Avalanche in the early Millennium days .
site owner in Canada , but he really made his name when he hit the US scene back in the 90s .
He announced his entrance to the US industry scene with a company called Diablo . Diablo primarily sold paint , but later expanded its product portfolio to include markers , loader , and etcetera . The remarkable thing about those times was just how quickly Richmond and his Diablo paint had managed to grab such a significant market share in what felt like an unnaturally short period of time . One minute he ’ s in the Canadian backwaters selling paint , next minute he ’ s all over the place !
WHAT LURKS BENEATH
Richmond ’ s business approach is unusual in the sense of just how he goes about the selling / promoting of his company ’ s products . He ’ s not like you ’ d expect an owner of a multi-million dollar company would be . He comes across as extremely personable and genuine with absolutely no pretentions other than being one of the guys . He was obviously astute when it came to financial matters , but that will only get you so far I ’ m afraid . For one reason or another , after a few years , Richmond eventually sold his concerns for a disgusting amount of dosh and went off to enjoy a well-earned sabbatical from our sport / industry . Or so we thought ! However , Richmond couldn ’ t keep his butt out of paintball and he returned a few years back and now owns the GI stable of companies along with the NXL and a few other concerns besides . Talk about jumping in at the deep end ! But maybe that ’ s what he thinks works best and I ’ m not going to argue .
However , Richmond had a more serious quest in mind on his return to paintball , and nobody , and I mean NOBODY could have guessed what he was about to do this time around . Not much surprises me after being in this sport / industry for coming up 30 years now , but after what happened last year and this , my head nearly fell off when I realized what was going on .
The first inkling came a couple of years back when rumours were beginning to circulate in our industry that Tippmann was up for sale , more precisely , it was being lined up for a buy-out . For those of you who don ’ t know , Tippmann has been one of our industry ’ s longest serving and largest of companies in the US . I think it was
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