2.26.2010
Spotlight on Joseph Schwartz
Many have wondered how ClimbTech continues to innovate at the rate that it does – a small operation competing with mammoth corporations with 100X the resources. While the team jokes that founder Karl Guthrie comes up with his ideas in the shower, or possibly on his way up a mountain, the job of taking vision to reality lies squarely on the workbench of Joseph Schwartz.
Joseph is not your average product development expert. A self-taught engineer, Joseph’s background comes from an upbringing among mathematicians, engineers and inventors. Spending his youth learning the inner workings of televisions, appliances, cars and motorcycles and figuring out unusual ways of improving them, he has an innate talent for taking something common and making it better.
Like a harness quick-release mechanism, for example. A year ago, Karl and Joseph discussed the idea of creating equipment that could allow a worker to escape his fall protection system – while still adhering to OSHA’s 100% tie-off criteria. Joseph took this concept all the way to production, working with manufacturing partners to produce the best, most cost-effective harness quick-release possible. After seven painstaking iterations, the final product will be publically available this summer.
When Joseph speaks of iterations, he is not referring to minor adjustments. An avid rock climber, master bodyworker and all-around athlete (including masters swimming, yoga, circular strength training and ju-jitsu), Joseph takes his inspiration from various fields, spending countless hours in his “shop,” an impressive facility that’s away from Austin’s distractions, tucked into the Texas hill country. Using often-counterintuitive materials and constructions, Joseph relentlessly tests his products until he is not only sure they’ll conform to the required third party safety regulations; he also ensures that they are as safe – and cost-effective – as they can possibly be.
While many wonder how the boutique ClimbTech keeps out-innovating everyone else in the space, Joseph says his company’s size is part of what works. “Being nimble, we can discover a need and immediately jump in to answer it,” he explains. The proof? Schwartz is now growing ClimbTech’s impressive arsenal of patents every single month.
