There’s something brewing in Texas, and we all know it. With the recent announcement from Elon Musk, which happens to be only a couple months behind a similar announcement from Joe Rogan, stating he is moving to Texas and possibly bringing TESLA with him. Similarly, Joe Rogan recently bought a house and built a studio in Austin, Texas. Maybe Elon is ready for some great Texas barbecue, or maybe he’s just plum sick of the politics in California, or maybe both. Regardless, his bags are packed and he’s on his way to the Lone Star state. Side note – Oracle, HP and at least 35 other tech companies are on their way too.
At 268,601 square miles, Texas is the largest state in the contiguous United States and is the second biggest state in the U.S. (only Alaska is bigger). Texas is larger than many nations of the world, including every country in Europe. If it were a country, it would be the 40th largest country in the world, after Chile and Zambia. Texas is not only large, it’s roomy, and is also known for countless saying’s – y’all know what I mean? For example, the term “maverick” is derived from the name Samuel A. Maverick (1803-1870), an early Texas lawyer and pioneer. I think you would probably agree with me there’s little doubt both Elon and Joe are clearly mavericks – which means they’ll fit right in while homesteading in the great state of Texas.
What you might not know (until now) is there is a little company that just launched in Texas that aims at taking on Amazon – yes, you heard that correctly. And guess what, it has the name to do it – Everest. Jeff Bezos started with books and Bill Voss, the founder of Everest, is starting with outdoor recreation gear. Much like Samuel A. Maverick, Voss is both a lawyer and a pioneer. He had enough with West Coast domination and decided to take on one of the largest and most powerful companies on the planet. He states, “There’s no place better than Texas to dig in your heels and compete. Everest has a long way to go, but certainly has the wind at its back. The support to get Everest into the public is here and things are getting fun real fast.”
Everest (everest.com) has many similarities with Amazon. At it’s core, Everest is a customer centric, community driven, multi-merchant marketplace. Since their launch in April they have garnered tremendous attention. One example of their growing popularity is the fact that over 1,000 sellers have lined up to open storefronts in the Everest marketplace. Moreover, Everest offers consumers a Prime-type membership called Caliber. Caliber members get huge discounts, free shipping, early notice of close out deals, access to Everest’s streaming service called CaliberVideo, and more!
With a tagline of What’s Your Everest you can imagine the possibilities. Voss commented, “There’s nothing more aspirational than climbing Everest. We know our consumers all have their own Everest – and we are here to help them achieve it.”
Musk, 49, speaking during The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council annual summit, told the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Matt Murray, that making the move east made sense. Tesla is in the process of building a new factory in Austin, Texas, and used a sports analogy to hint that California had become too complacent with his company.
“If a team has been winning for too long, they do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled and then they don’t win the championship anymore.” California, Musk added, “has been winning for a long time,” Musk told the newspaper. “And I think they’re taking them for granted a little bit.”
So, what’s exactly happening in Texas? Texas was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845. When it was annexed in 1845, it retained the right to fly its flag at the same height as the national flag. Maybe Musk, Rogan, and Voss know something we don’t? Maybe there’s a chance Texas moves for independence? If they did, they would control the fourth largest economy in the world – and that’s before Elon, Joe, Oracle, and HP moved to town! Add Everest’s potential to the bottom line and things could certainly get interesting!
Davy Crockett – who Bill Voss is actually related to – died at the Alamo, and once told his Tennessee peers in Congress, “Ya’ll can go to hell. I am going to Texas.” It seems Musk and Rogan have told California the same…and good for them. All eyes are on Texas and things are shaping up nicely – stay tuned for more.
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