Photo courtesy of Jay Prasuhn/Triathlete Magazine
The University of Arizona Alumnus / Fall 2007
Innovation and Creativity
Seton Claggett ’97 ’01
by Sherry Hoskinson
Eller College of Management McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship
“Welcome to TriSports.com — the online triathlon superstore, created for triathletes, by triathletes.” That’s the welcoming message on TriSports.com’s home page. In a nutshell, it describes the company started by University of Arizona alumnus and entrepreneur Seton Claggett ’97 ’01. Claggett started TriSports.com seven years ago in his home, with “a little cash and a lot of credit cards.”
TriSport.com now boasts a 22,000-square-foot facility that includes a warehouse, a state-of-the-art retail storefront with a dual-lane endless pool, and corporate offices that produce a 120-page catalog. Based in Tucson, Claggett was tapped as an Entrepreneurial Fellow at the Eller College of Management McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship in 2006. He attributes much of his success to the Eller entrepreneurial program training. “When you enter the entrepreneurship program, you want a piece of the pie. When you leave the program, you want to make the pie,” says Claggett.
The idea for his business came from his own experience as an accomplished triathlete. TriSports.com was born of his own difficulty finding “tri-specific” products while training for his first Ironman triathlon in 1999. He has since competed in five Ironman triathlons, as well as several other shorter-distance triathlons, and is now training for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, this October.
For many entrepreneurs, starting a business from scratch can be grueling — a huge money and time commitment. For his first two years in business, Claggett often worked until midnight, seven days a week, and never collected a paycheck. Claggett’s wife, Debbie ’97, got involved too, and joined the company full-time in 2002 as one of four employees. With time and patience, success came for the Claggetts and to TriSports.com. The company now employs more than 30 people, offering medical, dental, 401k, and profit-sharing benefits, as well as retention bonuses and even massages. And if employees stay with the company for a year, they earn a free bike. Employees also are rewarded for participating in the company’s commuter program, which encourages employees to ride their bike to work.
The commuter program is just one of the ways that the Claggetts contribute to a cleaner environment. They also recycle extensively, use natural light, and donate metal bike parts to be recycled into artwork.
The Claggetts’ love of tri-athlete competition extends to the entire triathlon community. They’ve formed a nonprofit organization, TriSports Racing (www.trisportsracing.com), which produces the Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival in Show Low, Ariz., each year. The proceeds from the race are distributed to charitable institutions; 25 percent go to the Show Low Youth Sports Foundation and 75 percent go to the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
TriSports.com also sponsors other triathalon events, clubs, teams, and individuals, and focuses on people and groups who give back to their communities. In the last three years, TriSports.com has contributed nearly a half-million dollars back into the sport.
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