TALK IT UP TUESDAY: Alex Pilson

Welcome to LiveRC's weekly column, "Talk-It-Up Tuesday!" Here we spend a little time talking with industry icons including racers, manufacturers, team managers, developers, promoters, and everyone in between! Sit back, relax, and go behind the scenes as we interview them all!

 

I met Alex Pilson not long after he returned to RC from a sixteen-year hiatus. We were both members of an old-school online message forum (remember those?), and we were making some pretty serious transitions in our RC - and professional - careers. I had just hung up the idea of trying to be a pro racer and got my first RC magazine job, while Alex got back into RC racing with the immediate intention of focusing some of his previous e-commerce success into building a successful online retailer. Now, he’s running the US office for one of RC’s fastest growing engine manufacturers - and he still manages to get enough track time. 

 

 

Alex Pilson: Ha! Well, this will date me: I saw my first RC10 in 1985, when I was a sophomore in high school. It was my brother’s friend, and he was in his early 20s. I remember how cool it was, and knew I wanted to own one. I always loved mechanical things and this was the ultimate mechanical toy. I was able to purchase my first RC10 in 1988. I started racing at the famous Sugar Bowl in Sugar Hill, GA. I raced until about 1991 when nitro started to come onto the scene; it’s funny now, but I hated those things! They scared the crap out of me at the time. I left RC as it was changing and I had a new focus: my music career. I pursued that heavily. Fast forward until around 2003, and I wanted to see what had been going on in RC so I went up to see the Sugar Bowl. My, had times changed! I saw monster trucks and all kinds of new vehicles. I got excited about getting back into the hobby, but I couldn’t at the time. In 2006 I decided to take yet another look, but it wasn’t until 2007 I said, “ok, let’s do it.” I started back at Loganville RC in the Fall of 2007 with a new 1/8-scale buggy and have raced since. 

 

 

AW: What was your professional background before moving in the RC industry?

AP: I have a degree in Photography from the Art Institute of Atlanta. After graduating, I pursued digital design and production. This led me to interactive media, CD-ROM, DVD authoring and to my first company in 1993-1997 as a digital design agency. From 1997-2001, I worked in a broadcast design/branding firm that was also building Internet sites. In 2001 I became an entrepreneur, owning several different companies all around digital design and commerce, with the majority of my time focusing on building and maintaining an enterprise e-commerce application I created in 2001.

 

 

AP: I remember when I was at Loganville RC in 2007, I was fresh off a bunch of success in business with regards to retail and commerce, so I said, “why not get into RC for something I am passionate about?” Wow - what an eye opener this journey was. In March of 2008 I opened ModHobby.com and I had visions of beating AMain. Who didn’t? (laughs) I enjoyed some decent success; however, I also learned quickly how fickle the customer base can be, and how hard it is to actually make any money on a small scale. Couple that with the economy tanking in the mid- to late-2008, I shut it down in July of 2009.

 

 

AP: As I was licking my wounds from the ModHobby venture, I still had many connections and great friends in the industry. I kept those throughout the next two years as I refocused my energy on building my custom ecommerce application to make it even better. I was still racing and supporting all the brands I loved. In 2010, I started back up under a small operation called ChampionRC and started selling selectively to customers and friends. My vision was to build a low-key, “cool” race company. However, I wanted to become a more serious racer and I was frustrated with the engine offerings on the market. I started researching in 2011 and found that Mario (Rossi) had created REDS.  I sent him a simple email introducing myself, what I wanted to do for his brand, basically selling him on my experience as a businessman and passionate RC racer. I remember waiting for a few days, got a response, and they said they weren’t ready yet as they were redesigning the engine. Finally, after what seemed like months (it probably was), I got two prototype R5T engines to test. I called upon Mike Battaile as my trusted advisor to test one. He said it was a work of art, and I agreed - I was super excited. He ended up running it in the RC Pro Series final in September of 2011 and I believe he finished 4th with it in Pro Buggy. I knew I was onto something. I started negotiations with Marco, Mario’s son, and we inked the deal in December of 2011. REDS Racing USA was born sometime in the beginning of January. 

 

 

AP: This is a good question: as I started in 2012 with the new brand, I had ideas, they had ideas, and lot of our success is in the ability to trust each other in how we work and present the brand. The challenges in the beginning were to get to know how we each work and, of course, communicate. Fortunately, Marco speaks excellent English! The main challenges I face here being the USA arm of the brand are: answering emails, text, FB messages, and calls in a timely manner; making sure we are delivering the best product possible; managing customer expectations and satisfaction; building a team that is passionate about the product and racing as we are; managing people; and making sure we have the right marketing exposure to the industry. The other challenge is trying to be available to each and every one of my team guys. I appreciate them all, and sometimes I don’t get enough one-on-one time with them. These are all challenges I think any good company goes through. Occasionally, I get requests from other parts of the world to ship to them, but contractually I can’t. I am the exclusive distributor for Canada, USA and Mexico. With regards to Mexico, I have a sub-distributor, Luis Gudino. He services all of Mexico and is doing a great job of it.

 

 

AP: It really depends on the vision and objective you have set forth. I can tell you my objective has not been met yet. When I meet that objective, you will know! When I reflect on how this company has grown, I realize it is exactly how it should have grown - not too fast or too slow. It feels just right, and the reason is that the more people on staff, and the more product in the marketplace, the more potential headaches you have. I feel like for the first three years, even with Cody King as our premier factory driver for the US, we still had to prove the product is the best because it was still so new. I don’t think that is a bad thing - it keeps us honest. With more and more recent wins throughout the globe in off-road and on-road, I feel confident we have proven it is the best. On a practical front, growing too fast can cause supply chain issues, and we have experienced this a few times where demand exceeded our ability to produce fast enough - but that was resolved many months ago. Staying small can be nice too, and is part of the reason I don’t have a ton of support drivers. While our team may seem fairly large to some, it is something I like to keep at a manageable size because of how frequently I interact with each on a weekly basis. Even though we are now the leading brand in Europe, USA still has a little more work to get there. Competing against, say, the likes of Novarossi, which has other interests in other areas of business besides engines, it is not something I compare to. We are a race-oriented company. How I compare my business and the REDS brand to others is by quality, service and innovation. If we do all three of those correctly, we never have to worry what size we are, because the success of those factors will determine our size.

 

 

AP: It seems to go in waves. I have times where I race a lot over a course of a few months, but then there is a stretch of time due to other obligations I can’t. I say it all evens out over a course of a year to where I race enough to be satisfied with my ability to compete and support the brand. Recently, I have traveled to more out-of-state and larger races than I did several years ago. One thing I wish I had is more time to devote to the on-road market. I have run those cars a few times and it's a serious rush. You might see me this year for an event in California running those. I am working on that.

 

 

AP: Aligning and working with Mario, Marco and their family to help build the REDS brand in North America; signing Cody King to REDS, and competing at the 2014 Worlds in Italy.

 

 

AP: Wow, now that is a tough one. “How fast does that thing go?” is what people always seem to ask. Usually, I say radio controlled cars, but for some reason if I say “RC” they think “Radio Shack.” When I say that the cars are nitro powered, that shifts the conversation to “hey, these are serious machines.” The other way is to say, “we race off-road 1/8 scale nitro buggies - think about a motocross track, but scaled down.”

 

 

AP: Yes, to some degree. I still learn new things every time I am at a race. It happens much less than in previous years, but even if you learn one new thing, you have a better chance of success the next time out. I am thankful to be surrounded by some incredible industry mentors and seasoned racers as well. For my current role, I believe my business and entrepreneur background has provided me the proper tools to do what I am doing today. I have had both success and failure over the last 20 years. Failure is way to understand how to succeed, hopefully not to be repeated.

 

 

AP: Yes, electric motors and ESCs were introduced because we all love racing. “Winter” happens in many places around the world, and we realized we needed to keep racing. Why not grow our own brand that we know and love to continue racing indoors during winter? This spawned the first 1/10-scale electric motors with 1/8-scale motors that followed shortly after. Our 1/10-scale ESC is now available and shipping next week. We intend to take this market even further, so stay tuned for even more releases in this segment. It is very exciting!

 

 

AP: It depends on the viewpoint. I think the industry has never been exactly healthy from a business perspective. Margins are really low for hobby shops to make it only in RC, distributors are now competing with their hobby shops, distributors own their own brands which protect their margin. It is not exactly an easy business to be involved in. You have to really love what you are doing. What I do think is healthy is the evolution of quality in products: from buggies, to radios, to servos. I remember not too long ago how you had to worry about your buggy staying together. Most chassis brands now have nearly perfected the design, type of plastics, geometry etc. It is more fun than ever to be involved in this high-tech hobby. 

 

Racing has also evolved from years past. I am not a huge fan of the separation of classes: Sportsman, Open, Pro, etc. - I prefer one big class. I know winning a race is very important to some, but I like how the Nationals and Worlds are run. So what if I don’t win? I am here to have fun and challenge myself. The ones in the top 20-40 are usually paid factory guys, so I get to compete and see where I stand - usually not so good (laughs). And in those events they provide plaques to the top 3 of each main, which is pretty cool. This topic is hard to solve easily. In the end, it comes down to gratification for the driver, and each have their own idea of that.

 


Two other things that have changed the landscape in recent years is the sheer amount of large regional events and the number of classes. Races with 600 entries and 10 different classes make it very difficult to enjoy. You are up at 6AM and back to bed at 1AM at a lot of these events. On the other hand, people like that and it is part of the thrill of the event.

 

And one last aspect I want to mention that has changed and has seen great debate, as you know, is the sponsored driver. It is one issue I also have to grapple with being the REDS Team Manager. I think it is a necessary tool for marketing now but it can also backfire on brands that over-saturate the racing market. It really puts dealers in a difficult position. I remember having that same issue with my retail shop. If all the people in the area are sponsored, you are then relying on a few retail-oriented customers and bashers to purchase those type of products. In the end, I am not sure there is a right or wrong direction.

 

 

AP: I try very hard to make sure we have the best team possible, making sure everyone is doing the right thing to represent the brand the best they can. People also ask me what it takes to be sponsored by REDS. For me it is about several things: proven talent if you are the top level, personality, can they talk to existing and potential customers, can they promote the brand in a positive light, and more importantly - attitude. It is a delicate balance because a racer might have mad talent, but is not the best spokesperson. It is tough. I try to balance as many of these attributes as possible, and it’s not always about getting on the podium. The difficult part is determining level of sponsorship. I try to be as fair as possible. I also like to encourage growth and potential advancement in the team, and review our drivers every year in November and December for potential bumps. I also have had my share of guys and girls that have come and gone. Sometimes the brand is not for you - I get that, and never harbor any ill will toward anyone that decides to leave to try another brand. I am here for the long haul, and they can always ask to come back.

 

 

AP: Recently it hasn’t been much other than RC, spending time with my daughter, and music. I play in a band called Shrunken Head, but we’re currently taking a break. We are on iTunes if you want to check it out. Usually, I enjoy wakeboarding, bowling (yes, bowling - I used to be competitive at that as well), and in my past mountain biking, skateboarding and snowboarding. I also enjoy watching Supercross and the American LeMans series.

 

 

AP: My favorite part is going to big events like the Nationals. It’s fun to reunite with a lot of people I don’t see often. I enjoy meeting new people, helping them with their engines and, of course, racing. The worst part is dealing with bad shipments, spending too much money, and dealing with drama and crappy attitudes at the track.

 

 

AP: You are welcome! I hope it wasn’t too long-winded. I’m glad to share my experiences with you and the readers.