Tony Hawk on Licensing, 900 Films, and Angel Deals

Key Takeaways

• Tony Hawk founded Birdhouse Skateboards in 1992 during an industry downturn, keeping it alive through lean periods by subsidizing team rider salaries with external licensing revenue.
• Hawk routes sponsor campaigns for brands like Liquid Death and Ridge Wallet through his internal production company, 900 Films, capturing creative control and agency margin.
• His early angel investments in Nest, Blue Bottle, and DocuSign succeeded because he restricted his checks to deals where he offered strategic distribution beyond pure capital.
• Low-margin hardgoods businesses can survive indefinitely if treated as brand flagships supported by high-margin licensing royalties.

Subsidize the Flagship Craft With Licensing

Skateboard decks are commodity hardgoods with thin margins. Hawk founded Birdhouse Skateboards in 1992, right when the broader skate industry hit a brutal recession. Instead of shutting down operations when board sales stalled, he kept the company running by funneling his personal commercial licensing earnings back into the business.

“I've kept it going all through the years, even through the harder times, through being creative, doing licensing, trying to supplement the paying riders through other licensing of my own,”▶ 56:43 Hawk explained. “Because I still love it, you know, even if it is not a profitable business.”▶ 56:57

Most operators assume every individual product line must carry its own weight on a standalone P&L. Hawk treats Birdhouse as a cultural anchor. The credibility from running a real skate company feeds his global brand, which unlocks the licensing deals that pay for the team. The low-margin product exists for love and authenticity; the licensing exists to pay the bills.

Only Write Angel Checks Where You Add Sweat Equity

As Hawk's profile expanded, Silicon Valley founders and venture capitalists offered him early access to tech allocations. His portfolio eventually included hits like Nest, Blue Bottle, and DocuSign. Yet Hawk avoided the common trap of writing passive checks into random tech rounds.

“I've definitely gotten lucky in that I sort of know some of the main Silicon Valley players that I've met through the years and they've invited me to invest in some stuff that I was interested in,”▶ 52:16 Hawk said. “What has worked is if it's something that I am truly passionate about and that I can contribute in more ways than just money, those seem to be the ones that do well enough.”▶ 54:01

If you lack technical edge or operational control in a sector, writing a small check makes you exit liquidity for larger funds. Hawk only participated when his audience and cultural reach gave the target company an unfair distribution advantage. Without that distribution wedge, passive capital is dead weight.

Own the Production Layer

When consumer brands hire talent for endorsements, the brand usually pays a third-party ad agency to script, film, and edit the campaign. Hawk cut out the agency layer by creating 900 Films.

“We have our own video production company, 900 Films, who have done stuff with like Liquid Death,”▶ 51:29 Hawk said. “Pretty much anything that you've seen of me out there, Ridge Wallet, stuff like that, it's done through 900 Films.”▶ 51:37

By packaging production and distribution together, Hawk captures the production budget, prevents external agencies from misinterpreting his brand voice, and delivers finished creative directly to partners.

What to Do With This

Audit your business lines today and split them into two buckets: brand anchors and cash engines. Stop trying to squeeze high profit margins out of a difficult flagship product if it gives you unfair authority in your market. Instead, build a separate high-margin media, services, or licensing layer around that authority to fund the core craft.