# SlingFin

Building a world class outdoor brand starting from the top of Mt. Everest

## Elevator pitch
We make the highest quality mountaineering and backpacking tents in the world. Our gear works in conditions that cause other equipment to fail. Case in point: we built the only tent to ever spend a night on Mt. Everest. Our founder, Martin, has been building tents since high school and has worked at the biggest outdoor companies: Sierra Designs, Mountain Hardwear, and The North Face.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/slingfin
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:9429
- Last updated: 2026-06-24T05:00:04Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-24T18:03:10Z

## Quick facts
- Founders built Mountain Hardwear (acquired by Columbia for $36M).
- Designed the only tent ever to spend a night on Everest summit.
- Won prestigious Gold Award at 2013 Outdoor Friedrichshafen Show.
- Inventor of WebTruss, an entirely new way to pitch a tent.
- 50% margin, growing to 60% with this investment.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:5404: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## FAQ
1. **What are your sales estimates this year?**
   - $350k - part of this raise is to fund additional inventory and production of some new designs
2. **How many have you sold so far?**
   - We sold about 200 tents last year, but much of our past difficulties were with funding and keeping things in stock.
3. **What are your gross margin's? Trying to figure out what your cost and pricing is like to determine long-term profitability.**
   - currently we average 50%, but once funding is raised, we can get that quickly to 60% with order quantity discounts from the factory
4. **Hi, I have a few more questions. 1.) I see that back in 2011 there are articles where articles (east bay times) quoting the company discussing making sleeping bags. It seems like maybe there was an issue where growth was expected faster than it happened...given we're in 2016. ...**
   - When SlingFin first started, the plan was to raise $3.0-$3.5M and get into equipment and soft good categories (similar to the start of Mountain Hardwear). We worked on a lot of different designs, including sleeping bags and down apparel. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the right financial partners who shared our vision and decided it best to bootstrap with the support of family and friends. This meant a primary focus on tents, specifically expedition tents only for the first few years a...
5. **SlingFin looks to have what it takes to make the growth real. But with the backing of many MH alums and industry experts why not self-fund this from within? MH sold for 36M someone should be able to front capital, so why crowdfund?**
   - The beauty of crowdfunding is that every investor is also a supporter and brand evangelist. Not sure if there's a better form of smart money.

## Team
- Richard Ying (COO)
- Alan Tabor (Member in Board of Directors)
- Mark Erickson (Advisor)
- Robert Link (Professional Mountaineer/Design Advisor)
- Kendall De Jong (Marketing, Sales, PR & Social Media)
- Nolan Fritts (Tent and Gear Guru)
- Steve O'Meara (Advisor)
- Martin Zemitis (Co-Founder)

## Recent posts
- Been busy - which is good! (2019-09-03T20:03:45Z)
- Honey Badger backpack on Kickstarter (2017-10-26T01:21:50Z)
- Wefunder Visits Slingfin, maker of the only tent that’s survived atop Mount Everest (2017-07-04T23:03:13Z)
- COO (2017-04-28T19:18:22Z)

## Q&A
- Q: What are your sales estimates this year?
  - A: $350k - part of this raise is to fund additional inventory and production of some new designs
- Q: Is SlingFin still in business? I haven't had a report for several years now.
- Q: Can you give us an update on the status of the company?
  - A: Everyone (all SlingFin Wefunder investors) should have gotten an email update. Please email me directly (rich@slingfin.com) if you didn't.
- Q: I'm genuinely interested in investing in your company, but I see the money has been coming in slowly. Is there any chance you'll offer an "Early Bird' discount on the SAFE for the first $75,000 raised? For example: a 2.5 million valuation cap with a 5% discount.
  - A: Hi Scott. We actually set our valuation cap on the low end to help reward the investors and effectively create a "discount". Hopefully, we can get your support.
- Q: How can I get more info on financials like gain/loss?
  - A: Our 2014 and 2015 financial statements were included in the Form C. You can also email us at info@slingfin.com to get into it further.
- Q: Hello! It has been a while since we've had an update. Could we get one please?
- Q: what discounts do I get as wefunder for slingfin products
- Q: Where are the shares held? My other WeFunder is on eshares (now Carta)? Thanks
  - A: Sorry for the late response. I'll email you.
- Q: Do you intend to pay dividends?
  - A: We would love to! For now, the cash generated through product sales is going back into purchasing additional inventory to help grow the company.
- Q: Is it too late to invest?
  - A: Our Wefunder campaign closed in December '16. Please feel free to email rich@slingfin.com if you have other questions.
- Q: How's it going, guys? What's new?
  - A: Hey Jordan! Things are well on the move! Look for an email and some updates soon.
- Q: What do you think the venture capitalists' comments on CNBC's Adventure Capital show?
  - A: tl;dr: SlingFin is all about brand building. Details below. I’m Alan Tabor, a Board Member at SlingFin. I’m one of the founders of Mountain Hardwear. I forecast product demand there for 15 years based on market size, market penetration, product history, and so on. The Adventure Capitalist objections would be valid if the facts driving those objections were accurate. On key points, they weren’t. See http://www.cnbc.com/live-tv/adventure-capitalists/full-episode/lakemountain/749030467806 1) Craig Cooper - “I don’t see you guys as brand developers...I see that tent, your logo’s not even on it.” 1a) No logos on tents - False. Our logo is on every tent fly just like our competitors. Details: They didn’t put the fly on during pitching or the logos would have been obvious. (You can’t actually put a logo on a mesh body.) Martin assumed the request was for a monster logo. We can’t do that; it would be a big turn-off to our core customers. Large logos are accepted on the mountaineering tents, btw. You can see examples on the Wefunder page here. Even on Wefunder, the backpacking tents are mostly pictured there without flys. You’d need to go to our website to really see how they look. Note, we’ve chosen to use silicone coated fabrics for our flysheets, so our logos are sublimated as opposed to printed on top. The silicone coating provides an increased level of water resistance, so in this decision path we chose function and performance as our primary consideration. 1b) Not brand developers - False. SlingFin is, in fact, very focused on brand building. We’ve patiently made our reputation in the most extreme conditions. In our biz influence starts at the top of the mountain and proceeds out from there. 2. Craig Cooper. “Not applicable to everyday camping.” True. We are not now nor will we ever be focused on everyday camping. We are however very focused on the tier between that and mountaineering, ie backpacking and touring. Our main competitors are Big Agnes, particularly the Fly Creek and the Copper Spur and MSR’s Hubba Hubba. We estimate that there’s $15M annual sales in these three models alone. We compete well in that space and plan to take a chunk of that business. For example: http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/slingfin-2lite-review-everest-tent-tech-for-the-backpa-1720668491 The next tier down from backpacking is tents sold through mass distributors...essentially tents that provide visual privacy and allow users to stand up. They’re used in car camping and pitched in park campground or KOAs. Jeremy Bloom is right, however, that the most common response when folks in the “leisure camping” market hit bad weather is to bail and head to a motel. I have absolutely no problem with that market! Whatever gets people outdoors is all good as far as I’m concerned. But it’s a whole different tribe. Folks in this market aren’t influenced by reputations in the backpacking market. They don’t need the performance but they are very price sensitive. Conversely (and perversely) showing strongly in that market would damage the SlingFin brand significantly in the eyes of our core market. They would, most regrettably, view it as selling out. Brand building reprise. The way our kind of brands do expand is not down market but laterally into other similar niches: packs, bags, and performance clothing. You sell a wider range of product to the same core customer: outdoor enthusiasts. We’ve got designs in all those niches and have packs queued up as our next target. You can see those above on the Wefunder page. Outdoor brands are remarkably durable if built correctly but in our part of the world, everything big started out small. Patagonia, for example, started with pitons; Columbia with hats. We’re starting with tents. Reputation accumulates slowly relative to tech because the gear has to prove itself in the field often during a specific season of the year, eg mountaineering season. The cornerstone of an outdoor brand is delivering the good stuff repetitively focusing on performance, integrity, and authenticity in the core markets of mountaineering, backpacking , backcountry ski, and the like. That is the essential first step. No amount of marketing focused on ‘brand building’ will work if that isn’t there. Once it is, one can raise money, push out the message, and be believed. For more see the Wefunder and Intrepid Entrepreneur podcasts: https://wefunder.com/feed/89364?auto_login_token=wdxfIuroUgA9oHiN http://intrepidentrepreneur.net/martin-zemitis/
- Q: Hi, I was wondering when the Sling Fin shirts would be available, and where to send my size and address.
  - A: Hi Larry, once the campaign closes, we'll send out a survey to each of the investors for shirt sizes and shipping info. By the way, if you any ideas/sketches/etc. for shirt designs, we're always open for suggestions from our investors.
- Q: Am I purchasing stock in the company when I invest.If so how much does each stock cost so I know what I could but
  - A: Hi Angel, you would be investing in SlingFin via a SAFE note (similar to a convertible debt note). The way SAFE notes work, price per share gets determined at the next financing round. We set the valuation cap at $2.5M, so investors are betting that we will be worth more than that in the future. Basically, at the next financing round, the SAFE noteholders will get the better of the valuation cap or the financing round (so they are rewarded for investing early). Sorry if all the finance lingo is confusing. Here's another way to look at it. Don't worry about the stock price. Think of the bigger picture. If you invest $100 and the company grows, then your investment will be worth more than $100. Hopefully, a lot more! If you invested more, then the gain is larger. You also get to enjoy the perks of being an investor. You can take pride in being an owner of the company and can take action to help your business grow.
- Q: Do you intend to buy back shares from minority investors in the future?
  - A: No, we don't intend to. We would like the investors to have the option if they wanted to exit, but would not want to force that upon them.