Feet First From kid entrepreneur to head of a $145 million sporting-goods empire, Michael Rubin has succeeded by staying one step ahead.

As we near 2000, the spectrum of twentysomething iconography hasshifted from cliché-laden labels and imagery to a focus on theastounding amount of power America's youth possesses.Slackerdom has become passé as an increasing number of youngtrailblazers infiltrate Silicon Valley to work atop makeshift desksand morph their Internet ventures into the next big thing.

Then you have today's rarity: those who build a $145 millioncompany first and then delve into the Net for"evolutionary" purposes. Meet Michael Rubin, 27, who didjust that. Formerly president and CEO of athletic andoutdoor-footwear manufacturing company Global Sports Inc. in thePhiladelphia suburb King of Prussia, Rubin recently decided to goe-commerce with a new sporting-goods company--Global SportsInteractive--effectively taking a stake in a much, muchlarger picture.

Rubin's a fast-talking, no-frills, get-to-the-point kind ofguy, and because he's been an entrepreneur since the time heshould've been playing with Hot Wheels, it's no wonderhe's good at the game. Rather than recount a schoolyard tale orthe time he finally got $1 for a lost tooth, Rubin remembers age 8as the year his entrepreneurial nature took shape. "I alwayshad a passion for business growing up, whether it was sellingstationery or shoveling driveways with 10 kids working forme," he says. Entrepreneurship became a consuming hobby forRubin--and his interest in it occasionally worried his psychiatristmother and veterinarian father. Rubin's embrace of themover-and-shaker mentality and his strong desire to earn a buckseemed somewhat peculiar at such a young age.

When asked if his solicitations (like the time he tried to sellbaseball cards to his friends' dads at summer camp) ever landedhis parents in hot water, Rubin responds, "I don't think Iever got my parents in trouble, but I always created stories to betold and situations to be dealt with." Ah, yes--the manysituations. . . .

Teen Dreams

It was at the tender age of 13 that Rubin was first dubbedcompetition, resulting in his becoming the target of a smearcampaign of sorts. According to Rubin, "a guy who'd beenin business for 50 years" thought that if he tattled on theyoung entrepreneur, who was passing out fliers at the malladvertising his homebased ski-tuning shop, he might keep hisclientele. Though Rubin was banned from the mall as a result of thecompetitor's campaign, he was already embarking on an ascensionno one--not even a jealous rival--could halt.

By 14, the $2,500 in bar mitzvah money he'd used to open hisski repair business in the basement of the Rubin home (he had"zero interest" in spending his money on leisure) took onanother zero, equaling profit and the yearning to open a real shopin a nearby Philadelphia-area strip mall. "I said, `Hey, Mom,I want to open a ski shop. I found this great store; it's $844a month, and I can get it on a month-to-monthlease,' " recalls Rubin. Mom was less thanenthusiastic, so Rubin explored a different avenue: "I said,`Okay, Dad, I've got this great idea.' " Thoughnot elevating one parent's authority over the other's,Rubin does think his approach illustrates his ever-evolving tact:"I'm just saying I was fast enough to get to my fatherbefore my mom got to [him]," he says.

Rubin won himself a cosigner--and his first shop--afterpromising his father a report card filled with As and Bs.

As he continued to make a business of his favorite hobby andopen four additional ski shops over the next few years, Rubinbecame less and less like his peers, eventually enrolling in aschool/work program that allowed him to leave high school afterhalf a day.

All seemed cheery with the Doogie Howser-like Wunderkind untileverything hit the fan in 1988. A bad ski season coupled with whatRubin calls "lack of experience, arrogance and lack ofplanning" left the 16-year-old $120,000 in the hole. Enter hissaving grace (a.k.a. dear old dad), who put up money to pay offcreditors. This time, the exchange wasn't so easy to negotiate,or to swallow--but then, higher education never is for those whofeel they're doing fine without it.

By the time college rolled around, the lure of dorm-hall anticsand frat parties wasn't enough to make the much-touted"overall experience" seem worthwhile to the kid whoalready knew about life, society and hard knocks. Rubin prefers notto expound on his college experience, except to say that it was"very short."

"Listen, I was 17 years old. I owned several ski shops andwas doing a couple million dollars in business. I just wanted tomove on with my business career," he explains. Who could blamehim? Luckily for Rubin, Fate didn't and remained loyal.

Before even completing his first year at Pennsylvania'sVillanova University, Rubin miraculously caught wind of a ski shopgoing out of business. Quickly spotting "the deal of alifetime," he bought $200,000 worth of overstock ski equipmentfrom the shop for $17,000 borrowed from a friend. He then sold thestuff for a profit--enough to call it even with his dad, pay backhis pal and say goodbye to Scantrons forever.

The rush Rubin experienced after the aforementioned dealcatalyzed his desire to make a change from retail. Buyingmanufacturers' overruns and discontinued products to sell toretailers appealed to him, and by 1991, he had sold his ski shopsand formed Nationwide Liquidators (changing the name to KPR Sportsin 1993).

Since he emerged from his cocoon of wildly successful kidentrepreneur to compete with the big boys and girls who dominatethe highly competitive footwear industry, events in Rubin'slife have exhibited nothing less than a domino effect. In 1995, heexpanded KPR into the realm of branded footwear with theintroduction of Yukon, a line of hiking boots and"outdoor-inspired" shoes. The same year, he kept '80swomen's athletic footwear leader Ryka Inc. from becoming a'90s failure by purchasing 40 percent of the company andmarketing it to new heights. Today, both Yukon and Ryka brands aresold in major chains, including Lady Foot Locker, The Athlete'sFoot and The Sports Authority.

Apparently, Rubin had yet to be fulfilled. In 1996, KPRpurchased the Apex name after the world-famous licensed-productsbrand filed for bankruptcy. After establishing Apex as arecognizable athletic footwear brand, he merged KPR with Ryka in1997 to create a 200-employee empire of branded athletic, off-priceand action sports footwear, Global Sports.

In May of this year, with the launch of Global SportsInteractive, everything changed. Rubin, who never needed theInternet, decided to take a "leading position" in itssporting-goods category (projected worth in 2003: upward of $3billion). "It's not that we change direction every threeyears," he says, "it's that we've always found away to evolve our business, and [the Internet] is the greatestevolution in the world." After selling its branded, off-priceand action-sports divisions, Global Sports' business will nowexclusively revolve around an e-commerce business model that willnot only sell and distribute products of partners The SportsAuthority, The Athlete's Foot, Sport Chalet, MC Sports, andSports & Recreation, but also design and maintain the Web sitesof smaller sporting goods retailers wanting to enter themarket.

Playing Hardball

It's hard not to survey Rubin's list of accomplishmentsand wonder if he still has time for a life. From what he says, theanswer's debatable. "I'll have to refer you to mygirlfriend on that one," he laughs. "I probably work morethan most people you know, but I really love it. I spend most of myfree time with my girlfriend, my two Labs and my parents. I do havea bunch of friends and see them as much as I can, but it's notas much as I'd like." That's no wonder--when hebriefly mentions that he's been working "18, 20 hours aday for the past several months," it's deliveredmatter-of-factly, as if everybody does it.

But it's that kind of backbreaking dedication that makesRubin the go-getter he is. His mile-a-minute East Coast accentalone could put a person in check instantaneously. And judging fromhis forwardness and overall gusto, he seems to know it. After all,when asked to sum himself up in three words, it didn't take himlong to come up with "passionate, aggressive andstreet-smart." But as a disclaimer, he adds, "Nowthat's a nice compliment to give myself--I don't want to beperceived as arrogant."

Even though I overheard Rubin refer to me as "just areporter" as I waited for him to get Global Sports' salesfigures from his assistant, I held onto my dignity by rememberingthat this is a person with whom I could've gone to high school,a person who's responsible for the total vision behind athriving, multimillion-dollar company. To him, an interviewprobably fits into his schedule somewhere between breakfast andworking out. He also has to play boss to members of a managementteam years his senior and compete with industry tough-guyswho've been around a lot longer than he has.

So what's it really like playing hardball in business whenyou're barely old enough to rent a car without a lot of hassle?"While most people are excited to be associated with thecompany and really like what we're doing," Rubin says,"there are others who are simply not feeling great about mebeing such a young guy and the way our company has grown."

But because support from within his company (especially hiselders) remains solid, all Rubin can do is continue to extend hisgoals and grow his business, working to evolve into a strong CEO inthe process. "I love to learn, so any time I think someone canadd value to me, I'm a sponge to them," he says."When I was 14 or 15, I was a lot more stubborn and cocky thanI am today. I've made mistakes and have probably been humbled.I think I've wised up." Wise is an understatement.

"I forget how old I am sometimes" is one of the lastobservations Michael Rubin makes about himself during ourinterview. In hindsight, one has to ponder whether he feels olderor younger than his 27 years. Preferring not to make"forward-looking statements" regarding Global SportsInteractive, the kid from Philadelphia who always did what was bestfor his business regardless of his parents' concerns simplysays we should expect his company to reach phenomenal heights.

With the ease of a guy who's found his niche, he says,"It's good to be young, eh?" Sure, Michael. It'sdefinitely great to be young--but being young in your shoes soundseven better.

Contact Source

Global Sports Interactive, http://www.gs-interactive.com