Back in 2008, my friend Trevor and I decided to start a skateboard company.

This deck was an homage to Japanese graphic design Awazu Kiyoshi when he passed away in 2009.

We called it Open Skateboards.

We made a bunch of decks and had a super-talented team that included now-pro Jason Park.

We lost so much money.

I started skateboarding when I was 14 years old.

I always wanted to have my own pro model, but I was never particularly good at skateboarding.

(Plus I basically break my arm every time I step on a skateboard.)

But when you own your own skateboard company, you can do whatever you want.

We also made really great skateboards to benefit Japan’s Red Cross after the Fukushima incident and made a ton of money for that organization.

I got two pro models out of the deal.