112. Omnia Fishing Co-founders Matt Johnson, Chris Morgal, Dan Wick

Years before chatbots burst into the mainstream, a trio of Minneapolis-based fishing enthusiasts launched a data-driven e-commerce shopping platform for anglers that gets smarter the more people use it. Omnia Fishing, founded in 2018 is disrupting the $5 billion dollar U.S. and Canadian tackle industry by offering a shop-by-lake e-commerce experience that connects customers to the gear they need based on where they’re fishing, what they’re fishing for, and even the time of year. Co-founders Matt Johnson (CEO), Chris Morgal (COO), and Dan Wick (CTO) each bring a unique skill set and prior startup experience to Omnia. They walk us through how they’re setting up the company, which is not yet profitable, for big success, from raising $1 million right out of the gate to figuring out how to set up a warehouse and deliver merchandise to leaning on user-generated content. All told, Omnia has raised more than $6 million to date to build its tech-intensive, space-based shopping platform. “There’s so much being bandied about with AI,” Wick says. “It’s great in a vacuum, but unless you apply that to a business case, it doesn’t really matter.” Omnia fishing is poised to hit eight figures in sales this year. The company employs 25 and features more than 25,000 products and information on at least 20,000 lakes on its site. ”We truly believe we are building a better experience,” Johnson says. Following our conversation with the founders, we go Back to the Classroom with the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business where Gino Giovanelli is a marketing professor and thinks the growing awareness of AI is making consumers more trusting of information provided by a site like Omnia Fishing. “The smartest thing they did: they had a lane, stuck to it with three different personalities and skill sets,” Giovanelli says, For startups, that can be tricky. Set out with big goals in mind and said it’s going to be hard, but that’s the only way to make it.