand Cali Trend to the next level.

After much consideration and feedback from close friends I chose Cali Trend.

It was one of the most challenging decisions I’ve ever made and at the time I felt ashamed about it because of the uncertainty it brought.

One thing was for certain, I was determined to succeed. AJ saw that believed in my vision long before it came to fruition..

Shorty after dropping out he supported me by waking up at 6:45am to go to the gym, hit the sauna, do a cold shower and have breakfast all within the first hour of our day, for 25 weeks straight.

He has always been there from the very beginning offering support and advising me on life and business decisions.

Even today we remain close and it’s a blessing to support each other while building our dreams.

It’s all about the journey and the friends that are along for it!

Website: https://easyapparel.co

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattweilbacher/