Tyler Simmons is the founder and CEO of Elevate Sports, the company behind BucketGolf, a portable par-3 game that transforms backyard spaces into playable courses and brings a competitive twist to casual golf. Elevate Sports designs products that blend athletic training and outdoor entertainment, helping families connect and athletes sharpen their skills through hands-on play. Before launching Elevate Sports, Tyler was a Division I college athlete and worked at a lacrosse equipment company. With no prior experience in product development or ecommerce, he started by building a lacrosse training aid from scratch. That early prototype sparked a journey into consumer products, culminating in the launch of BucketGolf, a category-defining game that hit $1 million in revenue before Tyler hired his first full-time employee. Whether turning a homemade backyard game into a seven-figure business or figuring out paid media strategy through trial and error, Tyler brings a scrappy, product-first lens to brand building. He shares insights on launching without a playbook, designing products that go viral on video, and bootstrapping high-growth businesses without outside capital. His story is proof that you don’t need a perfect plan, you just need to start. In This Conversation We Discuss: [00:37] Intro [00:53] Launching products that bring people together [01:46] Validating demand with zero research [03:53] Making mistakes instead of waiting [05:47] Building momentum before it’s perfect [06:44] Choosing action over endless planning [08:09] Learning to sell before scaling up [12:05] Electric Eye, Social Snowball, Portless, Reach & Zamp [18:27] Learning paid media through trial and error [20:21] Boosting what already works organically [21:30] Standing out in a saturated market [25:27] Pushing through constant setbacks Resources: Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube Elevate Sports for Lacrosse Training Gear elevatesportsequipment.com/ The Ultimate Backyard Golf Game bucketgolfgame.com/ Follow Tyler Simmons linkedin.com/in/tyler-simmons-771b5718a Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect Drive revenue through affiliates & referrals socialsnowball.io/honest Revolutionize your inventory and fulfillment process portless.com/ Level up your global sales withreach.com/honest Fully managed sales tax solution for Ecommerce brands zamp.com/honest If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts . It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!
