I never got into skateboarding to be
number one like that was such a jock
mentality and that’s what I was trying
to rail against in my experience of not
doing these other projects suddenly I
found myself other opportunities just
new connections
everybody why have you Burlando but I
really didn’t think that I’d be able to
do it I’ve been trying it for years you
know I’ve mostly just did it too for the
crowd certain industries we can say
sports there is a player or somebody who
comes in that’s gotta love it the game
that completely completely
revolutionizes that game one is Tiger
Woods there used to be Tom nobody looked
at golf and then a Middle Eastern guy
like me we don’t golf in Iran we start
watching golf because of Tiger Woods and
this man sitting next to me Tony Hawk
they used to be guys skateboard and
until this guy shows up and next thing
you know becomes a big game and now
millions on top of millions of people
worldwide follow the sport because this
revolutionary member of so much
attention to Tony Hawk well thank you
thank you so much so some of your stats
that I look at I think a hundred and
three competitions you were in 73 you
won 18 you were second place twelve
years in a row you were a champion in
this world I mean you’ve got the video
game Mario is bragging about the fact
that he can crack the code in the video
game and there’s no gravity 1.4 billion
dollars of sales with your video game
before we get into all this stuff that
you’re doing right now your venture
capital is an entrepreneur all these
other things how did this whole thing
get started initially when you Oliver
Sun started skating I was just skating
because my older brother’s into it and a
few my friends my neighborhood were
doing it and eventually I found my way
to the skate park and I think that was
my moment of realization when I saw I
literally saw people flying out of
swimming pools and it was like I want to
do that because I was a bit of a
daredevil as a kid and I was like
whatever it takes to do that that’s what
I’m gonna do and eventually I quit all
the other team sports I was playing in
and and just focused on skating and
luckily I was young enough that it
wasn’t that I like I was choosing your
career because there was no career to be
chosen at the time you couldn’t really
make a living at it but I was young
enough that I could do it as a hobby
and get away with it was anybody at that
time making money doing this no I mean a
very few like there were a few pro
skaters they were competing for $100
first place really yeah it wasn’t it
just wasn’t it was very ski boarding
exploded as a sort of novelty in the 70s
but it it was very difficult to make a
living at it and there was not
sustainable in terms of the growth oven
and the popularity and so for a kid like
me I just wanted to learn new tricks
that was it like my motivation was never
to make a living at it in fact the the
reality was once you got out of high
school or you reach the age of
responsibility you had to quit skating
you have to well you just
you’re not gonna make money hundred
dollars like you could do it as a hobby
once in a while but no one was you know
that was never the career path so you
have a video coming I by the way he’s
got a variant he just showed me some
clips on what he’s doing you’re about to
turn 50 by the way with happy early
birthday to you egg you and and and
you’ll hear what he did at 48 which is
sick what he’s doing at 48 he’s got this
video coming out with 50 tricks he did
here and then there’s an interesting
fall you just have to see it it’s gonna
come out when next few weeks mate off my
burn a talk okay very cool I read
somewhere that you got into skating at
nine years old meaning your brother gave
you the first skate about nine years old
from nine years old seven years later
you go pro at 14 I think yeah and then
at 16 you were considered a number one
skateboarder in the world at 16 years
old yeah it’s it sounds lofty but the
skating scene was so small do you know
what I mean it was it and for me it was
a big deal obviously but like for
instance to turn pro I had reached the
top of the amateur ranks then you know
there wasn’t a lot of competition I
reached the top of the air mature ranks
and then I went to enter the next
competition and a lot of my peers were
turning pro and and so the my sponsor
just said well what do you want to do
and so I’m filling out literally filling
out the entry form to the competition
and instead of the amateur box I checked
the pro box purely accidental no no I’m
just saying like that’s all it was there
wasn’t there was no celebration there’s
no contract on it do you know I mean it
was just more like okay now I’m moving
up a stage in competition and so it
wasn’t it just didn’t feel like such a
monumental thing and
go back to school the next week and I
was a ghost
you know skateboarding was far from
popular it was like the most uncool
thing you could do so all of those
elements kept me in check in terms of
you know I sure I’m number like I
eventually reached the top of the ranks
of the pro I was number one pro but I
was still this unknown dude in high
school now III also read that at 18
years old you started you started
getting some sponsorships you started
making some money yeah making really
decent money at age 17 okay got it
because there was something about you
were making more money than your
teachers yeah when you graduated you
bought a house I bought a house while I
was a senior in high school you bought a
house while this evening yeah how was
that that’s pretty big deal not a lot of
a lot of times nowadays you know people
make money in on it but at that time
there is no dropshipping or amazon
you’re making this with no internet yeah
well everything that I was making mostly
was on royalties of signature items so
my skateboards that was my main source
of income and prize money and my dad was
in the Navy and I mean he was retired
but you know he had a very good sense of
finances and stability and and he’s
thought like this is not gonna last you
know he immediately realized that like
this is probably short term you should
put your money away and he’s the one who
encouraged me to buy a house and he was
he was the first one to really be a
student that way in my life where cuz
all my friends you know we’re making six
figures at a time when we had no
appreciation for the value of money or
how long it will last
and you know we’re buying everything
like dropping thousands of dollars a
sharper image so is it fair to say like
at that time while you’re doing this the
party side the fund said you’re just
having a blast going through this
process or were you pretty good never
started the skating though okay so for
sure there were a lot of new elements
and distractions you know that came into
place and and you know we suddenly we
were not just we were beyond being
uncool suddenly we were sort of in
limelight and girls were finally paying
attention to us and things like that so
for sure all those things came into play
and you know owning a house at 17 your
house is always the party house your
parents are always gone so that was also
an element but but I never lost sight of
the fact that skating got me there and
people are relying on me to continue
skating or expecting me to keep
improving and and that’s all I ever
wanted to do and I did see a lot of my
friends get too distracted and lose
focus and you know kind of lose their
career because of it Tony were there
guys that were just as good as you at
the time maybe even a little bit better
who got lost focus and completely went a
different direction I think so I think I
think there were definitely some people
who had potential that you know that
lost sight of it and and skating no
longer was the priority the priority was
the party but that happens in all walks
of life not just skating we have a
nephew who was obsessed with soccer
everything to him is like he sleeps with
his ball at six seven years old the
guy’s amazing we were at a game last
week galaxies were on the field with
Slaton and he’s just he loved soccer
were you that nine-year-old kid that
slept with you like were you in love
like were you fully in love with this
game of skateboarding yeah well by the
time I was by the time I was ten years
old I knew that’s all I wanted to do and
I quit I quit Little League the year
that may my dad was appointed president
what a way to say that it was a
conversation yeah how do you have that
conversation at ten years old that’s
what’s really well he knew because he he
would actually have to forcibly pull me
from the park to go to practice and at
some point that happened so many times
it was like that I don’t I don’t want to
go play baseball you were dreading it
you just love this yeah I want to stay
here and skate and and I did tell him I
think I I think the the way that he
accepted that was when I told him I go
that every time I go to the skate park I
get better like I always learned
something new or I can learn a better
technique and I improve and when I go
play baseball I don’t feel like that
it’s good for him as a military guy
because you know military sometime it’s
a little bit you know is as strong as a
former Navy got to communicate and be
able to say go ahead and do it you know
it’s yeah well also I was the youngest
of four kids and my my siblings had
already moved out by then so
he just wanted anything to keep me busy
got it got it so by the way this is the
I’m assuming this is a very small tight
community because when we came in here
today Shaun White is doing a bunch of
stuff here and he’s just you know
walking around as if it’s not a big deal
and yeah you know you read stats that
the moment he won the gold medal it was
the second most viewed event in the
history of Olympics including summer and
he was the hundred gold medal for the US
which is a victim and it’s just you know
skateboarding here ripped socks just
relaxing is that like my rap is one of
the best for sure you know you get what
you pay for and a lot of a lot of the
top ramp skaters this is their go-to
place to practice what makes a ramp
great well really how smooth it is and
how sturdy it is and and that seems
simple but we were building ramps out of
wood scraps for so long just to make a
structure that kind of resembled a pool
that nothing was true nothing was
perfect you know everything had a lot of
flaws in it and when I set out to have
this ramp built this ramp was supposed
to tour arenas who like who made it is
there a God that makes it as specialized
this was kind of an experiment that the
before the people made this one there
was no true permanent ramp setup I mean
there was no true portable ramp setup
because all of the ramps were they’re so
clunky and the best ramps took a whole
day to get up they’re good but they just
weren’t efficient and when we set out to
build this one I put it to a staging
company that does concert venue stuff
for like ac/dc and kiss and you know
Britney Spears at the time and and they
put up big stage productions that go up
and down fast
and so I said well this is the
dimensions this is a design you guys
figure it out so let me ask you as far
as something like this goes if I wanted
to build something like this what would
it run me this ramp right here was about
six hundred thousand six hundred
thousand to build something like this
and for somebody like you Tony I’m
assuming I’m just assuming it correct me
if it’s wrong for somebody to be a
12-time champion and you’ve done all
these radical types of stunts in your
career do you feel the slightest edge
that’s off if you’ve gone a different
ramp you feel
yes you you know yeah I don’t like this
part this is it’s no you don’t like it
you just have to adapt to it got it
every ramps different from the most part
I mean they’ve gotten more they’ve
gotten more of a standard especially
with x-games and you know and and other
events like there’s there’s basically a
radius that works best and there’s a you
know amount of flat and everything and
if it’s built well it’ll feel very
similar to this the only thing that
varies is the surface but there’s still
you know there’s still back yard ramps
there’s still ramps that are totally
different sizes I used to be much more
able to adapt to those things because I
skated pools and all the pools were very
different and rough and now because I
skate this the irony of skating
something like this so that’s so perfect
it it messes you up for everything else
got it so you have to go back to a pool
or anything yeah you know or any like
pretty much any other ramp is for me I
have a I have a bit of a hard time
warming up let’s put it that way
elsewhere yeah but I used to be much
more a diverse because I had to skate
the worst stuff so that was an edge so I
mean if you come it was an edge yeah
that’s that it wasn’t advantage yeah
which is which is a weird thing to say
so let me ask you there was a period in
your world where almost like you know
how baseball goes through strike you
know something’s going you guys also had
a strike at one not necessarily strike
but there was like a flat time right
where some guys weren’t making money
yeah I think you even at one point you
said you couldn’t even afford to go have
$5 was it you had a $5 at Taco Bell you
know and a lot of your peers that didn’t
make the right decisions they left
because it was challenged in times and
then it seemed like all of a sudden it
came back up was there a single event
that spiked it back up where became so
relevant yeah I wouldn’t say that it was
very sudden but definitely the early 90s
the the wave of 80s skate popularity it
was dying off mostly because there were
no facilities all the skate parks were
shutting down because they couldn’t
afford liability insurance and so there
just weren’t that many places to go the
you know the the the general attitude
towards skating was that it was already
sort of rebellious and outcasts and you
know maybe not a positive influence for
kids so there were a lot of things
working against it so in the in the
early 90s everything kind of went
underground and that’s when Street
skating really came into play because
there was nowhere to go so people took
to the streets and and the urban
landscape became the skatepark and
that’s how people learn how to skate
ledges and rails and jumping down stairs
and and all that and then there was sort
of this revolution of technique and and
tricks that was happening and so when
the first X Games came around in 1995
skating had sort of been through this
this transition and then there was a
whole new type of skating happening and
kids flocked to it they loved it you
know they loved the irreverent attitudes
they loved the risk factor they loved
the excitement and I think that was the
turning point for sure was like was
exeument wasn’t there time like almost
like X Games stop because they didn’t
know if it was gonna continue similar to
UFC I don’t know I don’t know I know the
internal conversations I know that
through the first three or four years it
was it was gaining traction and then
sort of in the late like late 90s early
2000s as when they really hit their
stride and then they started doing
multiple events mmm then they were doing
like X trials and and international X
Games and then and they kind of went I
think they kind of spread themselves too
thin after that I cuz I remember I’d
watch X Games I’m like you know what I
don’t know if this is gonna be around or
not and then you see it again and again
and again boom comes the event
what is it June 20 there was a time
where they did they did four in one year
and then that got to be like okay
they’re too much yeah how many is it
right later on though that was later on
now it’s now it’s two a year I think
winter winter in summer yeah got it
so so let’s talk about june 27 1999
everybody or i can i don’t know about
everybody around the world myself I’m
not even a skater I remembered that day
when you were doing your deal and then
all of a sudden you landed and it was
like you know everybody wanted you to
land this walk us through the first time
you know that 900 was done on live
television Wow well the I think I’d have
to go back to sort of the quest for the
900 I learned seven 20s which is a
double spin in 1985 and it was always in
you know in my head like well the next
obvious rotation is a 900
and I didn’t actually get the guts to
try it and until about 85 probably
almost 10 years later is when I really
started to spin it and realize that I
could gain enough speed and get the spin
fast enough to get around and I tried
for years I tried to do it I would like
set certain days and have people shoot
video of it you know I like it’s get a
photographer today’s the day I’m going
to do it let’s take photos and then I
would like the closest I ever got I came
down the wall and then I ran to the flat
bottom and broke my rib my quest for it
was you know almost 10 years in at that
point so wait a minute before June 27 99
you’ve never landed it I never landed oh
so you’ve never landed it off camera no
no so the first time you ever landed
yeah what’s that yeah Wow that makes it
even more special my first real attempt
at it was 1989 and I ended up on my back
on the flat bottom and thought maybe I
should wait on this 89 is that the same
time as a guy named Danny there was a
story about a guy that Danny Way Danny
yeah that he apparently did but he
didn’t he he was the first one to really
show as possible for sure he was the
first one that showed was passed yeah
because he he got all the way around in
the air he did the spin and he actually
landed back on the wall and now I mean
that is a monumental moment to me in
skateboarding because it was like Oh
Danny shows that it is possible and for
sure like I took that I took inspiration
from that and the boys Danny part of
your community was Danny like a guy that
you get local one of the most innovative
skaters today I mean for sure he’s the
guy that started the whole mega ramp
movement you know those big big ramps
that they have the x-games he’s the guy
that that was the first to really make
that happen
so Tony you’ll land it but it would walk
me through like when you landed it’s 900
so well okay so so fast-forward to that
night they’re having a Best Trick event
and they had held best-trick events in
the past at different events and usually
just ends up people trying their hardest
stuff and mostly people falling all the
time and I had a little more strategy
where I was like I know that I have done
these couple of tricks so at least I’m
gonna get those in the you know get
those in the bank and then I’ll have a
trick to go off of like for whatever
they’re judging
and I did I did two of them and I got
him pretty early and then I tried my
what was gonna be my harder trick which
was a varial 720 which is like a 720 and
turning the board an extra half to her
and that was gonna be my big trick and I
landed that one early on so I still had
time left and for me the next trick and
my sort of wish list is a 900 but I
really didn’t think that I’d be able to
do it I’ve been trying it for years you
know so I’ve mostly just did it to for
the crowd did anybody say Tony let’s try
to 900 now sir I think said something
like what about 900 you know and I was
like alright I’ll do it for the crowd it
you know just to show them like this is
what I would love to do and I started I
tried a couple and something clicked in
those first few where I was spotting my
landing every time and that rarely
happened usually it was like one spin
was really good and one just was
flailing and eventually I would get hurt
that’s how it would always go so this
night it was like every spin was pretty
consistent so I started putting it on
the wall and the first couple times I
put it on the wall I fell forward the
way that I did when I broke my rib but
not as bad and then I realized that in
the middle of the spin if I shift my
weight to my back foot I’ll remedy that
fall forward and it started working I
basically at that moment like the time
for the event had run out and I knew
that I was either gonna make it or get
taken away in an ambulance you met you
made that distinction that this is right
there it wasn’t even like a conscious
thought I just I just knew that I was
gonna see it through or get taken out
doing it you what you you hit it you’re
for time I was at the for time or the
fifth time when you hit it no I think it
was it was further it was it was closer
to like 12 tries or so which which is
standard I mean even even now like if I
set out to do it you know and I’ve done
it a few times since then
it takes me a good at least eight or
nine tries to get start getting it again
you tweeted when you turn 48 you said I
just landed at 9-under yeah yeah that
one like I said every once in a while I
get the bug and I’ll start spinning it
again and I had started doing that I
actually started tried it at an event
not long before that and thought oh
maybe I could
do it again and then I waited until the
anniversary date June 27th so I waited
until that day and set out to do it here
on this room here here yeah got it and
that was 2016 right I think was like a
yeah 17 year anniversary when you hit
that mathematically you know what is
what is the bigger mathematical you know
complexity of hitting a nine hundred
what makes it so complicated to a
tonight um it’s not it’s more physics
than math it’s more when you spin two
and a half times you are blind to your
landing zone twice and that is is the
most that’s the most disorienting thing
the fact that you have two blind spots
yeah twice blind to the ramp is so
disorienting that by the time you come
around you really don’t know where you
are and at some point if you’ve been
practicing enough you just start to
understand where you’re gonna be by the
speed of your spin and by the height you
got and that’s what I’ve gotten to at
this point in my life where I know the
exact amount of speed I need and the
exact amount of torque I need to start
spinning and if that doesn’t happen even
though I’m spinning and I’m blind I know
kind of how I’m gonna fall and that that
is something that you only learn through
the worst experiences what’s in very a
twelve year I think only four people
have hit the nine hundred since that
time now I mean now there are there are
young kids that grew up and they skate
ramps and at you know before age ten
they’ve done it so I’d say it’s closer
to probably fifteen maybe fifteen that
I’ve hit there yeah so even though you
know it’s funny because it’s not it’s
not such a monumental marker now I mean
it’s it’s still a big deal for sure but
a a couple guys have done ten eighties
the Tom shark it is a Tom char and
Mitchie Brusco so what’s the limit on
this like what do you think the limits
gonna be on how because the the Tom Tom
char when he hit that obviously his ramp
is in this this it’s he came with a much
more speed right right coming down so is
is a big part of how much more we
continue with 1080
and then what’s gonna be after that it’s
gonna be a 1260 and then whatever it’s
it purely gonna be a mathematics we’re
how much the speeds gonna be going into
it I mean is there a limit you don’t
think I don’t think that it’s it’s not
just a matter of math it’s a matter of
risk and skill and you know to spin past
10 80 is gonna require big height which
is tenfold risk factor and faster
spinning and and you know body dynamics
and there’s all kinds of issues with
that but I think that um to answer your
question yes the bigger ramps will can
help because it gives you that more
airtime and people like to say like well
that’s cheating I’m telling you if
you’re facing a 30-foot ramp there’s no
cheating about that a 30-foot range well
that’s I mean that the the ramp that Tom
shard did a 1080 on is 28 feet tall
twice it’s twice this this is 13 and a
half this is 13 F yeah so when you’re
coming up a 28 foot wall that means you
have to go double the amount of speed
you’re going on this thing do you know I
mean there’s there’s no cheating element
to that but eliminating and it’s
dangerous I mean look we were just
standing here and Sean fell one time
Sean what he fell one time there Mario
Mikey it sounds like you are like you
just broke your knee right right so when
you watch it from the outside and you
see these Falls what matter back what’s
the worst injury you’ve had worse
accident you were show me something
right here and to you was like yeah it’s
not a big deal I almost hit that point
where Jackson was broken pelvis that
happened when I was in my late 30s and
it actually taught me a lot about about
sort of my priorities and what I take
for granted and how much I love skating
that I would push through such a
traumatic injury to get back on my
skateboard you know what it’s not
because it’s not because I want to get
paid again it was just more guys I love
skating and it’s such my identity at
this point and I couldn’t do without it
and it was really hard it was like it
was a long one of the hardest years of
my life was really a ting you know what
I love doing and sort of making
compromises with it in terms of what I
could do and getting my confidence back
how many times have you broken a bone
like if you have you count is there I’ve
been pretty like I do a more minor more
like sprains and ligament stuff like
that and I’ve had a couple knee
surgeries but actual broken bones was my
pelvis my elbow and my rib
how do you come back from that I mean
how do you come back from that when you
have an injury like that and you know
your walk me is it’s like when Sugar Ray
Leonard got lost to nomas and and he
talked about for three years I just kind
of wanted to be away from the limelight
because I don’t want to come back how do
you make that come back it wasn’t it
wasn’t the lid I wasn’t about the lino
it was just about me wanting to get back
on my skateboard and and how did I come
back it took a while you know it took it
took a while to because suddenly the
thing that I was doing when I got hurt
was not something that was foreign to me
or there was necessarily that hard and
so it made me question everything I took
for granted at that point and tricks
that I knew that I could do it on any
given day and so I would be doing tricks
thinking like wait am I is this really
safe am i capable of this you start to
question everything and it took me about
a year to get not only my tricks back
but my sense of confidence back kind of
being hesitant a little bit yeah yeah
and and I should be you know you can’t
get hurt doing this ya know the world
you’re in you definitely can’t get hurt
doing what you’re doing so how does how
does one so for instance everybody says
oh my gosh you’re Tony Hawk oh my gosh
you’re the greatest oh my gosh you’re
changed the game you’re the Michael
Jordan back in the days used to compare
you to Michael John you and I were
talking about it earlier I asked about
Tiger Woods you know the Michael Jordan
of skateboarding you’re hearing all this
stuff what are you telling yourself when
someone’s giving you the compliment for
you don’t stay level-headed and not be
too cocky to forget the basic
fundamentals of crossing the line that
it can hurt yourself uh what’s your
self-talk to yourself
um I just I never really bought into the
hype I mean I was excited that people
recognize me and and and I was honored
that they would compare me to someone of
that stature but I I always felt like
skateboarding as much as an art form as
as a sport and it’s apples to oranges
when you’re comparing skill levels it’s
not like who can score the most or who’s
the fastest it’s way more about
subjective style
and so I couldn’t really take that to
heart you know what I mean I never I
never got into skateboarding to be
number one like that was such a jock
mentality and that’s what I was trying
to rail against when I left when I left
basketball in baseball
maybe that’s why you did so well maybe
that’s why you took it too I also I mean
and also I I had enough experience with
people who were full of themselves and
people had looked up to that to know
that like I’m I don’t want to go down
that path and you see the level of
creativity with you now I mean you’re at
this point for you it’s it’s just purely
trying to test what else is possible I
saw you do a couple projects one of them
was what was that one thing that you did
with Sony you came up and then the
spiral was sick by the way I think and
you did a loop you know and there’s all
these other things and then you did the
hoverboard stuff what’s what’s next like
what is the next innovative thing that
we’re going to see like all the things
we just sort of wild ideas that that’s
pretty cool watching what to do with the
loop that was sick yeah I mean I but
also always thought like well we’ve done
the loop you know why not just turn that
sideways and then we presented that to
Sony and they agreed to fund and that’s
kind of how it went I don’t really have
any big you know I was working I was
working on this video of documenting 50
tricks that I’ve created for so long
that I just now have finished it that
I’m so you just want to try to process
that yeah and I felt like there was some
closure there I mean a lot of the tricks
I did in that video those that would be
the last time I do them for sure so it
when did when did a Tony Hawk your your
game come out when that when did that
game come out 1999 so the year you
didn’t nine hundred yeah how much long
how much afterwards it was not long
after that we had been working on it for
almost two years prior to that there’s a
misconception where people think like I
made nine hundred then I got a video
game deal then everything exploded it
was like no those things were very much
in the world I had been working very
hard on the video game for two years
prior to that day I mean yes there was a
there was definitely a perfect storm of
time yeah absolutely and I felt very
lucky in that and mostly the I guess the
funny thing is is that that year of
competition
I already kind of knew was gonna be my
last because I wanted to free up my
schedule to do other things and then
doing 900 was sort of a you know good
out was the icing on the cake but I’d
never thought of that as being this big
promotion for a video game so was purely
I never I never put those two things
together and the only thing that I
remember that come well I remember right
after that I called never saw to his
making the video and because I knew we
were in the last stages of it I mean it
was about to be submitted to Sony to be
approved and I said hey you know I don’t
know if you guys have time to do this
but you might want to throw a 900 in
there as a special trick after you did
it or before after I did it after you
did it yeah got it
but we were so close to the deadline
there I didn’t know if they had time and
I remember I remember getting an email
back immediately like we’re already on
it it’s happening so I do it now June 27
one day the video game come on it I want
to say it was August or September
there’s no way in the world that can
make a game that quickly in two months
and that’s time yeah they’re working on
four years it’s it’s to be able to do
something like that so that led you and
and and I know you were talking
something about the skateboarding
earlier you said there’s not enough of
these out there so is that what inspired
you to start your foundation where you
put up now what five hundred and fifty
six different skateboarding and you’ve
raised five point two million dollars
whatever the number is a little over
five million is that where the
inspiration came from yeah the
inspiration I mean it came mostly from
having been lucky enough to have a skate
park near me when I was growing up and
it was one of only a handful across the
country so I that was never lost on me
how lucky I was to have that that space
and had that community and and I mean it
really it defined who I was as a skater
and having this really interesting
collection of people that would be there
at skating bouncing ideas off each other
so when I had a chance to when I had a
chance to maybe effect change however I
could and and through skateboarding my
go-to was to build skate parks and that
came at a time when some parts are being
built
and they were being built by cities that
were more affluent and were not we’re
not contacting the local skaters
to have their involvement so these these
cities would put up money they would go
to the lowest bidding sidewalk
contractor and they would make a
skatepark that they thought was good
that was almost unscalable and and and I
saw that cycle happening time and time
again because they just weren’t they
weren’t designed by skaters this is pre
you starting your foundations got it and
so my my incentive for starting the
foundation in 2002 was to turn that tide
of having these facilities be built but
to include the actual skaters in the
process of the ones they’re catering to
the one they’re providing for but also
to direct that money to more needy areas
because I felt like the kids in the area
is more influenced they did have other
options and a lot of these kids and that
felt more disenfranchised but chose
skating had no support for it and if
anything were told not to do it because
got it they thought it was had some
negative connotation so what places have
you build them what what are some cities
you put you know you can find we’re up
to 580 parks right now but I mean you
know in places like as iconic as Compton
and Long Beach and watts and East st.
Louis Detroit oh so you go into the real
places where you putting them up you’re
not putting this up in you know in
suburbs and the upper-class you you put
them up in places no we want it to go to
the board low-income areas where kids
choose to skate and having to support it
and what have you seen since ever since
you’ve been doing that what’s been
what’s been happening so we see well we
try to empower the groups that have
already got the ball rolling themselves
so we want it we want to help them give
them resources give them endorsement
validation for their park and that
usually goes a long way and we give them
money to of course but what we found is
that the sense of pride and the sense of
empowerment and the kids get when they
see a project through and they’ve
actually run through all the red tape
and they’ve gone to the City Council
meetings and they see it actually
happened that they can affect change
there’s a sense of of self that comes
with that that I feel like a lot of them
would have never found otherwise so so
what
but what are you seeing right now
happening with your industry what’s next
with your world
what do you foreseen taking place what
level of innovation is gonna come next
as a whole industry I think what skating
is always innovative it always continues
to break new boundaries you know new
tricks new techniques new styles so I
never worry about that because that’s
that’s been a common thread through my
whole life
I think what I’m more interested in is
the international growth of
skateboarding and the places I’ve seen
it grow that are very unlikely places
that most people would not associate
with skating in light for example
there’s a strong skating scene in
Ethiopia there is there are two skate
park projects that involve education in
Cambodia there’s a skate park in a
village in Uganda these are Tony Hawk
foundation or no but some some we have
helped in terms of either giving them
resources or funding the group that is
actually the one that did the park
skater stand one is one in particular
that their work is incredible they have
they have a whole skate facility in
Afghanistan in Kabul that thrives that’s
amazing that has you know they’re always
full they have equal ratio of boys to
girls participating and so that kind of
stuff is what excites me seeing
skateboarding grow in these places that
I never imagined anyone would even yep
see a skateboard it’s it’s kind of like
what happened with the NBA when yam Inc
came in and how Colby and the dream team
and you know China and how big they were
seen and then Kobe became God to the
people in China and then MBA became an
international thing and obviously it
went to whole different level now the
transition from you being a you know
skateboarder to somebody that goes and
becomes an entrepreneur how did that
transition take place for you well I
think it all stems from having the video
game success because suddenly I found
myself with all these different
opportunities that were far beyond the
scope of endemic skate companies and it
became more of a more like corporate
endorsements and suddenly I was in this
world that had not been traveled from a
skateboarding perspective
then suddenly I it’s like I had to be
incorporated and then I found myself
looking at various business
opportunities of things that I could
actually create because it was like for
example my siblings and I we all had
young children at the time and we could
not find cool clothes for him we just
you know everything for kids in the
early 90s was like dressing them up as
little soldiers or like oh gosh my gosh
like they were little dolls and it and
we wanted you know and the kids were
kind of into skateboarding and stuff
they wanted to look the part and so we
decided to start a clothing company
based on skate culture for kids Hawk
clothing it was with things like that
that was like that it was how I became
an entrepreneur was was through those
sort of avenues and then with this ramp
this ramp was the catalyst for starting
a whole arena tour
boom boom Hawk Jim talk about that talk
about a you know what would this led
into cassano you got it you got another
thing there you also what’s the other
business that you have going on right
now I’m not talking to one you invested
into a was it called blue coffee Bao
Blue Bottle coffee that I think Nestle
bought 68 years before like 500 million
yeah and you were one of the investors
all that yeah what what else things like
that I you know I think I’m through my
through my experience as an opportunity
I found myself with other opportunities
just through connections and that was
just through a friend in San Francisco
who-who found out I was a fan of Blue
Bottle and because I mentioned it to him
one time and he said hey you know I’m
actually part of a group that’s going to
buy Blue Bottle and so I got in at the
early stages of that and then you know
when Nestle came in
I got cashed out and it was amazing but
um it’s more things like that where if
it sounds interesting and you know I’m
I’m I’m one that is prone to take risks
through my eyes life through skating and
so I do the same with with doing
business stuff is there is there a
process you go through on who you invest
in do you have like certain it’s just
more if it’s intuition if it feels right
if it’s something I’m excited about that
I’m in got it very cool so last but not
least what is the name of the
business you currently run there was
another business that I think your
partner was telling me about that
started off purely accidental with the
skateboards and then now it’s Burroughs
yes birdhouse so birdhouse is my skate
company that was the first company I
started 1992 it’s it’s been my passion
project ever since you know we’ve
definitely gone through ups and downs of
sales we’ve gone through many
incarnations of team but I feel like now
we’re in a sweet spot in terms of we
have one of the best teams around we
have a streamlined business you know we
we do it more like licensing and and I’m
still proud I mean 25 we’re at 26 years
now is ask a company that’s pretty
unheard of most skate companies have
they’re sort of the flavor of the month
or you know they have a good run for a
few years and then they’re gone so it’s
still fun and it keeps me grounded
because the the guys on the team they’re
awesome
they are they are entrenched in
skateboarding in the most hardcore way
and and I love spending time with them
that’s cool so who are some of the
current 20 Hawks you see who’s like the
next Tony Hawk some of the younger guys
coming up are there anybody have your
eyes on when you say this guy is gonna
be special um well I guess with the
Olympics coming up you know they’re
people are wanting to know the sort of
favorites there I can tell you there’s
this pool skater from Australia Keegan
Palmer who won the last event there and
he’s at least five years younger than
everyone else and he is going to be a
force to be reckoned with of the bat the
ball of it for sure how old is he right
now that’s a good question I want to say
15 maybe yeah I remember the first time
I got on a skateboard in Iran I was six
years old I fell so hard on my back I
said this ain’t for me
I put the skateboard aside the line in
the sand for people it’s the first time
they get ahead like that that’s it I’m
good you know I I was at the what is
that one place in Denver not Aspen not
veil over there now with its would it be
as well what’s a crowd you know there’s
it’s a real mark what was this name of
the place I was at in
Jennifer loves this place anyways we’re
over there and I’m trying to snow pour
it right snowboard and it’s just you
know no matter how many times we know
when I fall and and I still like the I
still like the part of it but it’s not
something that I can pick up so for me I
always respected guys who were skaters
because you were kind of like man you’re
doing something there’s no way in the
world I could do it myself but it’s it’s
great to see guys like you and I think
one of the things when I watch it from
an outside as a fan and I see you and I
see Shawn and then you watch both of you
just talking to Shawn the way he was
talking like you know it’s no big deal
it is amazing the love of the game the
two of you have for what you do it is
amazing to see a guy like you kinda like
tiger guy like Jordan guy like Kobe that
love of the game is so common for the
people that make it to the highest level
where it’s more than just the money part
where it’s more than just the fame part
where it’s more than it because once
that comes what do you do next
uh well it’s mostly with if that’s your
motivation and you get a taste of it
then you lose you lose the incentive to
keep going to get better and that was
never my motivation so to this day you
know I do something that I get paid
ridiculous amounts of money that I would
do for free till Thursday yeah anytime
that’s cool that’s cool well listen
what’s your handle by the way on Twitter
it’s just Tony Hawk or Tony Hawk look if
you watch this interview and you are
skater yourself or somebody that’s watch
this stuff and you’ve played this game
or whatever it is send them a tweet and
let them know what you got out of
today’s interviewees yeah Santa mattoon
let them know what you got at the
interview and by the way May 12th if you
watch this before after when it comes
out go watch the video what’s the title
that video gonna be about that’s a good
question I have to make it up right now
so it should be 50 at 50 50 at 50 Tony
Hawk I can’t wait to see it on mates
what brother thank you so much for exam
truth you
number one like that was such a jock
mentality and that’s what I was trying
to rail against in my experience of not
doing these other projects suddenly I
found myself other opportunities just
new connections
everybody why have you Burlando but I
really didn’t think that I’d be able to
do it I’ve been trying it for years you
know I’ve mostly just did it too for the
crowd certain industries we can say
sports there is a player or somebody who
comes in that’s gotta love it the game
that completely completely
revolutionizes that game one is Tiger
Woods there used to be Tom nobody looked
at golf and then a Middle Eastern guy
like me we don’t golf in Iran we start
watching golf because of Tiger Woods and
this man sitting next to me Tony Hawk
they used to be guys skateboard and
until this guy shows up and next thing
you know becomes a big game and now
millions on top of millions of people
worldwide follow the sport because this
revolutionary member of so much
attention to Tony Hawk well thank you
thank you so much so some of your stats
that I look at I think a hundred and
three competitions you were in 73 you
won 18 you were second place twelve
years in a row you were a champion in
this world I mean you’ve got the video
game Mario is bragging about the fact
that he can crack the code in the video
game and there’s no gravity 1.4 billion
dollars of sales with your video game
before we get into all this stuff that
you’re doing right now your venture
capital is an entrepreneur all these
other things how did this whole thing
get started initially when you Oliver
Sun started skating I was just skating
because my older brother’s into it and a
few my friends my neighborhood were
doing it and eventually I found my way
to the skate park and I think that was
my moment of realization when I saw I
literally saw people flying out of
swimming pools and it was like I want to
do that because I was a bit of a
daredevil as a kid and I was like
whatever it takes to do that that’s what
I’m gonna do and eventually I quit all
the other team sports I was playing in
and and just focused on skating and
luckily I was young enough that it
wasn’t that I like I was choosing your
career because there was no career to be
chosen at the time you couldn’t really
make a living at it but I was young
enough that I could do it as a hobby
and get away with it was anybody at that
time making money doing this no I mean a
very few like there were a few pro
skaters they were competing for $100
first place really yeah it wasn’t it
just wasn’t it was very ski boarding
exploded as a sort of novelty in the 70s
but it it was very difficult to make a
living at it and there was not
sustainable in terms of the growth oven
and the popularity and so for a kid like
me I just wanted to learn new tricks
that was it like my motivation was never
to make a living at it in fact the the
reality was once you got out of high
school or you reach the age of
responsibility you had to quit skating
you have to well you just
you’re not gonna make money hundred
dollars like you could do it as a hobby
once in a while but no one was you know
that was never the career path so you
have a video coming I by the way he’s
got a variant he just showed me some
clips on what he’s doing you’re about to
turn 50 by the way with happy early
birthday to you egg you and and and
you’ll hear what he did at 48 which is
sick what he’s doing at 48 he’s got this
video coming out with 50 tricks he did
here and then there’s an interesting
fall you just have to see it it’s gonna
come out when next few weeks mate off my
burn a talk okay very cool I read
somewhere that you got into skating at
nine years old meaning your brother gave
you the first skate about nine years old
from nine years old seven years later
you go pro at 14 I think yeah and then
at 16 you were considered a number one
skateboarder in the world at 16 years
old yeah it’s it sounds lofty but the
skating scene was so small do you know
what I mean it was it and for me it was
a big deal obviously but like for
instance to turn pro I had reached the
top of the amateur ranks then you know
there wasn’t a lot of competition I
reached the top of the air mature ranks
and then I went to enter the next
competition and a lot of my peers were
turning pro and and so the my sponsor
just said well what do you want to do
and so I’m filling out literally filling
out the entry form to the competition
and instead of the amateur box I checked
the pro box purely accidental no no I’m
just saying like that’s all it was there
wasn’t there was no celebration there’s
no contract on it do you know I mean it
was just more like okay now I’m moving
up a stage in competition and so it
wasn’t it just didn’t feel like such a
monumental thing and
go back to school the next week and I
was a ghost
you know skateboarding was far from
popular it was like the most uncool
thing you could do so all of those
elements kept me in check in terms of
you know I sure I’m number like I
eventually reached the top of the ranks
of the pro I was number one pro but I
was still this unknown dude in high
school now III also read that at 18
years old you started you started
getting some sponsorships you started
making some money yeah making really
decent money at age 17 okay got it
because there was something about you
were making more money than your
teachers yeah when you graduated you
bought a house I bought a house while I
was a senior in high school you bought a
house while this evening yeah how was
that that’s pretty big deal not a lot of
a lot of times nowadays you know people
make money in on it but at that time
there is no dropshipping or amazon
you’re making this with no internet yeah
well everything that I was making mostly
was on royalties of signature items so
my skateboards that was my main source
of income and prize money and my dad was
in the Navy and I mean he was retired
but you know he had a very good sense of
finances and stability and and he’s
thought like this is not gonna last you
know he immediately realized that like
this is probably short term you should
put your money away and he’s the one who
encouraged me to buy a house and he was
he was the first one to really be a
student that way in my life where cuz
all my friends you know we’re making six
figures at a time when we had no
appreciation for the value of money or
how long it will last
and you know we’re buying everything
like dropping thousands of dollars a
sharper image so is it fair to say like
at that time while you’re doing this the
party side the fund said you’re just
having a blast going through this
process or were you pretty good never
started the skating though okay so for
sure there were a lot of new elements
and distractions you know that came into
place and and you know we suddenly we
were not just we were beyond being
uncool suddenly we were sort of in
limelight and girls were finally paying
attention to us and things like that so
for sure all those things came into play
and you know owning a house at 17 your
house is always the party house your
parents are always gone so that was also
an element but but I never lost sight of
the fact that skating got me there and
people are relying on me to continue
skating or expecting me to keep
improving and and that’s all I ever
wanted to do and I did see a lot of my
friends get too distracted and lose
focus and you know kind of lose their
career because of it Tony were there
guys that were just as good as you at
the time maybe even a little bit better
who got lost focus and completely went a
different direction I think so I think I
think there were definitely some people
who had potential that you know that
lost sight of it and and skating no
longer was the priority the priority was
the party but that happens in all walks
of life not just skating we have a
nephew who was obsessed with soccer
everything to him is like he sleeps with
his ball at six seven years old the
guy’s amazing we were at a game last
week galaxies were on the field with
Slaton and he’s just he loved soccer
were you that nine-year-old kid that
slept with you like were you in love
like were you fully in love with this
game of skateboarding yeah well by the
time I was by the time I was ten years
old I knew that’s all I wanted to do and
I quit I quit Little League the year
that may my dad was appointed president
what a way to say that it was a
conversation yeah how do you have that
conversation at ten years old that’s
what’s really well he knew because he he
would actually have to forcibly pull me
from the park to go to practice and at
some point that happened so many times
it was like that I don’t I don’t want to
go play baseball you were dreading it
you just love this yeah I want to stay
here and skate and and I did tell him I
think I I think the the way that he
accepted that was when I told him I go
that every time I go to the skate park I
get better like I always learned
something new or I can learn a better
technique and I improve and when I go
play baseball I don’t feel like that
it’s good for him as a military guy
because you know military sometime it’s
a little bit you know is as strong as a
former Navy got to communicate and be
able to say go ahead and do it you know
it’s yeah well also I was the youngest
of four kids and my my siblings had
already moved out by then so
he just wanted anything to keep me busy
got it got it so by the way this is the
I’m assuming this is a very small tight
community because when we came in here
today Shaun White is doing a bunch of
stuff here and he’s just you know
walking around as if it’s not a big deal
and yeah you know you read stats that
the moment he won the gold medal it was
the second most viewed event in the
history of Olympics including summer and
he was the hundred gold medal for the US
which is a victim and it’s just you know
skateboarding here ripped socks just
relaxing is that like my rap is one of
the best for sure you know you get what
you pay for and a lot of a lot of the
top ramp skaters this is their go-to
place to practice what makes a ramp
great well really how smooth it is and
how sturdy it is and and that seems
simple but we were building ramps out of
wood scraps for so long just to make a
structure that kind of resembled a pool
that nothing was true nothing was
perfect you know everything had a lot of
flaws in it and when I set out to have
this ramp built this ramp was supposed
to tour arenas who like who made it is
there a God that makes it as specialized
this was kind of an experiment that the
before the people made this one there
was no true permanent ramp setup I mean
there was no true portable ramp setup
because all of the ramps were they’re so
clunky and the best ramps took a whole
day to get up they’re good but they just
weren’t efficient and when we set out to
build this one I put it to a staging
company that does concert venue stuff
for like ac/dc and kiss and you know
Britney Spears at the time and and they
put up big stage productions that go up
and down fast
and so I said well this is the
dimensions this is a design you guys
figure it out so let me ask you as far
as something like this goes if I wanted
to build something like this what would
it run me this ramp right here was about
six hundred thousand six hundred
thousand to build something like this
and for somebody like you Tony I’m
assuming I’m just assuming it correct me
if it’s wrong for somebody to be a
12-time champion and you’ve done all
these radical types of stunts in your
career do you feel the slightest edge
that’s off if you’ve gone a different
ramp you feel
yes you you know yeah I don’t like this
part this is it’s no you don’t like it
you just have to adapt to it got it
every ramps different from the most part
I mean they’ve gotten more they’ve
gotten more of a standard especially
with x-games and you know and and other
events like there’s there’s basically a
radius that works best and there’s a you
know amount of flat and everything and
if it’s built well it’ll feel very
similar to this the only thing that
varies is the surface but there’s still
you know there’s still back yard ramps
there’s still ramps that are totally
different sizes I used to be much more
able to adapt to those things because I
skated pools and all the pools were very
different and rough and now because I
skate this the irony of skating
something like this so that’s so perfect
it it messes you up for everything else
got it so you have to go back to a pool
or anything yeah you know or any like
pretty much any other ramp is for me I
have a I have a bit of a hard time
warming up let’s put it that way
elsewhere yeah but I used to be much
more a diverse because I had to skate
the worst stuff so that was an edge so I
mean if you come it was an edge yeah
that’s that it wasn’t advantage yeah
which is which is a weird thing to say
so let me ask you there was a period in
your world where almost like you know
how baseball goes through strike you
know something’s going you guys also had
a strike at one not necessarily strike
but there was like a flat time right
where some guys weren’t making money
yeah I think you even at one point you
said you couldn’t even afford to go have
$5 was it you had a $5 at Taco Bell you
know and a lot of your peers that didn’t
make the right decisions they left
because it was challenged in times and
then it seemed like all of a sudden it
came back up was there a single event
that spiked it back up where became so
relevant yeah I wouldn’t say that it was
very sudden but definitely the early 90s
the the wave of 80s skate popularity it
was dying off mostly because there were
no facilities all the skate parks were
shutting down because they couldn’t
afford liability insurance and so there
just weren’t that many places to go the
you know the the the general attitude
towards skating was that it was already
sort of rebellious and outcasts and you
know maybe not a positive influence for
kids so there were a lot of things
working against it so in the in the
early 90s everything kind of went
underground and that’s when Street
skating really came into play because
there was nowhere to go so people took
to the streets and and the urban
landscape became the skatepark and
that’s how people learn how to skate
ledges and rails and jumping down stairs
and and all that and then there was sort
of this revolution of technique and and
tricks that was happening and so when
the first X Games came around in 1995
skating had sort of been through this
this transition and then there was a
whole new type of skating happening and
kids flocked to it they loved it you
know they loved the irreverent attitudes
they loved the risk factor they loved
the excitement and I think that was the
turning point for sure was like was
exeument wasn’t there time like almost
like X Games stop because they didn’t
know if it was gonna continue similar to
UFC I don’t know I don’t know I know the
internal conversations I know that
through the first three or four years it
was it was gaining traction and then
sort of in the late like late 90s early
2000s as when they really hit their
stride and then they started doing
multiple events mmm then they were doing
like X trials and and international X
Games and then and they kind of went I
think they kind of spread themselves too
thin after that I cuz I remember I’d
watch X Games I’m like you know what I
don’t know if this is gonna be around or
not and then you see it again and again
and again boom comes the event
what is it June 20 there was a time
where they did they did four in one year
and then that got to be like okay
they’re too much yeah how many is it
right later on though that was later on
now it’s now it’s two a year I think
winter winter in summer yeah got it
so so let’s talk about june 27 1999
everybody or i can i don’t know about
everybody around the world myself I’m
not even a skater I remembered that day
when you were doing your deal and then
all of a sudden you landed and it was
like you know everybody wanted you to
land this walk us through the first time
you know that 900 was done on live
television Wow well the I think I’d have
to go back to sort of the quest for the
900 I learned seven 20s which is a
double spin in 1985 and it was always in
you know in my head like well the next
obvious rotation is a 900
and I didn’t actually get the guts to
try it and until about 85 probably
almost 10 years later is when I really
started to spin it and realize that I
could gain enough speed and get the spin
fast enough to get around and I tried
for years I tried to do it I would like
set certain days and have people shoot
video of it you know I like it’s get a
photographer today’s the day I’m going
to do it let’s take photos and then I
would like the closest I ever got I came
down the wall and then I ran to the flat
bottom and broke my rib my quest for it
was you know almost 10 years in at that
point so wait a minute before June 27 99
you’ve never landed it I never landed oh
so you’ve never landed it off camera no
no so the first time you ever landed
yeah what’s that yeah Wow that makes it
even more special my first real attempt
at it was 1989 and I ended up on my back
on the flat bottom and thought maybe I
should wait on this 89 is that the same
time as a guy named Danny there was a
story about a guy that Danny Way Danny
yeah that he apparently did but he
didn’t he he was the first one to really
show as possible for sure he was the
first one that showed was passed yeah
because he he got all the way around in
the air he did the spin and he actually
landed back on the wall and now I mean
that is a monumental moment to me in
skateboarding because it was like Oh
Danny shows that it is possible and for
sure like I took that I took inspiration
from that and the boys Danny part of
your community was Danny like a guy that
you get local one of the most innovative
skaters today I mean for sure he’s the
guy that started the whole mega ramp
movement you know those big big ramps
that they have the x-games he’s the guy
that that was the first to really make
that happen
so Tony you’ll land it but it would walk
me through like when you landed it’s 900
so well okay so so fast-forward to that
night they’re having a Best Trick event
and they had held best-trick events in
the past at different events and usually
just ends up people trying their hardest
stuff and mostly people falling all the
time and I had a little more strategy
where I was like I know that I have done
these couple of tricks so at least I’m
gonna get those in the you know get
those in the bank and then I’ll have a
trick to go off of like for whatever
they’re judging
and I did I did two of them and I got
him pretty early and then I tried my
what was gonna be my harder trick which
was a varial 720 which is like a 720 and
turning the board an extra half to her
and that was gonna be my big trick and I
landed that one early on so I still had
time left and for me the next trick and
my sort of wish list is a 900 but I
really didn’t think that I’d be able to
do it I’ve been trying it for years you
know so I’ve mostly just did it to for
the crowd did anybody say Tony let’s try
to 900 now sir I think said something
like what about 900 you know and I was
like alright I’ll do it for the crowd it
you know just to show them like this is
what I would love to do and I started I
tried a couple and something clicked in
those first few where I was spotting my
landing every time and that rarely
happened usually it was like one spin
was really good and one just was
flailing and eventually I would get hurt
that’s how it would always go so this
night it was like every spin was pretty
consistent so I started putting it on
the wall and the first couple times I
put it on the wall I fell forward the
way that I did when I broke my rib but
not as bad and then I realized that in
the middle of the spin if I shift my
weight to my back foot I’ll remedy that
fall forward and it started working I
basically at that moment like the time
for the event had run out and I knew
that I was either gonna make it or get
taken away in an ambulance you met you
made that distinction that this is right
there it wasn’t even like a conscious
thought I just I just knew that I was
gonna see it through or get taken out
doing it you what you you hit it you’re
for time I was at the for time or the
fifth time when you hit it no I think it
was it was further it was it was closer
to like 12 tries or so which which is
standard I mean even even now like if I
set out to do it you know and I’ve done
it a few times since then
it takes me a good at least eight or
nine tries to get start getting it again
you tweeted when you turn 48 you said I
just landed at 9-under yeah yeah that
one like I said every once in a while I
get the bug and I’ll start spinning it
again and I had started doing that I
actually started tried it at an event
not long before that and thought oh
maybe I could
do it again and then I waited until the
anniversary date June 27th so I waited
until that day and set out to do it here
on this room here here yeah got it and
that was 2016 right I think was like a
yeah 17 year anniversary when you hit
that mathematically you know what is
what is the bigger mathematical you know
complexity of hitting a nine hundred
what makes it so complicated to a
tonight um it’s not it’s more physics
than math it’s more when you spin two
and a half times you are blind to your
landing zone twice and that is is the
most that’s the most disorienting thing
the fact that you have two blind spots
yeah twice blind to the ramp is so
disorienting that by the time you come
around you really don’t know where you
are and at some point if you’ve been
practicing enough you just start to
understand where you’re gonna be by the
speed of your spin and by the height you
got and that’s what I’ve gotten to at
this point in my life where I know the
exact amount of speed I need and the
exact amount of torque I need to start
spinning and if that doesn’t happen even
though I’m spinning and I’m blind I know
kind of how I’m gonna fall and that that
is something that you only learn through
the worst experiences what’s in very a
twelve year I think only four people
have hit the nine hundred since that
time now I mean now there are there are
young kids that grew up and they skate
ramps and at you know before age ten
they’ve done it so I’d say it’s closer
to probably fifteen maybe fifteen that
I’ve hit there yeah so even though you
know it’s funny because it’s not it’s
not such a monumental marker now I mean
it’s it’s still a big deal for sure but
a a couple guys have done ten eighties
the Tom shark it is a Tom char and
Mitchie Brusco so what’s the limit on
this like what do you think the limits
gonna be on how because the the Tom Tom
char when he hit that obviously his ramp
is in this this it’s he came with a much
more speed right right coming down so is
is a big part of how much more we
continue with 1080
and then what’s gonna be after that it’s
gonna be a 1260 and then whatever it’s
it purely gonna be a mathematics we’re
how much the speeds gonna be going into
it I mean is there a limit you don’t
think I don’t think that it’s it’s not
just a matter of math it’s a matter of
risk and skill and you know to spin past
10 80 is gonna require big height which
is tenfold risk factor and faster
spinning and and you know body dynamics
and there’s all kinds of issues with
that but I think that um to answer your
question yes the bigger ramps will can
help because it gives you that more
airtime and people like to say like well
that’s cheating I’m telling you if
you’re facing a 30-foot ramp there’s no
cheating about that a 30-foot range well
that’s I mean that the the ramp that Tom
shard did a 1080 on is 28 feet tall
twice it’s twice this this is 13 and a
half this is 13 F yeah so when you’re
coming up a 28 foot wall that means you
have to go double the amount of speed
you’re going on this thing do you know I
mean there’s there’s no cheating element
to that but eliminating and it’s
dangerous I mean look we were just
standing here and Sean fell one time
Sean what he fell one time there Mario
Mikey it sounds like you are like you
just broke your knee right right so when
you watch it from the outside and you
see these Falls what matter back what’s
the worst injury you’ve had worse
accident you were show me something
right here and to you was like yeah it’s
not a big deal I almost hit that point
where Jackson was broken pelvis that
happened when I was in my late 30s and
it actually taught me a lot about about
sort of my priorities and what I take
for granted and how much I love skating
that I would push through such a
traumatic injury to get back on my
skateboard you know what it’s not
because it’s not because I want to get
paid again it was just more guys I love
skating and it’s such my identity at
this point and I couldn’t do without it
and it was really hard it was like it
was a long one of the hardest years of
my life was really a ting you know what
I love doing and sort of making
compromises with it in terms of what I
could do and getting my confidence back
how many times have you broken a bone
like if you have you count is there I’ve
been pretty like I do a more minor more
like sprains and ligament stuff like
that and I’ve had a couple knee
surgeries but actual broken bones was my
pelvis my elbow and my rib
how do you come back from that I mean
how do you come back from that when you
have an injury like that and you know
your walk me is it’s like when Sugar Ray
Leonard got lost to nomas and and he
talked about for three years I just kind
of wanted to be away from the limelight
because I don’t want to come back how do
you make that come back it wasn’t it
wasn’t the lid I wasn’t about the lino
it was just about me wanting to get back
on my skateboard and and how did I come
back it took a while you know it took it
took a while to because suddenly the
thing that I was doing when I got hurt
was not something that was foreign to me
or there was necessarily that hard and
so it made me question everything I took
for granted at that point and tricks
that I knew that I could do it on any
given day and so I would be doing tricks
thinking like wait am I is this really
safe am i capable of this you start to
question everything and it took me about
a year to get not only my tricks back
but my sense of confidence back kind of
being hesitant a little bit yeah yeah
and and I should be you know you can’t
get hurt doing this ya know the world
you’re in you definitely can’t get hurt
doing what you’re doing so how does how
does one so for instance everybody says
oh my gosh you’re Tony Hawk oh my gosh
you’re the greatest oh my gosh you’re
changed the game you’re the Michael
Jordan back in the days used to compare
you to Michael John you and I were
talking about it earlier I asked about
Tiger Woods you know the Michael Jordan
of skateboarding you’re hearing all this
stuff what are you telling yourself when
someone’s giving you the compliment for
you don’t stay level-headed and not be
too cocky to forget the basic
fundamentals of crossing the line that
it can hurt yourself uh what’s your
self-talk to yourself
um I just I never really bought into the
hype I mean I was excited that people
recognize me and and and I was honored
that they would compare me to someone of
that stature but I I always felt like
skateboarding as much as an art form as
as a sport and it’s apples to oranges
when you’re comparing skill levels it’s
not like who can score the most or who’s
the fastest it’s way more about
subjective style
and so I couldn’t really take that to
heart you know what I mean I never I
never got into skateboarding to be
number one like that was such a jock
mentality and that’s what I was trying
to rail against when I left when I left
basketball in baseball
maybe that’s why you did so well maybe
that’s why you took it too I also I mean
and also I I had enough experience with
people who were full of themselves and
people had looked up to that to know
that like I’m I don’t want to go down
that path and you see the level of
creativity with you now I mean you’re at
this point for you it’s it’s just purely
trying to test what else is possible I
saw you do a couple projects one of them
was what was that one thing that you did
with Sony you came up and then the
spiral was sick by the way I think and
you did a loop you know and there’s all
these other things and then you did the
hoverboard stuff what’s what’s next like
what is the next innovative thing that
we’re going to see like all the things
we just sort of wild ideas that that’s
pretty cool watching what to do with the
loop that was sick yeah I mean I but
also always thought like well we’ve done
the loop you know why not just turn that
sideways and then we presented that to
Sony and they agreed to fund and that’s
kind of how it went I don’t really have
any big you know I was working I was
working on this video of documenting 50
tricks that I’ve created for so long
that I just now have finished it that
I’m so you just want to try to process
that yeah and I felt like there was some
closure there I mean a lot of the tricks
I did in that video those that would be
the last time I do them for sure so it
when did when did a Tony Hawk your your
game come out when that when did that
game come out 1999 so the year you
didn’t nine hundred yeah how much long
how much afterwards it was not long
after that we had been working on it for
almost two years prior to that there’s a
misconception where people think like I
made nine hundred then I got a video
game deal then everything exploded it
was like no those things were very much
in the world I had been working very
hard on the video game for two years
prior to that day I mean yes there was a
there was definitely a perfect storm of
time yeah absolutely and I felt very
lucky in that and mostly the I guess the
funny thing is is that that year of
competition
I already kind of knew was gonna be my
last because I wanted to free up my
schedule to do other things and then
doing 900 was sort of a you know good
out was the icing on the cake but I’d
never thought of that as being this big
promotion for a video game so was purely
I never I never put those two things
together and the only thing that I
remember that come well I remember right
after that I called never saw to his
making the video and because I knew we
were in the last stages of it I mean it
was about to be submitted to Sony to be
approved and I said hey you know I don’t
know if you guys have time to do this
but you might want to throw a 900 in
there as a special trick after you did
it or before after I did it after you
did it yeah got it
but we were so close to the deadline
there I didn’t know if they had time and
I remember I remember getting an email
back immediately like we’re already on
it it’s happening so I do it now June 27
one day the video game come on it I want
to say it was August or September
there’s no way in the world that can
make a game that quickly in two months
and that’s time yeah they’re working on
four years it’s it’s to be able to do
something like that so that led you and
and and I know you were talking
something about the skateboarding
earlier you said there’s not enough of
these out there so is that what inspired
you to start your foundation where you
put up now what five hundred and fifty
six different skateboarding and you’ve
raised five point two million dollars
whatever the number is a little over
five million is that where the
inspiration came from yeah the
inspiration I mean it came mostly from
having been lucky enough to have a skate
park near me when I was growing up and
it was one of only a handful across the
country so I that was never lost on me
how lucky I was to have that that space
and had that community and and I mean it
really it defined who I was as a skater
and having this really interesting
collection of people that would be there
at skating bouncing ideas off each other
so when I had a chance to when I had a
chance to maybe effect change however I
could and and through skateboarding my
go-to was to build skate parks and that
came at a time when some parts are being
built
and they were being built by cities that
were more affluent and were not we’re
not contacting the local skaters
to have their involvement so these these
cities would put up money they would go
to the lowest bidding sidewalk
contractor and they would make a
skatepark that they thought was good
that was almost unscalable and and and I
saw that cycle happening time and time
again because they just weren’t they
weren’t designed by skaters this is pre
you starting your foundations got it and
so my my incentive for starting the
foundation in 2002 was to turn that tide
of having these facilities be built but
to include the actual skaters in the
process of the ones they’re catering to
the one they’re providing for but also
to direct that money to more needy areas
because I felt like the kids in the area
is more influenced they did have other
options and a lot of these kids and that
felt more disenfranchised but chose
skating had no support for it and if
anything were told not to do it because
got it they thought it was had some
negative connotation so what places have
you build them what what are some cities
you put you know you can find we’re up
to 580 parks right now but I mean you
know in places like as iconic as Compton
and Long Beach and watts and East st.
Louis Detroit oh so you go into the real
places where you putting them up you’re
not putting this up in you know in
suburbs and the upper-class you you put
them up in places no we want it to go to
the board low-income areas where kids
choose to skate and having to support it
and what have you seen since ever since
you’ve been doing that what’s been
what’s been happening so we see well we
try to empower the groups that have
already got the ball rolling themselves
so we want it we want to help them give
them resources give them endorsement
validation for their park and that
usually goes a long way and we give them
money to of course but what we found is
that the sense of pride and the sense of
empowerment and the kids get when they
see a project through and they’ve
actually run through all the red tape
and they’ve gone to the City Council
meetings and they see it actually
happened that they can affect change
there’s a sense of of self that comes
with that that I feel like a lot of them
would have never found otherwise so so
what
but what are you seeing right now
happening with your industry what’s next
with your world
what do you foreseen taking place what
level of innovation is gonna come next
as a whole industry I think what skating
is always innovative it always continues
to break new boundaries you know new
tricks new techniques new styles so I
never worry about that because that’s
that’s been a common thread through my
whole life
I think what I’m more interested in is
the international growth of
skateboarding and the places I’ve seen
it grow that are very unlikely places
that most people would not associate
with skating in light for example
there’s a strong skating scene in
Ethiopia there is there are two skate
park projects that involve education in
Cambodia there’s a skate park in a
village in Uganda these are Tony Hawk
foundation or no but some some we have
helped in terms of either giving them
resources or funding the group that is
actually the one that did the park
skater stand one is one in particular
that their work is incredible they have
they have a whole skate facility in
Afghanistan in Kabul that thrives that’s
amazing that has you know they’re always
full they have equal ratio of boys to
girls participating and so that kind of
stuff is what excites me seeing
skateboarding grow in these places that
I never imagined anyone would even yep
see a skateboard it’s it’s kind of like
what happened with the NBA when yam Inc
came in and how Colby and the dream team
and you know China and how big they were
seen and then Kobe became God to the
people in China and then MBA became an
international thing and obviously it
went to whole different level now the
transition from you being a you know
skateboarder to somebody that goes and
becomes an entrepreneur how did that
transition take place for you well I
think it all stems from having the video
game success because suddenly I found
myself with all these different
opportunities that were far beyond the
scope of endemic skate companies and it
became more of a more like corporate
endorsements and suddenly I was in this
world that had not been traveled from a
skateboarding perspective
then suddenly I it’s like I had to be
incorporated and then I found myself
looking at various business
opportunities of things that I could
actually create because it was like for
example my siblings and I we all had
young children at the time and we could
not find cool clothes for him we just
you know everything for kids in the
early 90s was like dressing them up as
little soldiers or like oh gosh my gosh
like they were little dolls and it and
we wanted you know and the kids were
kind of into skateboarding and stuff
they wanted to look the part and so we
decided to start a clothing company
based on skate culture for kids Hawk
clothing it was with things like that
that was like that it was how I became
an entrepreneur was was through those
sort of avenues and then with this ramp
this ramp was the catalyst for starting
a whole arena tour
boom boom Hawk Jim talk about that talk
about a you know what would this led
into cassano you got it you got another
thing there you also what’s the other
business that you have going on right
now I’m not talking to one you invested
into a was it called blue coffee Bao
Blue Bottle coffee that I think Nestle
bought 68 years before like 500 million
yeah and you were one of the investors
all that yeah what what else things like
that I you know I think I’m through my
through my experience as an opportunity
I found myself with other opportunities
just through connections and that was
just through a friend in San Francisco
who-who found out I was a fan of Blue
Bottle and because I mentioned it to him
one time and he said hey you know I’m
actually part of a group that’s going to
buy Blue Bottle and so I got in at the
early stages of that and then you know
when Nestle came in
I got cashed out and it was amazing but
um it’s more things like that where if
it sounds interesting and you know I’m
I’m I’m one that is prone to take risks
through my eyes life through skating and
so I do the same with with doing
business stuff is there is there a
process you go through on who you invest
in do you have like certain it’s just
more if it’s intuition if it feels right
if it’s something I’m excited about that
I’m in got it very cool so last but not
least what is the name of the
business you currently run there was
another business that I think your
partner was telling me about that
started off purely accidental with the
skateboards and then now it’s Burroughs
yes birdhouse so birdhouse is my skate
company that was the first company I
started 1992 it’s it’s been my passion
project ever since you know we’ve
definitely gone through ups and downs of
sales we’ve gone through many
incarnations of team but I feel like now
we’re in a sweet spot in terms of we
have one of the best teams around we
have a streamlined business you know we
we do it more like licensing and and I’m
still proud I mean 25 we’re at 26 years
now is ask a company that’s pretty
unheard of most skate companies have
they’re sort of the flavor of the month
or you know they have a good run for a
few years and then they’re gone so it’s
still fun and it keeps me grounded
because the the guys on the team they’re
awesome
they are they are entrenched in
skateboarding in the most hardcore way
and and I love spending time with them
that’s cool so who are some of the
current 20 Hawks you see who’s like the
next Tony Hawk some of the younger guys
coming up are there anybody have your
eyes on when you say this guy is gonna
be special um well I guess with the
Olympics coming up you know they’re
people are wanting to know the sort of
favorites there I can tell you there’s
this pool skater from Australia Keegan
Palmer who won the last event there and
he’s at least five years younger than
everyone else and he is going to be a
force to be reckoned with of the bat the
ball of it for sure how old is he right
now that’s a good question I want to say
15 maybe yeah I remember the first time
I got on a skateboard in Iran I was six
years old I fell so hard on my back I
said this ain’t for me
I put the skateboard aside the line in
the sand for people it’s the first time
they get ahead like that that’s it I’m
good you know I I was at the what is
that one place in Denver not Aspen not
veil over there now with its would it be
as well what’s a crowd you know there’s
it’s a real mark what was this name of
the place I was at in
Jennifer loves this place anyways we’re
over there and I’m trying to snow pour
it right snowboard and it’s just you
know no matter how many times we know
when I fall and and I still like the I
still like the part of it but it’s not
something that I can pick up so for me I
always respected guys who were skaters
because you were kind of like man you’re
doing something there’s no way in the
world I could do it myself but it’s it’s
great to see guys like you and I think
one of the things when I watch it from
an outside as a fan and I see you and I
see Shawn and then you watch both of you
just talking to Shawn the way he was
talking like you know it’s no big deal
it is amazing the love of the game the
two of you have for what you do it is
amazing to see a guy like you kinda like
tiger guy like Jordan guy like Kobe that
love of the game is so common for the
people that make it to the highest level
where it’s more than just the money part
where it’s more than just the fame part
where it’s more than it because once
that comes what do you do next
uh well it’s mostly with if that’s your
motivation and you get a taste of it
then you lose you lose the incentive to
keep going to get better and that was
never my motivation so to this day you
know I do something that I get paid
ridiculous amounts of money that I would
do for free till Thursday yeah anytime
that’s cool that’s cool well listen
what’s your handle by the way on Twitter
it’s just Tony Hawk or Tony Hawk look if
you watch this interview and you are
skater yourself or somebody that’s watch
this stuff and you’ve played this game
or whatever it is send them a tweet and
let them know what you got out of
today’s interviewees yeah Santa mattoon
let them know what you got at the
interview and by the way May 12th if you
watch this before after when it comes
out go watch the video what’s the title
that video gonna be about that’s a good
question I have to make it up right now
so it should be 50 at 50 50 at 50 Tony
Hawk I can’t wait to see it on mates
what brother thank you so much for exam
truth you
Please follow and like us: