Pro Skaters And The Skateboard Business Model  Somewhere back in
Economics 1A, my professor (the guy was actually a rugby coach
in his spare time-probably explains why he didn’t get tenure)
said that economics was really pretty simple. The more there was
of something, the less it was worth. Like, oh, maybe with pro
skaters-just to pick an example. Certainly that’s where
skateboarding has gone. In an attempt to differentiate products
and brands, there has been an increasing reliance on pro skaters
and pro models. But the higher the level of reliance, the less
benefit there seems to be. Why is that? And how might pros be
managed differently?  It starts out simple enough, the logic
going something like this:  1. Skating is fun, so I’ll start a
company.  2. This isn’t quite as easy as I thought.  3. Uhhhh,
well, gee, the truth is that my product isn’t much different
than the next company’s.  4. I’ve got to figure out a way to
differentiate my product.  5. My customer is influenced by his
peers. I’ll get a team ri