Sad to see how money and greed can just about destroy anything that starts out as great ideas and great relationships.
The end result is the entropy of business lifecycles just creates more mediocrity for the sake of profits.
And it’s funny that it’s usually the idea man in being true to their value sets that has to move on…
Mark, Gary, Chandler, Son of a Beach, Paul and now Rich.
Makes you wonder who here will be next because if you’ve got some big plans in your head about what you’re gonna do in this space, then maybe it’s gonna be you…
Just remember that fact if you plan to lose your amateur status one day like 50% of you are already thinking.
The glitz can be an intoxicating illusion but the pain of seperation (ideas/friends/funds)can be very real…
I’m sure there’s more horror stories out there untold…
The drug called fame is awaiting its next victim
Blog Comment of Surfer Magazine article on Grain
So I just read the article in surfer about the Grain kits.
I couldn’t help but feel that Rich is getting totally screwed. Grain sells kits to consumers for all the profit using Rich’s shapes and methods. If the consumer has any questions, they end up here on this forum (no offense to those of you who have used the kit its not your fault and we still love you.) Now Rich helps these people build their boards even though it is no profit to him (Rich, correct me if I am wrong). Now Grain gets all the publicity with this “With Your Own Two Hands” buisiness at Rich’s expense. I was very pissed after I read the article and almost wrote to the magazine telling the other side of the story. Rich, you really should change the name of the forum.
Whenever anyone sees Timmy or I out on our boards, they always say, “Is that one of those Grain Boards?” Then we say “No, its a board we made from scratch using Rich Blundell’s design.” Then they get confused and walk away and tell their friends to look at the grain boards. It kind of pisses me off.
What was my point, I’m not really sure, just trying to vent some anger I guess.
Rich Blundell’s recap
Well let’s see… there are high-roads and low-roads… hmmmm.
I guess the simplest way to say it is that GSB started out as this truly homegrown thing among friends. Because of originality and authenticity of it all, we got some great press and we were stoked!
Each half of GSB had a specialty. Because I’ve been surfing since 1981, I did the board designing and developed the construction methods, Mikey had the business experience so took over the business end. And because he had brothers in photography and marketing, it seemed like a match made in heaven. I also defined what the environmental vision for the company would be because that’s just something I care about.
I also started both websites - www.grainsurfboards.com was to be the place to go if you wanted a custom board built, and www.grainsuf.com was to be the place if you wanted to build one yourself at home. So I managed grainsurf.com and it became the blog and forum, while grainsurfboards.com went to the custom board end of things.
Then some quite bizarre personal resentments, from the photography department made things heartbreakingly untenable. The whole thing morphed into something else and I wasn’t to be part of it. I sold the grainsurfboards.com site to Mike and we went our separate ways.
I have no problem with Mikey taking over the business. Unlike his angry and toxic brother, he’s honestly a great guy and we had lot’s of fun. I wish him all the luck in the world. The site looks great and I like where they’ve taken it. But honestly, I have other ambitions.
However, with respect to designs and methods, I guess I am getting kind of screwed. But as deeply as I care about losing that entire community of friends, I’m no longer interested in that scene, or feeling the old wounds that would open up with pursuing it. Life is too short and I’d rather fill it with good stuff.
So I’ve moved on and am now perfectly happy just doing what I’m doing with this forum. After all, I gained THIS community, I’m still, planting trees, and getting to witness other people experience the stoke of building their own HWS. That’s what it’s always been about.
An by the way, I really appreciate you guys taking a notice. makes it all worthwhile. Thanks!
Grain’s(Mike) response
Hey folks. This is Mike from Grain Surfboards. There seems to be some lingering confusion about Grain Surfboards, grainsurf.com , etc… but despite that, I feel like all of us should simply be stoked that people are interested! Grain’s wants to help foster good will among all wooden board enthusiasts and keep building custom boards and kits because we believe in what we are doing. This is a good thing for surfing and a positive move towards living a more sustainable lifestyle.
Whatever you’ve heard about the history of Grain and the relationships that brought us where we are today, the important thing is that Grain Surfboards is still a home grown thing, original, authentic and run by a great group of like-minded friends… and the group is still growing. There should be no “us and them” in surfing, especially in the growing wooden surfboard builder’s community.
Rich has long been a friend of ours and we all know he has a strong heart and the will to forge new paths. His perspective on the earth’s environment and our place in it has grown from his very original idea of planting seeds to where it now impacts virtually every part of our operation. Embracing the concept of sustainability is a natural extension of what more and more people are finally coming to believe worldwide. Luckily, Grain has been able to find a group of builders who have helped take Grain to the next level.
Rich and I worked well together on almost all aspects of fostering Grain in the early days. And while we relied significantly on each other’s strengths, today we differ on what transpired during our early collaboration. Fortunately, that is a moot point because in the spring of 2006, I purchased the intellectual property that we developed together from Rich at Rich’s asking price. Although Grain’s focus and mission has not changed since then, the important thing is that wooden surfboards are finally getting the exposure and respect they deserve in the surf media. With luck, Grain will one day become a financially sound proposition, and we will be in a better position to continue to “spread the wood”.
As for the the Surfer article, we were contacted by them because their interest was in our Home Grown Kits. Their story – and even this forum - show that people are excited to know more about the benefits of wooden surfboards and the experience of riding a board you built yourself. That’s our simple goal, to promote the experience of building and surfing wooden surfboards as an alternative to mass produced, foam boards.
If you have any questions for us please feel free to call anytime. My number is 802-598-7194.
Mike
PS- My friend sent me this post, so to get an answer to you all promptly, rather than waiting on a login, she said I could just reply using hers. Hope that is not a breach of protocol!
Rich Blundell’s response
Hey Mikey,
Welcome to the forum and nice to hear from you. I really mean that!
However, I’m a little curious as to why you haven’t contacted me directly seeing as I’ve emailed my concerns to you several times about your using my designs and methods without compensation. Maybe your lawyer forgot to tell you (but I’m pretty sure I cc’d you too)
Regarding the confusion you mention in your post - did it ever occur to you that people are confused because there is absolutely no mention of our relationship on the GSb website? You’re entitled not to of course, but if your worried about confusion, do something about it (I’m trying by switching the name to Tree to Sea).
Anyway, while I have your attention, I’d like to set a couple of things straight.
According to our written agreement, which I have in my hand, I never sold you the rights to any intellectual property of my boards. I think you are confusing the fact that I sold you the grainsurfboards.com domain name and the trademark - which you now have. I do remember you asking me afterward for a CD with all my original designs, which I gave you as a friend, with the understanding that if you were going to use them, that you’d give credit to the designer. That was the deal Mikey, remember? Every board would come with 2 names, a designer and a builder. Why you have decided to disregard my contribution in this way is a mystery to me.
What’s not all that mysterious is why you decided it would be best not to support or contribute to this forum in anyway until now. The fact is, you are selling custom boards and kits. So from-scratch-home-builders bring you no revenue and instead just threaten board sales. I can only guess that this is why, to borrow your brother’s term, you “completely erased” any links or references to me from your website.
Honestly, I can understand why supporting (or even acknowledging) this site would have been bad for business, so I never held that against you. I’m sure it was the marketing departments idea anyway. And it’s your right, but one has to wonder if it was worth our friendship? Personally I don’t think so.
I can just imaging how stoked your brother was when he realized that my forum was actually helping people build your kits (of my designs) for free. It was clear to a lot of us that that is what was going on, but honestly I was stoked too - but because this site is not free, or easy to build and maintain, a little recognition from you would have been the right thing to do.
What sucks though is that the only time you see fit to contribute is when it’s for GSb, damage control. I wish it were otherwise.
- I did not mean to suggest that GSb is no longer a home grown thing. I sincerely apologize for that. I’m sure it is and I’m glad your still running with it. Honestly the website looks awesome as do the boards you guys are building. Impeccable quality as always!
Ok enough of this lame rant from me. We certainly do differ on how things transpired. Now I have a solution that I’d like to propose.
On December 8th, 2005, back when I was still writing the GSB blog (which became the tree to sea blog), I made a post about planting trees for every board Grainsurfboards built (go to www.grainsurf.com and scroll down).
I distinctly remember, while writing that post, looking over my shoulder and asking you Mikey, if you’d promise to plant 10 cedar trees for every board GSb built. You promised, but maybe you’ve forgotten. Well, now is your chance to make good on that promise, solve this dispute, and bring all of this low-road BS to an end.
Go ahead and contribute an amount that you see fit via my tree-planting fund to account for the boards you have built since Dec. 8th 2005, and then on a monthly basis, continue to do so. If you do, I’ll drop any claims to royalties that you owe me for using my designs and methods. Also this way, trees will get planted, your kit builders will have a place to go for instructions, the “good of wood” will be spread, and this story will have a happy ending. But most of all we can begin to rebuild our friendship if you’d like.
I can’t imagine that the buyers of your high-end product wouldn’t be delighted to have $10 of their purchase go toward planting 10 cedar seeds. It can even be optional for kit builders on a budget.
Please do this, because I’m writing an article and I really want a happy ending for this story.
Whaddya Say Mikey?
Sincerely,
Rich (seabass)
