"A few years later, they launched a pickleball equipment company at ages 19 and 22. They had no college degrees, no outside investors, and no guarantee that pickleball would ever take off. "I remember there was a point where dad talked to us and said, 'OK, you can go to college, and you can go down that path, or you can keep doing what you're doing and just double down,'" Rob told Business Insider. "And we were like, let's double down, see what happens.""
"More than a decade later, that bet has paid off. Selkirk is now one of the leading pickleball equipment brands, known for its premium paddles, and the family-run company expects to generate nine-figure revenue in 2026. The Barnes brothers say that while they skipped traditional higher education, learning has always been central to how they run their business. "I've personally gotten a lot more out of biographies than I ever have from particular business books," Rob said."
Mike and Rob Barnes began selling airsoft equipment from their father's basement as teenagers as part of a homeschool project that became profitable. They founded a pickleball equipment company at ages 19 and 22 without college degrees, outside investors, or market guarantees, and chose to double down on the business. Over more than a decade they grew Selkirk into a leading premium-paddle brand projecting nine-figure revenue in 2026. Learning remains central to their approach; they read extensively, prefer biographies and autobiographies for practical decision examples, and shared six recommended business titles.
Read at Business Insider
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