A startup usually comes after a founder has experienced the frustrations of corporate life. In Nathan Resnick’s case, the desire to start a company came at the end of his sophomore year at the University of San Diego. His company Yes Man Watches makes stylish timepieces with a patent-pending buckle. As Resnick explains, “Every other leather watch strap in the world has holes.” Times of San Diego asked the young entrepreneur, now a junior, five questions about this company.
Why did you start Yes Man Watches?
Last summer as a sophomore in college I felt restricted by my 9-to-5 summer internship. I wanted to do more with my life and entrepreneurship was my outlet. I had this idea buzzing in my head but had no clue how to turn it into a reality. I ended up digging deep, doing everything I could to launch Yes Man Watches. I stayed up until 5 a.m .almost every night balancing the time zones of four different cities. I was based in my hometown of Bethesda, MD, leading everything, while a buddy in San Diego designed the logos, an engineer in Budapest developed the computer-aided designs, and a manufacturer in China geared up for production.
The idea for Yes Man Watches came while I was a freshman in college. My friends and I would always be doing so much with our day, whether that be surfing before class or catching the sunset at night, that we realized everything starts by saying yes.
What’s unique about your watch design?
We’ve created the best watch strap in the world. Want to know why? Our watches don’t have holes! Every other leather watch strap in the world has holes. Our new patent-pending buckle allows for twice as many sizing options and a sleeker fit while keeping the leather on your watch strap fresh.
To design our first line, we looked at thousands of watches, saw what we liked in each one, then applied those aspects to create our very own. Our logo positioning at the 5 o’clock mark came from the feeling I got after getting off work — I wanted something to remind me that it’s my time and I can do whatever I set my mind to. We originally designed our logo as a Yes Man, but a lot of people see it as a martini glass. We say it’s what you make of it, just how time is what you make of it.
You launched a Kickstarter campaign in January. How successful was that?
Our Kickstarter campaign was out of this world! Within three days we reached our initial $15000 funding goal and by the end of our month-long campaign we had raised over 200 percent of our initial goal. I don’ think I slept those first three days, but they were probably the most exciting days of my life.
The response from my family, friends, and the whole world has been incredible. It has been amazing to build a community around Yes Man Watches and to see our watches being rocked everywhere from the Great Wall of China to the Western Wall in Israel!
How does a student juggle college studies and running a startup?
As a junior at the University of San Diego, it has been a crazy balance of time juggling my startup and schoolwork. I’m a finance major, so it’s neat to apply principles I learn in class to my business. For example when my accountant is talking about our balance sheet, I can apply what I just learned in class to understand what he is saying.
My university also acts as a direct market for Yes Man Watches. Not only do we sell watches to my classmates, but we also utilize them for feedback on new products and price-points.
What’s the product road map for Yes Man Watches?
We currently have two signature designs, our original black on black and navy on white. We’re working on some new designs and expanding our product line. Later this summer, we will be releasing some awesome organic bamboo/plastic sunglasses!
A big step in our product development is our patent-pending buckle. It took a lot of time to develop a hole-less leather watch strap but we’ve finally dialed it in. Like any startup, we’re continuously looking for ways to improve and have a redesigned buckle coming out later this year.
Times of San Diego, a startup itself, regularly writes about startups in technology, biotech and other sectors of local business. If you are a startup in the San Diego area and want to tell your story, please contact news@timesofsandiego.com.
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