How many times have you been getting ready to walk down to the beach, filling up a tall water bottle of icy cold water, and by the time you make it down to the hot coast that cold refreshing water has turned lukewarm? Or how many long winter hikes have you packed some hot tea to enjoy at the end of the hike, and by the time you get there, the piping hot tea has somehow become iced tea? The issue of water bottles being dependably able to retain the temperature of the liquid inside for extended periods of time has plagued the world for decades. Founders of Hydro Flask, Travis Rosbach and Cindy Morse, set out to eliminate this problem.

Hydro Flask was created to solve the age old problem of insulating travel-ready cups and mugs. For many it was a simple fact that coffee could only be kept hot for up to an hour or two after brewing, and water could only be kept cold for a little while longer. Travis and Cindy were married and spent ample time out in the wilderness, on hikes, camping, or exploring whatever/wherever they felt inclined to. This lifestyle was incredibly enjoyable for them, but they always had the same sad ending to their long trek. Regardless of their beverage of choice; water, tea, etc., when they finally reached their destination and went for a refreshing sip, it was lukewarm.

Thank goodness the story doesn’t end here. This is where Travis and Cindy decided, enough is enough. As many startups do, Hydro Flask has a very bumpy history, filled with a ups and many many downs. In 2009 these entrepreneurs developed their product and released it into the market with little more than the shirts on their backs.

When first released there were a number of issues with their manufacturing process. The original process left negligible amounts of Lead in the double-walled bottles. The mending of two layers of steel gave the bottles insulating properties, and the Lead never would come into contact with the liquid inside. However, Hydro Flask leadership decided that the process had to be adjusted to eliminate the trace amounts of Lead in their products. To accomplish this, the bottles would have to be vacuum-sealed. This is an effective solution, but is extremely expensive and complex relative to the original method. When they began to implement the change, their primary manufacturer had great difficulty getting the process right. incorrectly producing 7 to 8 percent of their total output led to massive losses. As entrepreneurs must, Travis and Cindy pivoted. Shifting their manufacturing to a more experienced company proved to save their product.  Since then, the company has been sold once to a board of investors in 2012, then Travis sold his last bit of ownership to an El Paso, Texas based company, Helen of Troy for $210 million.

Travis has now exemplified the stereotypical millennial lifestyle. Sitting in his lawn chair overlooking his most recent purchase of acres of undisturbed forest land in central Oregon, he spoke to a journalist about the recent sale of Hydro Flask . After years of uncertainty and hard work, he could finally relax.