Small Biz Spotlight: DiscDotUSA
One of the most fascinating things about the growth of disc golf are these new companies that are finding success in the sport. Of course there are a billion disc golf manufacturers, although I couldn’t name them all. Most of them also produce their own baskets, so the two most necessary items in disc golf are covered. But there is a number of emerging companies that are finding ways to compete in this market with unique and innovative ideas and products.
One of the quickest growing companies to explode onto the scene has to be DiscDotUSA. Almost overnight they were everywhere. You probably first heard of the disc dot like many others, by watching an OTB Skins Match on YouTube. Suddenly the top pros in the sport are excited, and that really put them on the map.
This week I talk to Rick LeClair, owner of DiscDotUSA, to share his remarkable story.
Rick was born in Wiesbaden, Germany while his dad was stationed there during his time with the Army. He was raised in the same small town in western Massachusetts where his father grew up. “My high school was a trade school and I began working in Computer Aided Drafting at age 16 through a co-op work program the school offered.”, he says. He began as a draftsman in a small mom and pop injection molding plant, but by the time he graduated in 1998 he says, “I had trained my way to mold designer. I continued to work full time while going to a local community college to obtain my associates degree in Engineering.”
Rick’s experience gave him the opportunity to work with a defense contractor, starting as a draftsman and finishing as a design engineer. In 2007 he moved to Florida to work with a small general aviation company. Then in 2009 he found himself working with an upstart LED lighting company. As mechanical engineer, he led a team of 8 that focused on LED technology that was eventually used by NASA, and his designs, “Were the platform that would eventually become the standard of commoditized LED lighting that you see every day”, Rick says. After his successful run there, he chose to move on to a smaller LED company where he became a leading innovator in horticultural and biological lighting spaces. Rick recalls, “We designed and patented the first true vertical farming LED fixture which continues to now push the limits on indoor vertical farming which is extremely important for our planet's ever-growing food supply issues.” That is certainly an impressive work history, but what’s more impressive is Rick’s journey to build a family.
Rick was very open about his journey. He says, “During my time with the LED companies, I met and married my wife, Natasha. After several years of trying to conceive we put everything we had into trying fertility treatments. We endured 6 heartbreaking and stressful rounds of IUI before taking a mental and physical break through the holidays in 2015. Anyone who's been through fertility treatments knows it takes a tremendous toll physically, emotionally, and financially. In May 2016 we decided to try one more time and lucky number 7 came true and we were blessed with a twin pregnancy!” During this time Rick was moonlighting as a freelance designer and had several clients. “Knowing our twin girls would be an enormous amount of work, we decided to quit our jobs and start our own design engineering business”, Rick says. Their freelance efforts were successful over the next few years, working with client designs ranging from bolted storage tanks to smart-tech law enforcement wearables. Rick joyfully recalls, “In that time, we also naturally conceived and gave birth to a 3rd baby girl in 2019! Our twins now just turned 5 and the youngest is about to turn 3. Amazing what life can bring your way if you are patient and persistent!”
So how did all of this lead to the creation of the DiscDot? Rick remembers, “After we gave birth to our twins in 2017, my brother-in-law Tim started talking to me about this new sport he was into called disc golf, and asked me to come play a round with him. I had never heard of disc golf before but with newborn twins, a busy business, and no interest in any sport with the word "golf" in it, I dismissed his requests for almost 2 years.” Finally, in the summer of 2019, Rick decided to take up Tim’s offer. Like so many of us, his life would be changed forever. Rick says, “As expected, I was terrible at first, but with an engineering mindset I was absolutely fascinated by disc flight, especially when I tossed a good one! Some discs even have a mini-spreadsheet on them showing the numbers of flight; what's an engineer love more than a good old-fashioned spreadsheet?” Rick and his brother-in-law would play a couple time a month. Eventually Rick joined a handicap league and, “I found an immediate love for the competitive side of disc golf and started attending regularly,” he says.
Enter the pandemic, which changed everything for everybody. In very quick order, business was almost nonexistent for Rick. His overseas clients stopped responding too. During the lockdown, it was clear that one of the safest ways to be outside was on a disc golf course. Rick says, “I put more attention into my putting and I quickly realized that I was giving away dozens of strokes to close range misses.” He bought a basket and was determined to improve. He asked for advice, watched all the videos, but was still struggling making putts. “Putting is simple in theory; it is the mechanics of thrust and direction, so why was it so hard?” he says. Longer putting practices just led to fatigue and frustration. Then he had an epiphany: “ I need a targeting aid. Every other sport has training tools. Baseball and football alike have nets with a target zone to throw at. Darts has a blatant bullseye as a target. I knew I needed something, and being a product [designer] I knew the first step was an internet search to pick out a good rated product. Much to my surprise, nothing existed!”
Finding himself in the unique position of having all the experience and all the free time to pursue a design, combined with his newfound passion for disc golf that was also in the middle of explosive growth, it was a golden opportunity. He was well versed in designing and introducing innovative products to market. His wife was a career sales and distribution specialist. With no product on the market, it made sense to give it a shot.
During his research on how to improve disc golf, Rick says, “The top tip I got was ‘pick a chain link’ so I decided the deign needed to be installed on a single link.” His vision was to create something that was small, durable, quick to install, and able to handle the stress of being hit by a disc over and over again.
The result was a spherical rubber ball that could universally and easily clip onto a chain and hold tight. The name came to us quickly - DiscDot! The prototype fit perfectly and the results were INSTANT. Rick says, “I literally could not believe what a difference it made! Even though the prototype was black in color and not vibrant, even the smallest visual representation of something to actually focus on instead of a sea of chains immediately improved my results.”
Rick knew he had a tiger by the tail; “I went a step further and 3D printed a small mold and hand-cast a few dozen pieces of the DiscDot design using a 2-part rubber with added colorant. He took them to his local leagues and handed them out and they were met with positive feedback. Next he casted a couple hundred dots to give away in a tournament player’s pack, and he and Natasha quickly realized It was time to pursue a production partner.
Rick dug into his old contacts and reached out to a small injection molding business in his hometown that he’d been working with since his early career days: his Mom! “We wanted to keep our company as close to a family business in all aspects.” That philosophy extends to his new passion as well. He says, “Almost everything we produce is in some way connected to the disc golf community. Some of our products are even created by team members!”
DiscDot has been in business for 17 months and things are not showing any signs of slowing down. They launched their Facebook page in May 2020, “to make the product public and gather market feedback”, Rick says. In September of the same year they launched the website. They saw over 25k units sold in the first year, grossing $100k in sales. They have used that momentum to reinvest 100% back into growing the business, supporting the community and solidifying partnerships. Rick says, “For 2022, we are sponsoring numerous events throughout the season ranging from major events like DGPT and NADGT to smaller, more fun events like the DJ Hek Yeh Putter Party.”
DiscDot has also established exclusive charity partnership with Uplay for the 2022 season. Rick says, “DiscDot will be used as an official training tool during all of their clinics this season! This is a huge honor to not only for our brand but also to prove our product’s validity as a training tool. Uplay teaches thousands of youths the sport of disc golf every year and we are so very thankful to be working with Zoe and Dustin to help support their mission as much as possible!”
Internationally, they have partnered with DG Academy, managed by DiscDot team members Kristin Tattar and Silver Latt in their home country of Estonia where they coach athletes of all ages and levels and DiscDot is the official training tool used by them and their clinics.
And then there’s Team DiscDot. As the product grew in popularity, they received countless requests to form a team. Rick remembers, “We truly had no idea what that even meant at the time but we decided to give it a go. We started by sponsoring amateur players as brand ambassadors. Being so new to the sport ourselves, we relied on our teammates for feedback to help build a great internal community.” This was a great start, and that initial team helped grow brand recognition, but they wanted to take things to the next level. Rick says, “We came to learn more about high level sponsorships through listening to the Partee Podcast on DGN.”
The first pro athlete to join was the legend himself, JohnE McCray. “He was local to us in Florida so we decided to reach out and JohnE was very responsive and willing to work with us. He has been teaching the ‘aim small’ mentality for years and instantly saw the value in our product”, Rick says. Not much later they we able sponsor one of the hosts of the Partee Podcast, Christine Jennings.
Then there was significant exposure when they inked an exclusive deal to be the official sponsor of the ‘Gatekeeper Rewind’ for the 2021 season. This was their first foray into post production sponsorship, but the real catalyst came when they inked a deal with GK Pro to be featured on the OTB Skins Match as a CTP sponsor. Part of that deal allowed them to give their product to every pro that was featured in the series. This was a very successful move because, “The best players in the game were able to see and use our product firsthand”, Rick says. The skins match episodes have become some of the best disc golf content on the internet, and that viewership has helped DiscDot to continue their growth. For the 2022 season, they have sponsored over a dozen touring pros, as well as around 50 of the best amateurs and juniors in the sport. “For the 2022 season we received over 400 applicants! It’s really been an exciting year” Rick says.
With over 60 retailers in the US, Canada, and Australia, the future is looking bright for DiscDotUSA. Rick says, “We have more innovative and unique ideas coming. The more we grow, the more we can pursue those concepts and products, the more we can sponsor, the more we can truly grow the sport.”
As we can see, DiscDot is more than a putting device. It is a family. It is a team. It is a community. It is another example of how this amazing game we all play can positively impact the world. “We’re a business that’s committed to helping grow the sport in every way imaginable. We love disc golf. We hope you’ll help us continue doing what we do” Rick says.
