Curtis Matsko

CEO @ Portland Leather Goods ---- $150,000,000 per year Owner... A 9-Figure Founder Building a 10-Figure Exit... Or maybe I will just keep it!

A serial entrepreneur, digital marketing expert, and a wandering, over-caffienated storyteller— I am: Unflinchingly optimistic, unjustifiably confident, and biologically hyper-focused and if you can't recognize the energy level you are stoned. I’m an eclectic mix of insight, creativity, and humor.

I approach everything in ways that are eccentrically unique. 

My life reads like a dime novel, filled with quick changing scenes and outlandish characters. 

One winter, I spent time in a Zen Monastery, trying to make eight Buddhist monks laugh while I meditated and read Calvin and Hobbes. I have spoken to thousands about business success, lost millions in the Dot-com crash of 2000 - 2001, and even launched a Dueling Piano Bar… in Salt Lake City!

Once, on a friendly challenge, I took a scrap of leather, designed a journal, and propelled it into a $100,000,000 a year brand, which was named one of the Top 10 fastest growing Apparel and Accessories digital companies.

What’s next? Let’s find out…

Chief Executive Officer

As DJ Khaled said... "Another One"!
Retail: Grand Opening in Denver, Today.

Lines. People. Community.

And so much leather.

Portland Leather.

Thank you everyone for being a bunch of wonderful weirdos that love this brand.

Curtis Matsko is a serial entrepreneur, digital marketing expert, and riveting story teller—an eclectic mix of insight, creativity, and humor.

Unflinchingly optimistic, unjustifiably confident, biologically hyper-focused and brimming with energy, Curtis approaches everything in ways that can only be described as eccentrically unique.
Curtis’ life reads like a dime novel with quick changing scenes and outlandish characters. One winter he spent in a Zen Monastery trying to make eight Buddhist monks laugh while meditating and reading Calvin and Hobbes. He has spoken to thousands of people on business success, lost millions in the Dot-com crash of 2000 - 2001 and launched a Dueling Piano Bar… in Salt Lake City! 

On a friendly challenge, he took a scrap of leather, designed a journal, and propelled it into a $100,000,000 a year brand which was named a Top10 fastest growing Apparel and Accessories digital companies.

In 2022, he launched Patina.com, a shoe and accessory company, paced to do $10,000,000 in its first year.

Currently Curtis has started and heads The Ranch Project, helping the Northwest’s farmers and ranchers keeping Oregon cowhides, a natural byproduct, out of the landfills and financially helping small, more environmentally friendly agriculture producers.

CEO/Founder @ Portland Leather Goods -$150,000,000 a year Owner... A 9-Figure Founder Building a 10-Figure Exit... Or maybe I will just keep it!

Next year is going to be our Biggest Year Ever....
Not just $$$, but expansion into new areas.

Here are 10 areas I am EXPANDING in 2026... seriously!

1. Footwear. $4M next year and $18M in 2027

2. Live Shopping: Not just in the US but looking into selling wordwide

3. 10 New Retail stores and hiring a specific expert for Retail Marketing

4. Amazon Expansion...3X 2025 AND we are making Amazon only products

5. Retail Specific Products... Unique, limited and Hot Sellers

6. 4X mens product line

7. Non-Leather Goods! What!!!!????!!!??? Yep, they are coming.

8. Deluxe Leather Goods... Higher end, Higher AOV

9. HUGE BAGS... Oversized does not even begin to describe them

10. Publishing? Yep, my plan is to release my new book in 2026

Boom

Love ya

Comment cause you are amazing

50 years ago I was Broke living in my Parents Basement...
Now I have a $500,000,000 business...

Well, we have done half a billion in sales recently and we are growing and I HOPE YOUR BUSINESS IS GROWING ALSO.

It is Friday, and next week is supposed to be the big week with Thanks, Black, Small, Sunday, Cyber all pushed together for 5 amazing days.

But we have planned for this for a year so I have no worries.

I think about next year.

AI Search
Tiktok
Live Selling
Retail Expansion
Personal branding for Curtis and Mariana
Getting in Shape
Staying in Shape
Big partys with friends from around the world
Speaking Gigs
Finishing me book

Meeting new people like you.

We can all do this! You can do this!

It is not about next week but it is about next year and the next and the next.

Relax

Kick-ass and smile

Love You so comment

Would you like to Partner up and Scale like crazy?
I have started to Buy, Invest in and Partner with Companies.

I know, I mentioned this 6 months ago.
But this week we are making offers on the first two companies.

Minority, 40% goes to me and the best CMO in the business, MacCoy Merkley.
They keep majority... but this is NOT just a financial investment.

What we bring to the table... US.
With these two we have already consulted with them for months and helped them understand who they are and where the can go.

Oh, and one we doubled their sales with higher pofit!

The other we 5X'd!

But most importantly, they are awesome people. How do I know I want to work with them?

I always smile and answer the phone when they call. 
They are good people and make my life better!

I am not good a some aspects of this yet. But once we get rolling, I am mighty optimistic.

We said no to 80 people in choosing these two.

Comment: Sound exciting? Reach out!

PS... this is not about just giving money and hoping. Just need money, go somewhere else. need to build something special... well, now we are talking.

A dozen people are on my roof... I am on Linkedin
Balloon festival, amazing, but I am here...

because how else can I get endless emails trying to sell me something?

People saying they love my resume and they can help me make some cash?
I have never had a job, let alone a resume.

Maybe work at Amazon over the holidays.

OK, I am going to the roof. 

There is life outside of this Linkedin thing.

Wish me luck.

Comment: Should Portland Leather get a balloon of a big bag and fly it over US cities?

It is not the Linkedin, it is me.
I used to be funny and smart...

hell, I guess I used to be successful

Now I am seeing that I have lost a step
I am a has been
My humor dried up
my best days are behind me
I peaked years ago

Sun just coming up

I just wrote out a plan, the last too hours in the dark before the world woke up, of how to

Grow channels, products and retail

Add 160M per year in revenue and increase our profit by 40M in the next four years

But maybe I should be doing photoshop pictures of quotes on a building

Photoshop? Look at me aging myself...

Oh well, I guess I will just go back to getting so damn good at business that people may actually listen to me.

Wow, whining a lot this morning.

But doing it with a smile...

Wanna know my plan for business/world domination?

Hey. It is someones birthday! TODAY!If you have worked with me,
my wish is for you to wish her a happy birthday.

Mariana Patiño is a intractable part of my daily life.

Now let's get the record straight...

I am more organized than people give me creidt for and I could do this on my own.

But that would suck.

So tell her, below, Happy Birthday!

MacCoy Merkley Matt Fey Scarlett Stack Marcia Hayes

Some people are not here to Evolve... they have another purpose,
to show you how much it sucks if you don't!

React, react, react, seems like it all we do.

Life, evolution, algorithms, repetition and laziness got us all doing that crap, just reacting.

I left for college, met some wacky, crazy people and went back to my home town to see that the folks who stayed had not changed... and not in a good way.

I tried companies and grew them and failed so bad, and looked around and knew more than people who became insurance salesmen. 

You got this... but the growth does not look pretty and it is hard to see how frickin awesome you are on Linkedin and Twitter cause these folks are not telling the real story.

many are not that good. But you can be. Should be. Must be.

That fastball that hits you every single day?

Just react, and ouch!

But learn, change, plan, evolve, toughen up, loosen up, get lean, get flexible... come on guys... you are growing or you are setting the stage to grow.

Black Friday sucks. Least favorite day of the year.

I am planning next year... hiring, changing, evolving.

Just like the good ones here.

It is not the good fight it is the must WIN!

I am back..

Comment: cause I got lazy for a week. Miss me?

I am starting to feel like Linkedin is a Small Town
I'm questioning if I want to live here my whole life

Linkedin is folks trying to build something from the ground on up...

Nice people, but is there more to life?

I went on to Twitter and it felt like people who HAVE built something, just the group that followed me right away, all talking to each other along with Russian bots, and people who have given up on life because the twitter hole of rage the dug is too deep to see out from anymore.

I went to youtube and got got lost watching videos for the last three weeks. (I mean, Tom Selleck did an entore movie about D-day where he played Eisenhower!)

I went to the beach, Cabo, fancy place beach hotel, and got so bored I set and read an old book I found on the "Free to Bored People at the Pool" shelf... Dirk Pitt, if that hero name rings a bell..

OK Linkedin... lets push through. It is that time of year for those horrible, nice, terrible, cute, horrific, but sweet Hallmark Christmas movies... lets fix up this small town and fall in love and have something magical happen.

Comment: Will you watch a Hallmark movie, start to finish, this year?

I've $500,000,000 in ecom sales since starting in a garage.
The #1 Secret is Simple, and you DO NOT do it!

We predict and track sales daily for the entire year!

Yep, every day. Now, ahead of time, for next year. NOT just track, opredict and ACT!

Step One: How much are we going to do in Shopify Revenue next year?

$170M.

Step 2: Now, using historical monthlys, what percent do we do each month and what is that number?

Step Three: Freak out and say that seems like alot! How the hell will we get there?

Step Four: In January, what products do we need, what new launches, on what days and when are the sales events?

Step Five: Realize we need the "Perfect Marketing Plan" and yes that is what we call it.

What are all the things we need to do each month, each week, each day to get to our goals.

Now start and view it evey single day.

Are you in the red or green and how do we adapt?

Example: I had 21M projected for Novemebr 2025... and it seemed a little off the final week. We end at 98.319% of the goal, and I am not happy!

It was return customers were down... how to make it up this month?

Plan, act and do it again.

The insights you will gain can not be understood until you actually do it.

hey Curtis, what is your secret? 

This is it Dumby! Do it. Again and again until you rock

Comment: How was November? Mine was 98.319% satisfying.

Video calls are My New Doom Scrolling...
Day booked solid.

Who's next Mariana?
Great meeting, who is next?
"Hahaha... awesome, talk soon?

No lunch...so busy.

"MacCoy needs to talk."
"You gave that one guy you met on Linked 15 minutes."
"They want you to join that inventory meeting."

In the car back home in the evening.

Mariana says "What did you accomplish today?"

Me. "I have no Freakin idea"

Stop at the store...I need chocolate!

Idiots can sell $1M a year... But $100,000,000 Million?
the numbers will blow your mind...

Met 100's of business owners this last month at 1 - 5 million talking about going to 9-figures if they could figure out META spend...

Well you better have great retention and an AOV over 100 and still...

To do $100,000,000 in sales with an AOV of $120 (ours at PLG), you’d need over 833,000 orders in a year. 

That’s more than 2,200 orders every single day for 365 days straight.

Yes, yes... Black Friday... blah blah

Now here’s the kicker: if 50% of that revenue came from new customers, that’s $50,000,000 New Customer Revenue.

You need 416,667 orders (rounded) to get to $50M at a $120 AOV.

Now divide by 12 months:

416,667÷12=34,722.25416,667 \div 12 = 34,722.25416,667÷12=34,722.25

 That’s about 35,000 orders per month.

Which also means new customers with:
~8,000 orders per week
~1,140 orders per day

$1M is hustle.
 $10M is product-market fit.

 But $100M? That’s when your business becomes a magnet. A machine. A brand that turns tens of thousands of new faces into a community that sticks.

The question is: Could your business convince 354,000 strangers to trust you this year and get returning customers to be half your revenue?

Here is the good news, cause if you read me you know I love the good news...

That company you built to make 1 million or 10 million.... won't get you there.

If you are scared and say "I can't do that with my current company" YOU ARE RIGHT...

You get to build a new company that can get there

but start with how to build a company that can get new custoemrs AND get 50% return customer revenue...

Dream it. See it. Build it.

You can do this.

Comment: Was I clever to my dogs in the photo... does it make me look and and approachable?

Insane morning... went to write my Linkedin Post &started scrolling
actually read some of yours...doom reading

most times I have done this I have read a bunch of crap

but it was good.

actually really good.

Forgot to write.... then started looking for the a message of someone I spoke to about hiring talent in the Philipines....

Could not find it but found a bunch of messages from many of you... unopened.

I have been failing the Linkedin game.

I hate losing.

So if you know someone who hires overseas talent or have written me and I ignored you go ahead and reach out.

I am going to try and focus a little bit more.

Black Friday is over for me, all plans in place. 

Boring season for me.

Comment: Just cause I need you back in my life.

This photo was 8 years ago... and it helped me create the largest leather bag manufacturing in North America. How? Well...

We made our new bags in our first three leather colors.
Yellow, Orange and this Blue.

They looked great together.

Yellow took off, blue sold half of that and orange (which was amazing) sold less.

We needed more. We ordered, not the bags, but the leather.
It took months and months.

The ad that was working failed because when people clicked and arrived at the site, the yellow was not available. Meta thought it was "ad fatigue"... but it was loss of inventory and choice and well, the one they wanted was not there!

By the time the yellow arrived and we made the bag and put into inventory we could not revive the ad... huge loss. And the loss while we were waiting.

Today, we have 3 million square feet of leather in stock, in 50 colors.
Just sitting there.

When we launch colors, a new line, anything, we are watching the first day and already putting in the correct PO's to make the exact right product to refill Shopify.

We can go from PO to Sorting to Cutting to Matching to Stitching to QC to shipping it to our 3PL, noit in 4 months, but in 2 weeks.

1. The product never goes out of stock
2. We rarely make the wrong prodcut a second time
3. The ads zoom along
4. We don't have down days 

And I smile and am very very happy.

I create the manufacturing to fit my marketing needs...
I did not try and force marketing to deal with a broken supply line.

I am not a genius, but this shit works.

Not everybody can do it, very few can, that is one of the reasons we win!

Comment: How many days is your Christmas vacation? Trying to decide if mine is 14, 10 or 8 days.

Don't know what makes me an entrepreneur.... but it ain't money.
It is an uncertain life I get to control.

Those IDEAS that rush in to my brain in the morning, at night and all damn day long... well, I get to actually sort and choose and act and grade and remake!

That ENERGY does not go into vices it gets to go into wrangling all the options and fighting fear and surging ahead!

That DREAD of going to a job I hate and counting hours, in a sense wishing my life away, to hell with that.

That JERK that thinks his company is great, but he is Asshat, I get to beat him on my own field with my own principles and with an amazing team.

That GROWTH that would never come if I did not challenge myself get to skyrocket by putting myself in pressure situations everyday.

The MONEY... who cares? Money ain't life, ain't the gauge... but winning or at least trying hard eveyday to win, that is the gauge.

You guys rock.

Grab your life, choose your goals and hang on to hope no fear.

This ride has just started cause we are all going to take a few more laps.

PS... You all make me smile more than you may know. Enjoy today!

amazing people on here Justin Oberman and Mariana Patiño and MacCoy Merkley and Aaron Orendorff

Sometimes I lose track of time...
I call it focus... unless, importantly

Unless I am on my computer it is nbot focus or flow I am being carried along by the stream reactive algo manipulation

That is called F@cking around and scrolling nonsense. 

I like Linkedin, I just wish it was not on my computer.

Maybe I should bring back an early Netflix type of Linkedin where we all mail stuff to each other?

I think it has promise.

PS Comment below if you want a Vhristmas present or Christmas Card.

mariana is going to need your address!

Team of 6 on a midweek video extravaganza...
Found something strange on the couch this morning.

We brought our titkto gal from Portland and video boys to San Miguel to my vineyard home.

Plan to shoot videos away from the office.

This morning, I woke early and came to the main house, and a little Mariana Patiño is asleep on the couch.

"Lalo snores," she said.

I am excited. 

Video killed the radio star.

Comment: do you like Mariana's "bucky's" sleeping outfit. I vote no. Watch the video.

Run, Sprint, Grab, Do, Push, Explore Now...
Seriously...2026 is the year of expansion.

And it starts NOW.
Today.

So many avenues to choose from but you have to go through the stages.

Start. 
Learn.
Fail.
Get depressed.
Want to give up.
Try again.
Ask for help.
Ignore the help.
Fail. Learn.
Get some hope.
Get some small results.
get better.

And then wish you had started sooner!!!!!

Took a team to make videos in San Miguel Allende.

What for exactly...

Not sure yet.

But man will it pay off some day!!!!

Comment: Cause we love you

What do I eat? I said I had a nice Japanese Rice Cooker.
"You are so rich," they said.

"You hire someone just to make your rice. Do they make anything else?"

Yes. While on a business trip in China my partner was told this.

I thought it was so fun, funny and important.

Same words. Very different meaning.

I think about this in business. You can come onto Linkedin, you can read the same words and understand something completely diferent.

Act fast.
Be Kind.
Hire the best. 
Momentum. 
Retention is everything.
Success take time.

How I look at these words is different. It comes from experience and these words are not cliches, they are identity.

Thought it was funny.

Gotta go, very busy week. 

When I say I am busy, I promise, most of you have no idea what that means.

later Skater.

Comment: Cause Linkedin will bless you if you do

PS hey Jamie Smith

A ghostwriter for books and an International Recruiting Agency
I contacted you and forgot you... HELP!

So, I am a busy busy guy. 

I need an agency or indivudau who can help me hire talent around the world... there was a young lady who does this out of the Phillipines, I think she is in Europe, but I can't remember your name.

Also, I need the best book ghostwriter for my friend.

Help... 

Ghostwriters an Recruiters... here is your chance. I am online today just watching and monitering online sales.

This is your chance

Good Luck

taplio

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