When Charlie Cannon was attending college in Utah a few years ago, he came up with an idea that made his skateboarding experience not only more enjoyable, but practical — adding longboard brakes to his board.
Fast forward a few years and Cannon, a 2018 Dover-Sherborn High School graduate, is president of his own company, VibeRide. He recently landed a deal with his childhood hero, tech entrepreneur/pro sports owner Mark Cuban, after appearing on the television show "Shark Tank.”
“I’m super excited," said Cannon, now 23. “This is crazy; it’s great.”
Cannon, who has been skateboarding since age 10, recalls visiting Sherborn Skate Park with his brother and his brother’s friends.
“I was really into it,” Cannon said. “I’d make videos when I was in elementary school.”
He attended college for a year in Utah, and continued skateboarding.
“There were mountains out there,” he said. “It was my first time in the mountains. We’d be going down these huge hills and everyone would be just eating it. I’d fall. My friends would fall. I remember my business class teacher asked what the problems in the world are, and I raised my hand and said I always get holes in my shoes from trying to slow down on my skateboard.”
Beyond the falls, putting brakes on skateboards was a matter of saving shoes
It causes him to ruin his shoes, he said. “It’s really scary when you go faster than you’re comfortable with and can’t really slow down.”
Eventually, Cannon came up with the idea of putting brakes on skateboards. “I’d save my shoes, and there would be so much more control and it would give you so much more confidence.”
The concept soon moved from dream to reality.
It’s really scary when you go faster than you’re comfortable with and can’t really slow down.Charlie Cannon
“I toyed around with a bunch of pieces of metal in my dorm room, attaching rubber to it and all kinds of crazy ways to get the first to work,” he said.
Then COVID-19 hit, and Cannon returned to Sherborn.
Charlie Cannon creates company, sells $10M worth of camera drones
“I used that time to learn how to sell things online,” he said. “I had a working prototype and was about to launch, and I was watching tutorials on how to sell things online.”
Cannon started printing logos on camera drones and began selling them, basically so he could learn to run digital ads.
“It just exploded,” he said.
Cannon then formed a company. In 15 months, he had sold $10 million worth of camera drones.
“I sold that company, and I used a lot of money from the sale, and I bought out every patent ever made for skateboard brakes," he said. "I just crushed it.”
Cannon gets chance to meet Mark Cuban on ‘Shark Tank’
Cannon, along with a couple friends working for him, attended a trade show when he applied to appear on “Shark Tank.”
“Within 17 hours they had responded, and they actually liked us so much we skipped half the application process,” he said. “They approved us within two weeks to go on the show. We got really lucky with the timing.”
Appearing on the “Shark Tank” (Season 15, Episode 10) stage was a “childhood dream come true,” Cannon said. The show aired Jan. 12.
“I remember being in a sixth grade computer class at the Dover-Sherborn Middle School and they showed us an episode of 'Shark Tank' and I was like, ‘That is what I want to do when I’m older.’”
Cuban, he said, was “super fun.”
“We definitely came in with a ton of energy; we were talking to him the whole time," Cannon said. "We came in with smiles on our faces. I think he likes to be part of the young crowd. He was really nice. I think he picked up really quickly that we are the real deal. I was just really excited to show them what we’ve built.”
The business name came from a class he was taking — Value Impact Business Entrepreneurship (VIBE) and Cannon added "Ride" to it.
“Starting your own company — you have to sort of be born with a screw loose,” Cannon said. “You have to, first of all, be a little crazy and have this itch in you that absolutely cannot work for someone else. When you’re making money, having a business is the absolute best thing in the entire world, and when you’re losing money it’s the absolute worst thing in the world.
"It’s either really exciting or really awful.”
Cannon describes what's next for VibeRide, future goals
As for what's next, Cannon, who continues to live in Utah but said he would probably move to Hawaii, said he will work with Cuban’s team and continue to produce the product.
“My real goal with Mark is to show him I can be an incredible entrepreneur,” Cannon said. “I see this more as proving grounds now.”
His success has allowed him a certain sense of financial freedom, but he is already looking toward philanthropic ventures.
“My goal in life is to donate a lot of money to planting trees, feeding children; doing something helpful,” Cannon said. “Making money is not driving me. Honestly, I have all the money I need right now to be happy.”
His advice for other young entrepreneurs: “You got this.”
“I always said the same thing to myself," he said. "All those things I wanted from when I was a kid — from hanging out with pro skiers, to having my own business, to living in the mountains — has come true. Elon (Musk) says if you need encouragement to start a business, don’t start a business. He describes being an entrepreneur as eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.”