Скачать или смотреть Unwillingness to Give Up ~ Ben Edtl of Edtl Handball

There's fire in the belly, hair on fire, ready/aim/fire. And then there's the fire that burns in Ben Edtl of Edtl Handball in Portland, Oregon. This young founder treats his walk down entrepreneur lane as a privilege, a mission, even a life-saving blessing.

Edtl Handball will offer the 3.5 million handball players in the US -- and beyond -- a complete, "wholesome" line of gear including newly-invented shoes, apparel, gloves and handballs. According to Ben, the company "addresses the new player more accurately... the street player and the club player. Handball players are largely underground...it's like skate in the 80s, before it became commercialized." This has created a huge opening for a company to redefine the business of handball.

Development of the company has happened quickly, largely due to location. Ben says his competitors "lack the skill" to develop new equipment and apparel. Citing Nike, Adidas, Columbia Sportswear and their spinoffs as creating an epicenter, Ben states "There's so much talent here, and you can tell by the [equipment other competitors] are making that they don't have the skill we have here in Portland. I've been able to tap into that."

Ben's affliction with entrepreneurship began in high school, and his first official business at age 21. It was a success and possibly that success may have spoiled him for the second business, which was not. He readily admits it failed "because it wasn't really a business." However, he then founded Restaurant Tech, still a force in the restaurant training business, and learned much during the process. "The biggest challenges I've had to overcome have been myself," he continues, siting the lessons he has learned about selling, patience, and belief. "I started out on this path of entrepreneurship from the bottom...It took effort, tenacity and just the unwillingness to give up." Going on to elaborate on the positive effects of entrepreneurship on the world at large and particularly his life he says, "There's something bigger at play here that inspires me."

And you inspire us, Ben.