outdoor-gear
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Jacob Knudsen
Jacob Knudsen is the Chief Marketing Officer of Blade HQ, the Lehi, Utah knife and everyday-carry retailer that has grown from a 2003 startup into one of the largest online cutlery stores in the United States. An industrial designer by training - he earned a BFA from Brigham Young University - Knudsen joined Blade HQ in the mid-2000s and spent roughly sixteen years as its Chief Creative Officer before moving into the CMO seat in 2023. His fingerprints are on the brand's design language and on the content engine behind a YouTube channel with more than half a million subscribers. He is also a serious balisong collector, a subject he walked viewers through on Blade HQ's Collector's Corner, and a co-host of the first episode of the company's Steel and Stories podcast.
Tanner Johnson
Tanner Johnson is the Co-Founder and Former President of Curated, a San Francisco-based expert marketplace that matches shoppers with passionate product specialists for high-consideration purchases like outdoor gear, skiing equipment, golf clubs, and jewelry. A Princeton-educated psychology and neuroscience graduate with roots in outdoor education, Johnson helped build Curated from a 2017 founding concept into a $141.5M-funded platform with over 250 employees - until its $330 million stock acquisition by social commerce company Flip in July 2024.