Save America's Best Wood Baseball Bat
Donation protected
Hello friends, John MacDougall here. MacDougall & Sons Bat Company needs your help so that we can keep producing our unique, patented, durable wood bats for all baseball (and softball) players around the world. When I started this company in 2010, nobody told me I wasn’t supposed to start a national sporting goods manufacturing company with no money!
OUR STORY
When my sons, Ian and Duncan, were younger, (that’s us in the profile picture) I always coached their teams. As they got older, I got to learn how easily a $90 (now about $150) wood bat breaks. I didn’t think baseball players were getting treated right.
I had designed and built homes for 30 years and in the 2008 collapse, that went away. But I had an idea on how to make a better wood bat! I made some prototypes and tested them and there was enough “good news” to keep going. I leased a shop, bought machinery and spent the next year and a half (mad scientist?) developing what is now the Powerwood bat. It carries an industry leading 6 month breakage warranty and our youth bats carry a 1 year breakage warranty! It was also proven in the Sports Science Labs to have the best performance of all wood bats. We put our heart and soul into every bat we craft and back it up with the best warranty and customer service in the country. Simply, the Golden Rule.
All the money from selling our home, as well as our savings have gone into the company. ALL of our "skin is in the game". The bat is actually very successful with the people who have found us, as evidenced by the hundreds of 5 star reviews from our customers! But, it turns out, it is pretty expensive to get the word out to customers so they even know we are here for them. Being a startup manufacturer is capital intensive as well.
We are now at the end of our “bootstraps”. We have tried to get capital investment from the “angel investor” community, but not a single one over the years has even made the effort to speak with us or look at our financials, let alone come to our shop and see the amazing manufacturing process we have developed. It’s become apparent that they are only interested in “high tech” and not good ol’ American manufacturing. Not to mention that our competition, foreign owned companies like Wilson (Louisville Slugger, Demarini), go to great efforts to try to block us out of the market. Apparently, they don’t like the type of capitalism where the person with the best product wins! I’ve been amazed at the lengths they will go to stifle any competition. We shall overcome! Check us out at MacDougallBats.com
THE PLAN
We would like to do a national Equity Crowdfunding raise on a site like Wefunder or Startengine, but first we need about $20k just to pay for the legal and accounting fees to get that type of fundraising set up. If we can make an investment appeal to our customers and all baseball players and fans around the country, I believe we can raise the funds we need to grow and create lots of good manufacturing jobs in our community!
We also need at least another $20k to be able to keep paying the rent (doubled since we moved in) and paying bills and buying raw materials until we do that fundraise above. I’ve never yet taken a dime in pay since we started and pay my oldest son a small stipend for working almost full time. We can either experience great success in the future or financial ruin. (Not kidding) If you think things should be made in America, this is where you can help make it happen!
MORE
We aren’t looking to get rich. We just want to create a successful company that makes a great product that people love and that is a great place to work. We don’t have extra money yet, but we always try to give back to the community any way we can. We donate bats to auction for good causes and to local sports programs to help support them. We “upcycle” all of our sawdust and scrap wood for free to the community so that it doesn’t go to waste. We pay extra for the power we use in the Blue Sky program so we get as much of the power we use as possible from wind and solar. With your help, we plan to be great neighbors and good citizens! The MacDougalls and baseball players everywhere thank you for your generosity and support!
Some "Tangible Karma" as thanks for your support:
Donate:
$200 -- We'll send you a T-shirt or hat branded with the MacDougall Bats logo.
$500 -- Get a 20% discount on a bat once a year for 2 years.
$1000 -- The bat of your choice, personalized just for you!
OUR STORY
When my sons, Ian and Duncan, were younger, (that’s us in the profile picture) I always coached their teams. As they got older, I got to learn how easily a $90 (now about $150) wood bat breaks. I didn’t think baseball players were getting treated right.
I had designed and built homes for 30 years and in the 2008 collapse, that went away. But I had an idea on how to make a better wood bat! I made some prototypes and tested them and there was enough “good news” to keep going. I leased a shop, bought machinery and spent the next year and a half (mad scientist?) developing what is now the Powerwood bat. It carries an industry leading 6 month breakage warranty and our youth bats carry a 1 year breakage warranty! It was also proven in the Sports Science Labs to have the best performance of all wood bats. We put our heart and soul into every bat we craft and back it up with the best warranty and customer service in the country. Simply, the Golden Rule.
All the money from selling our home, as well as our savings have gone into the company. ALL of our "skin is in the game". The bat is actually very successful with the people who have found us, as evidenced by the hundreds of 5 star reviews from our customers! But, it turns out, it is pretty expensive to get the word out to customers so they even know we are here for them. Being a startup manufacturer is capital intensive as well.
We are now at the end of our “bootstraps”. We have tried to get capital investment from the “angel investor” community, but not a single one over the years has even made the effort to speak with us or look at our financials, let alone come to our shop and see the amazing manufacturing process we have developed. It’s become apparent that they are only interested in “high tech” and not good ol’ American manufacturing. Not to mention that our competition, foreign owned companies like Wilson (Louisville Slugger, Demarini), go to great efforts to try to block us out of the market. Apparently, they don’t like the type of capitalism where the person with the best product wins! I’ve been amazed at the lengths they will go to stifle any competition. We shall overcome! Check us out at MacDougallBats.com
THE PLAN
We would like to do a national Equity Crowdfunding raise on a site like Wefunder or Startengine, but first we need about $20k just to pay for the legal and accounting fees to get that type of fundraising set up. If we can make an investment appeal to our customers and all baseball players and fans around the country, I believe we can raise the funds we need to grow and create lots of good manufacturing jobs in our community!
We also need at least another $20k to be able to keep paying the rent (doubled since we moved in) and paying bills and buying raw materials until we do that fundraise above. I’ve never yet taken a dime in pay since we started and pay my oldest son a small stipend for working almost full time. We can either experience great success in the future or financial ruin. (Not kidding) If you think things should be made in America, this is where you can help make it happen!
MORE
We aren’t looking to get rich. We just want to create a successful company that makes a great product that people love and that is a great place to work. We don’t have extra money yet, but we always try to give back to the community any way we can. We donate bats to auction for good causes and to local sports programs to help support them. We “upcycle” all of our sawdust and scrap wood for free to the community so that it doesn’t go to waste. We pay extra for the power we use in the Blue Sky program so we get as much of the power we use as possible from wind and solar. With your help, we plan to be great neighbors and good citizens! The MacDougalls and baseball players everywhere thank you for your generosity and support!
Some "Tangible Karma" as thanks for your support:
Donate:
$200 -- We'll send you a T-shirt or hat branded with the MacDougall Bats logo.
$500 -- Get a 20% discount on a bat once a year for 2 years.
$1000 -- The bat of your choice, personalized just for you!
Fundraising team: Team MacDougall (2)
John MacDougall
Organizer
Bend, OR
Ian MacDougall
Team member
