Co-founders of Kryptek Outdoor Group, Butch Whiting (L) and Josh Cleghorn (R).
“Authentic. Credible. Cool”
Did you know Kryptek Outdoor Group, one of the hottest clothing companies in the outdoor market, is an Idaho veteran owned business. Kryptek’s founders were two former Army Apache helicopter pilots, who forged a bond flying together in Iraq and shared a common love of hunting.
Success didn’t fall in their lap though. Butch Whiting and Josh Cleghorn talked us through how they had to adapt after a heavy blow to their company’s future. They were one of the finalists in a bid to become the United States Army’s next camouflage pattern. In testing all over the world, different lighting conditions, different environments, they consistently beat the competition. Then this small two many Army got a taste of politics and the DoD acquisition system. All of a sudden the project was put on hold and they were informed they would not be selected. So what next?
They chose to succeed. Take a look around and you will see Kryptek on hunters, in movies (The Hunger Games), race cars, guns. It’s everywhere and Josh and Butch made that happen in short time.
This 43INC, focused on veteran entrepreneurship, provided a great opportunity to hear from some Idaho locals who have accomplished amazing things after the military. It also connected Mission43 members and business leaders so they could connect professionally and create opportunities they didn’t know existed.
We had an incredible debut for Mission43 INC (Innovate + Network + Connect)
