Curtis Matsko

Curtis Matsko CEO/FOUNDER, Entrepreneur, Portland Leather Goods, Patina.com, Speaker, Writer, Investor, Free Spirit

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.

Your first 28 posts will flop. DO IT anyway.You will feel cringing, and sucky, and stupid!What the hell? You are not som...
07/07/2025

Your first 28 posts will flop. DO IT anyway.
You will feel cringing, and sucky, and stupid!

What the hell? You are not some 18 year old doing haeart-hands in Van Life with your unemployed boyfriend!

Do it anyways.

You’ll get 14 likes.

People will ask why you are doing it and you will not have a good answer.

That’s the part nobody tells you about building a personal world-wide domination branding machine.

The Cringe will go to your belly:

→ “Am I even cut out for this?”
→ “I am too late, should I have done it years ago?”
→ “Maybe the evil computer algorithm hates me?”

Reality Dummy!: It’s not the algorithm.
It’s not the crowded field.
It’s not your talent.
It’s just… way too early to do anything but keep going.

No one is paying attention yet.

No one owes you engagement.

And no one hits “viral” before they hit “consistent.”

I promise you, the people who win at personal branding?
They’re not that funny.
They’re not that pretty
They’re not the best writers.

They are so stupid so theyjust don’t stop.... and WIN!

If you show up for 3–6 months and get a little better each time, you’ll pass 90% of people who quit when it got awkward.

I can’t promise anything. But the open doors and smiles and friendships and oppurtunity I have gotten here can not be explained.

So do it... or don’t

But NEVER say I didn’t tell you that you ahve this!!!!!!

Comment Below because you are my favorite person and I want to hear from you!

I traveled to Portand without Mariana... who needs her?Forgot drivers license and phone charger and...Can’t rent car and...
06/13/2025

I traveled to Portand without Mariana... who needs her?
Forgot drivers license and phone charger and...

Can’t rent car and Uber does not work when your cell phone is dead.

She worries too much about me.

I say don’t worry.

She should... I am an idiot.

Love you guys... have a great Friday

God got tired of people always asking for s**t...So he told the angels he was going to hide....God said I am going to hi...
06/12/2025

God got tired of people always asking for s**t...
So he told the angels he was going to hide....

God said I am going to hide at the top of a mountain.
The angels said no use, man will find you there.

He said I am going to hide at the bottom of the ocean.
No use, they said, they will eventually find you there.

God said I am going to the moon.
No. Soon, man will go there too.

Where, he thought, could he hide that nobody would find him?

And then he came up with the solution.

And God broke himself into tiny pieces and put a little piece of himself in each person’s heart... no one will ever look for me there, he said.

There are answers in this world, patterns and joy and love and happiness.

And there are thoughts in our brains, good and bad.

But there is divinity inside you, yeas, even today, you hav it in you.

At times you can see it and feel it, and special people can see it inside of you and inside of themselves.

Remember you are the spark. You are special and are important to me and this world.

Sometimes I forget it and so do you... but damn, this world right outside your door is magical and ready for you to act consistently and create something amazing.

This post scared the hell out of since we are in different countries and I am with family who are having struggles.

But Mariana, I am FINE! You can’t deny this is a great story.

We are all magical creatures forging through an amazing world!!!!
So there chatgpt... try writing that s**t with less than a half cup of coffee!

And hey, If you going to kick ass today... write “Chubby Hippo” in the comments

For the right DTC company, I am THE ANSWER.I am investing, not just my time, but my energy...And a s**t-ton of knowledge...
06/09/2025

For the right DTC company, I am THE ANSWER.
I am investing, not just my time, but my energy...
And a s**t-ton of knowledge.

I guess I am Partnering... better word than investing.

I run a company with 1200 employees.

40,000 new customers a month, lower COG, better LTV, skyrocketing Ebitda and a senior leadership team that would make you cry with envy.

And yet with MacCoy Merkley are investing in the right people.

Wrote a post about this on the weekend, and I was so staggeringly unclear and vague that I got every kind of wrong message one can get.

So thanks to Mike Fata and Jarrod Souza and Marissa Rodriguez and Neal Goyal for pointing out my folly.

We are DTC experts who know how to scale DTC businesses fast and profitable.

So here are the basics.

1. We don’t want to build from the ground up. We want a company that already has a track record. Data, numbers, mistakes and victories so we can help create a strategy to kick ass!

2. I don’t get SaaS. So $2M ARR really just means if nothing changes you are bring in less than $200,000 a month by overpromising stuff that does not work to people who really need your promises to work now?
(Short answer: Not interested)

3. We will never be JUST ANOTHER INVESTOR. Do you already have 6 partners and have angels, seeds, and Series A+? Sorry, but most likely my time and money will go to clear out old problems, I am interested in growth and ideas, and amazing people, not being another person at a table full of confusion.

Wow. I am really sounding like an as***le. But really I am telling myself, through the writing process what I want.

Breaking News: I am currently investing & scaling $1M -$5M companies!With MacCoy Merkley, we can supercharge & scale you...
06/07/2025

Breaking News: I am currently investing & scaling $1M -$5M companies!
With MacCoy Merkley, we can supercharge & scale you... big time!
The Good News and the Bad!

Good News: We are damn good at marketing, scaling, vision, and growth.
Bad: We can’t fix a piece of s**t. Nor do we want to do so.

Good: We are Good People. We only work with Great People.
Bad News: Mot people do not fit our definition of Great people.

Good News: Some People are going to partner with us and it will change thier life.
Bad News: The vast majority will not fit and we will kindly say no.

Good: We don’t have to do this.
Bad News: We don’t have to do this.

Good News: If you fit our pattern and are good people and smart and can grow as an individual, leader and operator, we can tak you to 10 million, 20 million and beyond.

No bad news... life is a journey of growth, do it with the right people and your future will shock the hell out of you.

Thanks to those who us: Marcia Hayes Sean Frank Matthew Bertulli Matt Fey Jordan West Taylor Holiday Neal Goyal

And a few more who supercharge us: Nick Shackelford Rabah Rahil Aaron Orendorff Aaron Spivak Chris Meade

Please comment below if you think that the world needs a little more Mariana Patiño and MacCoy Merkley and me!

READ TWICE: Nothing is as Powerful as what is Inside You!This Truth will alter your reality Today!Did you read it twice?...
06/05/2025

READ TWICE: Nothing is as Powerful as what is Inside You!
This Truth will alter your reality Today!

Did you read it twice? Darn, that is OK, I still like you.

But you liking you, understanding the amazing hope, energy, power, optimism, kindness and frickin magic that is inside you, that is the real thing.

Sound too Hippie -Dippie... tough sh@t. You are the sling shot, the big red button, the engine, the eye-piece, the explorer.. it all comes from you!

See this blockhead in this picture, her name is Mariana Patiño and she is a bundle of energy and fun and light... but ONLY when I bring the Spark.

What do you bring every single day?

Do you bring a list of the problems and resentments and gossip about others or a knowledge that you are a infinite potential, and a ready smile, and someone who is walking around attracting great people toward you!

Again... too Hippie-Dippie? Don’t care.

Some blogger tells you the key is doing drugs or playing power trips or treating women bad and some small minds say “wow, sounds awesome.”

I am telling you the power is in YOU! All those self doubts are the world telling you to be broken and mean and angry and to give up to soon! John Knotts

This is NOT a bunch of words from chat... this is me, right here in the a chair as the sun is coming up telling you that you can and will succeed in ways you cannot even imagine.

And that you are enough. You must grow, and improve and fail and get back up and stack day after day after day but the magic will happen.

And you just might find that the magic is that you are surrounded by more, better people... a new family of humans from all walks of life who love and care for you for the true you.

Maybe you are thinking this is not a business post... well it is!

Business is not separate from life, it is all part of our mixed together.

NOW... I am suppose to give ask a simple question so that people comment.

So, here is a tough one.

By the end of this month are you going to be a better person than you are today?

If so, tell me... and remember, it all starts small, today, right inside of each one of us.

13 years ago today, June 4th 2012, I was homeless and in my car drinking myself to death.On Friday, I will tell more of ...
06/04/2025

13 years ago today, June 4th 2012, I was homeless and in my car drinking myself to death.

On Friday, I will tell more of the story... my 13 year sobriety date, but NOT today.

Remember...Sh*t is going to happen. Bad stuff.
You will win if you do this... if you...

1. Comment about how funny this sign was I found in Yellowstone National Park.

I yelled pull over when I saw it... I risked bear attacks for a chuckle and a visual Linkedin post.

2. Realize that everything goes in waves, movement is life and creates ups and downs.

And you will win... believe it, know it and smile.

And build confidence.

I like to take pride in both Luck and Overcoming Rough Breaks!

I miss the trouble...Lucky.

I get hit with trouble... I attack it and surf it and skirt it and charge it and smile at it and overcome it.

I have done it enough that bad things don’t scare me as much.

Pattern recognition.

Now, that does not mean strong every minute... I get worried, I get freaked, I get mad, I get sad and then after i while I get up and move forard and the knowledge it will work out starts to grow.

13 years ago today, June 4th 2012, I was homeless and in my car drinking myself to death.

A pure, natural, piece of crap alcoholic.

The next days and years would be the greatest of my life... building even more foundation of who I am and who I will be.

I could not have built what I have today if I had not went through it.

I was Lucky... I also overcame much.

To my friends who struggle with alcohol, depression, s**tty friends, self doubt a rough break every now and then... I love you and I believe in you.

I also believe in

Mariana Patiño and MacCoy Merkley and Marcia Hayes and Matt Fey

In the world today... please tell yourself it will all work out, not just because it will make you feel better but because it is the truth...

Comment...

10 Years Ago, a young lady asked if I would watch her dogs.She never came back for them... greatest gift ever!IMPORTANT:...
06/02/2025

10 Years Ago, a young lady asked if I would watch her dogs.
She never came back for them... greatest gift ever!

IMPORTANT: I am going to ask you to post a picture later on... look at the comments and make sure you post one in the comments...

She was going through a divorce from a not nice guy and the poor things were emotionally feeling everything. To help her we said they could stay a few days with us!

The young lady left for Panama for a month... by the time she returned I decided she could not have them back.

These two things have only one survival skill in the world... look cute to get love and attention. And they have mastered it.

We must be prepared for the unexpected, we cannot plan everything in this crazy chaotic world... and even more, we don’t even know what we want!

I sure did not think I wanted them!!!!

But we must be ready, every single day to accept the fun, the curveballs, the unexpected and the white bundles of love that come to our doors.

Linkedin is for business... and business is life, at least for me.

Be ready, today and tomorrow, to turn the unexpected into a joy in your life.

Comment.. please show me a picture of something that cme into your life, unexpected that makes your life immeasurably better!

Cute cat and dog pictures welcome...

Mariana is officially a star... and me, NOT SO MUCH!Pretty girls don’t just kill it on social media. they...They steal t...
05/27/2025

Mariana is officially a star... and me, NOT SO MUCH!
Pretty girls don’t just kill it on social media. they...

They steal the stage from ME!.

For the first time as I was speaking at an event, they asked for to be on stage with me.

I hit them with with wisdom, power, insight, and energy.

Mariana wore a great dress and was a smart-ass...

Guess who stole the frickin show!?

IMPORTANT: I  may be looking for a new assistant...

they need to

* not steal the show
* have more to say than smart-ass comments
* show some respect for their elders
* look less good on a daily basis than thier boss

Is tht too much to ask?

My Motto ‘This “IS” the F@ing Meeting’ means solve it NOW!We have a problem so let’s meet next week is STUPID!If it is r...
05/20/2025

My Motto ‘This “IS” the F@ing Meeting’ means solve it NOW!
We have a problem so let’s meet next week is STUPID!

If it is really a problem, talk it out. Do the ground work now and meet tomorrow.

That was a test.

NO! No tomorrow!

Talk now, work now, configure now...

Come to my office now.

Call them NOW. have them come NOW.

Why the picture with the green glasses?

Vintage shopping in Livingston Montana yesterday... so, why not?

Could have posted it next week but why not do it NOW!

Comment... NOW.

Jarrod Souza made me $521,000 PURE PROFIT Yesterday...He does not even know it...100% TRUE Story...Several years ago I w...
05/07/2025

Jarrod Souza made me $521,000 PURE PROFIT Yesterday...
He does not even know it...100% TRUE Story...

Several years ago I was at a GeekOut Event in Nashville and this guy Jarrod Souza was hanging around being charming and nice and all that bulls**t!

He told me about a government Covid thingy... said I needed to look into it.

We asked our accountants Moss Adams, the worst accounting firm EVER, and they said NO! After more Moss Adams crap... we left them.

We found new accountants, because I trusted Jarrod, and they filled out the paperwork and worked with us and said we were good.

Three years later, yesterday, we got two checks, one for $462,000 plus one for interest of $59,000.

Ah, thank you very much!

And they said they are sending $250,000 more later this year.

Here are the Lessons:

1. Jarrod is a Prince

2. Big Accounting Firms SUCK and are such Boring & Scared little people!

3. Go to Live Events... there has never been one I have attended that did not help me make at least $100,000... go meet people and listen, you don’t know everything!!!!

Do you go to live events?... if not GO!

MacCoy Merkley Matt Fey Charles Tichenor IV Adam Robinson Marissa Rodriguez Neal Goyal

If yes, then tell me where you are going and I might meet you there! If not, comment why you do not go...I am guessing you can’t figure the ROI for time and money... COMMENT!

Address

Portland, OR

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