A Refreshing Approach To Acquisition In the Outdoor Industry
How it all came together, and where it goes from here..
Starting Line
It’s always interesting to have four people on the podcast at one time, but we are so glad that we did it for this week’s episode. Adrian Ballinger, outdoor legend and founder of Alpenglow Expeditions, recently went through an acquisition process with Milky Way Park - and we got a chance to ask Adrian and MWP’s Matt Lloyd-Thomas all about it.
A Refreshing Approach To Acquisition In the Outdoor Industry
Recently, two long-standing outdoor industry businesses, Alpenglow Expeditions and Thomson Bike Tours, were acquired by Milky Way Park. But while acquisitions are nothing new to the outdoor industry, the way it came together (and continues to develop) is worth a closer look. On this episode, iconic athlete and Alpenglow founder Adrian Ballinger joins Milky Way Park's founder Matthew Lloyd-Thomas to share the story.
Job Of The Week
🚀 Our friends at Raide Research are hiring. Five incredible roles just opened up, take a look and tell them we sent you!
🌎 Lululemon is looking for a Senior Global Sports Marketing Manager.
🏃 Tracksmith is hiring a Production Manager, based in Boston.
👀 Catch the latest job postings and outdoor industry discussion in our (free) Slack Channel:
Show Notes
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
BPC is our closing segment where we share brands we’ve discovered, products we’re using and content that we love. This week’s guests knocked it out of the park - they delivered on all three categories!
🔧 Luft Bike Shop: Matt’s favorite shop in LA - definitely worth a look!
🚴♂️ Zipp 404 Wheels: Fast, favorite wheels from Zipp - a solid option if you’re joining a Thomson Bike Tour (or smashing Strava routes in NYC).
📕 Keith McNally "I Regret Everything" (Book): A memoir about NYC, unreasonable hospitality and plenty more.
🥹 Derek Thompson - Fatherhood: This article caught all the dads on the podcast - it’s a must-read, whether you’re a parent or not.
🧦 Lenz Heated Socks: These socks are an absolute game-changer for Adrian, highly recommended if you have cold feet about getting outside!
🏆 Broken Arrow Skyrace: Legendary Tahoe race, led by friend-of-the-pod Brendan Madigan.
🎙️ Tangle Podcast: A podcast that shares left, right and individual opinions on politics.
📷 Freehub Magazine: Mountain biking’s high quality print magazine, incredible images and storytelling in every episode.
🤯 John Mackey on David Senra: The founder of Whole Foods meets the host of the Founders podcast.
👉 Jason Fried on David Senra: The founder of 37 Signals shares the message: “your only competition is your cost”. Worth a listen!
Thank You
The return of “The Professor” next week - one of our favorite recurring guests joins the podcast to chat about content, partnerships, and how to bring the most value while building trust with the community.