Dear Recco,
I’m a huge admirer of what you’ve built – great people, life-saving technology, and an ambitious global SAR network. But I’m writing because you’re moving far too slowly into trail running, and the opportunity (and moral imperative) is enormous.
In October 2022, a trail runner named David Lunde went for a solo Sunday run in Durango as a snowstorm rolled in. He was never found. That tragedy started my obsession with keeping runners safe in the mountains – and ultimately led me to you.
You run a three-sided marketplace:
– Brands need clear economic value (and easier integration)
– SAR teams need detectors and training
– End users need to accept a small price increase
Miss any one side and the whole system fails.
Recco dramatically increases the odds that a lost person will be found.
That’s why I’m asking that you pursue trail running much more aggressively. As a former small-business finance consultant and a libertarian-leaning capitalist, I get it: you’re private, you can move at whatever pace you want.
But from a pure growth standpoint you’re leaving a opportunity on the table, and as the clear leader in this technology you also have a responsibility to act in my opinion.
Perhaps the bottleneck is cash. Aggressive growth (20 % + annually) takes capital, and your existing ski and outdoor verticals already stretch resources.
Fair enough.
I’ll assume the money is solvable (bold, I understand) and focus on the market instead.
While embedded with Antler in Paris, I made “Lost in the Mountains” my research project.
The findings were striking though not surprising:
– “How safe should trail runners be (1-10)?” → Average answer: 9.2
– “How safe are you personally (1-10)?” → Average answer: 2.3
Runners know the sport is dangerous… for everyone except themselves.
Any effective solution has to be completely passive – something sewn into shirts, packs, and hats that they can’t forget or decide to leave at home.
A Garmin inReach is great for expeditions, but the cost and subscription kill everyday adoption.
Recco is the perfect passive answer.
Add redundancy in key garments and accessories (you already study fall positions, so you know exactly where to put them), and you remove the single biggest excuse runners have for doing nothing.
David Lunde would have had a better chance if a Recco reflector had been standard in trail-running gear. No guarantees, of course – but when survival is the metric, every percentage point matters.
Please make trail running a top priority – sooner rather than later.
Best,
Josh
