Pickleball’s rapid growth has created opportunities for entrepreneurs to build businesses around a sport that has evolved from a recreational pastime into a competitive and increasingly global market. CRBN Pickleball is one of the brands that has grown alongside that expansion.
Founded in 2021 by childhood friends Kyle Goguen and Garrett Gosselin, CRBN began with a performance-focused carbon fiber pickleball paddle at a time when Goguen says much of the market was still centered on products designed for more casual players. The company has since expanded its lineup to include multiple paddle series, bags, eyewear, and other accessories aimed at players looking to improve their game.
Goguen brought years of e-commerce experience to the company, including experience selling through Amazon from a previous business. CRBN initially focused on selling through its own website because demand was outpacing its ability to keep products in stock, but the company eventually expanded onto Amazon as its supply chain caught up. Goguen says Amazon has since helped CRBN reach a larger customer base while Fulfillment by Amazon has allowed the company to scale without building the fulfillment infrastructure required to handle that growth internally.
At Amazon Accelerate 2026, I spoke with Goguen about how CRBN got started, the company’s approach to product innovation, its decision to sell on Amazon, the role Amazon has played in its growth, the challenges of scaling a fast-growing product business, and what other entrepreneurs should know before entering the Amazon marketplace.
Leland McFarland:
All right. So, let’s start off with, for people who are discovering CRBN Pickleball for the first time, can you tell us a little about the company and what you guys make? I’m guessing it has to do with pickleball.
Kyle Goguen:
Yeah, that’s a good guess. So I guess first and foremost, which is a common thing, but it’s “Carbon”—so it’s like “carbon fiber” without the vowels. But I guess if it’s written, it doesn’t matter because no one’s going to be able to tell the difference anyways. But a lot of people call it C-R-B-N. And then pickleball is actually growing really fast in Asia, and they all call it C-R-B-N in Asia. I think there’s a pronunciation difficulty there, so no one can pronounce the word “carbon” in a lot of these countries. You can call it whatever you want, but technically it’s Carbon without the vowels.
Which kind of leads to the origin story and who we are. So, CRBN, we started in 2021 and designed one of the first carbon fiber-faced pickleball paddles. At the time, pickleball was growing really fast, but it was all kind of old-school technology made for your casual player. We came in and designed everything with performance in mind—catering to the person who wants to play tournaments, wants to take it serious, wants to be better. The rest is history. It started with one carbon fiber pickleball paddle, and now we’ve got a bunch of series of paddles, bags, eyewear, accessories—just catering to that person who’s trying to get better at pickleball.
Leland McFarland:
Perfect. All right, take us back to the beginning. How did you and—from what I’ve seen, Garrett is your co-founder—go from childhood friends to building a pickleball company together?
Kyle Goguen:
Yeah. So if I take us back to 2014, right out of college, I started a dog treat e-commerce business. I ran that up until around the 2021/2022 timeframe, growing that business online through Amazon and a bunch of different channels. So I had a ton of business experience—trial by fire, just learning over eight-plus years running that business.
Then in 2021, Garrett had been let go during COVID. He was a sommelier, and they didn’t need wine sommeliers at that period of time, unfortunately. So he played a ton of pickleball—like seven days a week at a really competitive level—and got really into it. He decided to design a paddle for himself because he thought the paddles at the time were pretty poor in quality and performance. He designed it, he made it, and they were sleek, black, cool-looking. Everyone asked him, “What is that? I want to get my hands on it.” But he only made them just for himself.
Enough people kept asking him that he thought, “Maybe this is a business.” He and I were always friends, so he came to me because he knew I had business experience from the pet side of things. That really is the origin story. He created this great product in a growing industry. He came to me with previous business experience, and I gave him a bunch of advice. Then I kind of just said, “Hey, if you want to formalize this and actually partner on this project…” I started playing pickleball, it was a ton of fun, and I could see the writing on the wall. You look at any keyword trends and where it’s going; the sport was clearly blowing up. So we started the business late 2021.
Leland McFarland:
Nice. All right. You already had experience building an e-commerce business before CRBN. When Garrett came to you with the idea, what made you believe that there was a real business opportunity rather than just a good product?
Kyle Goguen:
Yeah, so I sort of alluded to this a little bit, but we went and looked at all the search trend data that we could find, because that was my background coming from the e-commerce world. Looking on Amazon, Google, and anywhere else where we could see search volume for pickleball and how that was looking over time. The graph told the whole story: it was basically zero and going massively up and to the right year over year.
You could see that trend, and you could look on Amazon and different marketplaces and see that it was still early days in terms of product development. The companies that were selling paddles at the time, frankly, weren’t overly sophisticated or performance-driven. I think it was the combination of seeing the opportunity, quantifying it through search results, knowing the products had good enough margins, and all the financial components that are important in business checking those boxes. That was what made me give it the thumbs up and tell Garrett, “Yeah, I think this is a great idea.”
Leland McFarland:
Perfect. Carbon fiber became a major part of CRBN’s identity early on. What did you see in that technology that you thought could differentiate CRBN from the paddles already on the market?
Kyle Goguen:
Gotcha. The way I would describe paddles around that era was they were just developed almost by manufacturers and designers using components that were already available in a manufacturing facility. They used components from fiberglass sheets and honeycomb structures that were already there. No one designed for pickleball from the ground up because it wasn’t a big enough industry to warrant that kind of design and care.
When Garrett came to the conclusion that a carbon fiber peel-ply surface would be a better way of doing things, it made a ton of sense. At the time, people were taking a fiberglass surface and spray-coating grit onto the surface so it would have texture to impart spin on the ball. That wasn’t very durable or consistent. When we got the prototypes of what a carbon fiber peel-ply could do, it added a ton of additional spin and durability. It checked all the boxes we were looking for, so it was very obvious that it was a superior product to what was on the market.
Leland McFarland:
All right. So pickleball has grown tremendously, but the growth has also attracted new brands. How do you differentiate CRBN in what has become a very competitive market?
Kyle Goguen:
I think the first thing is innovation. The focus for Garrett and myself from the get-go was always pushing the sport forward from a technology standpoint. That’s still where we put the majority of our time, effort, and resources. We’re always trying to push things forward and make things that are better than years past.
I think there’s a level of authenticity that we have that a lot of brands don’t have. Garrett was playing at a very high level, playing in some pro events, deciding whether to pursue a pro pickleball career or start a paddle brand. Luckily, he chose starting a paddle brand with me. But the authenticity was there: he was actually good at the sport and cared about the sport. He was the customer we were designing for.
Since then, I started playing when I got involved in the business. I play on a very regular basis—probably three or four times a week. So I am also the customer, and our team is as well. We design things that we want and know will make us better, and therefore make our customers better.
Where we’ve seen others falter is that there have been a lot of competitors coming from other industries trying to take advantage of the growth who don’t have that same level of authenticity. Whether it’s from other racket sports or sporting goods companies—multi-billion dollar companies—they just throw their brand on a basic pickleball paddle and think their brand will carry them. But the way pickleball works, at least thus far, is that players want things that are authentically good and designed for the sport. A lot of these bigger brands missed that mark because they thought they could just come in and skip the steps of actually understanding what players need.
Leland McFarland:
Cool. All right. CRBN initially grew outside of Amazon. What eventually made you decide that the time was right to start selling through Amazon’s store?
Kyle Goguen:
Luckily for me, I had a ton of experience selling on Amazon from my previous business, so I knew the potential and opportunity presented by Amazon. That includes a marketplace with a huge number of customers that we had yet to tap into, but also Amazon’s FBA network, their ad network, and all of these different tools that allow you to scale up fast with limited capital needs.
I knew that all existed. The only reason we didn’t launch on day one on Amazon was simply because we couldn’t stay in stock on our website. Because it was such an innovative and different product, the manufacturing supply chain just didn’t exist for it yet, so our capacity was limited. Because we kept running out of stock, it made sense to sell on our website. As soon as our supply chain caught up, then it was a no-brainer. Instantly we knew we’d go on Amazon, take advantage of FBA, and scale up really quickly without having to build out a ton of fulfillment capabilities. It was more a matter of timing of when, not if, we were going to launch on Amazon.
Leland McFarland:
Okay. Since making that decision, how has Amazon changed the way that CRBN reaches customers or grows the business?
Kyle Goguen:
It’s opened up a massive customer base that we were previously not tapping into. Obviously, Amazon has a huge amount of customers in general and a huge amount who are Prime members who want to take advantage of fast, free shipping. I’m in the same boat as a consumer—in this day and age, people want things as fast as possible. That’s the case with pickleball. If you look at paddles as an example, you get excited to invest in a new paddle and you want to play with it as soon as possible, or maybe you’re buying it for a tournament coming up this weekend and you need it today so you can get practice time in.
It’s allowed us to capture that customer who is locked into Prime membership. Also, the deal days and holidays—there are just so many eyeballs on Amazon around Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Prime Day, etc. Of course, we run our own promotions on our website during those periods, but there’s an immense amount of people we couldn’t attract in any other channel or retail source.
Leland McFarland:
Nice. All right. One of the biggest challenges for a growing product company is fulfillment and infrastructure. How has Amazon helped CRBN manage that side of growth?
Kyle Goguen:
FBA makes it easy. Having run a warehouse in my past business, there are pros and cons. The biggest con is capacity constraints and labor constraints. Being able to flex up and down depending on the season or how much you’re growing—you’re always guessing how many people you need or how much space you need, and you never really know. FBA allows you to scale up quickly—literally instantly. You can go from nothing to a massive business overnight, and they can handle the volume during deal days like Cyber Monday and Black Friday without you having to bring in temp workers. They’ve got it all handled, so we can focus on product development, marketing, and the things that really move the needle, while essentially outsourcing the operations side to Amazon.
Leland McFarland:
Okay. CRBN was selected by Amazon as a Rising Star and featured in a series about the company. What did that recognition mean for CRBN, and how has your relationship with Amazon evolved as the business has grown?
Kyle Goguen:
It was an honor to be selected as a Rising Star. It was a really cool experience—Amazon sent a video crew out to our office, and they spent a handful of days with us. It was something I was not used to, being interviewed and followed around. But it was really cool to see.
Most importantly, internally, our employees were really excited about it. All the hard work they’ve put into the product and the business was being showcased by Amazon. Most importantly to me, it was cool recognition of what we’ve all built.
Outside of that, it garnered a ton of exposure externally, which is terrific for the brand in terms of awareness and sales to an audience we maybe wouldn’t have had exposure to. Taking it a step further past Amazon, other marketplaces and retailers see that kind of thing, and it adds a level of legitimacy that is hard to garner. Conversations with retailers were far easier because Amazon put their stamp of approval on our business and products, making other retailers want a piece of it too.
Leland McFarland:
Okay. When you’re selling through both your own e-commerce operation and Amazon, how do you think about the role each channel plays in the overall business?
Kyle Goguen:
Our philosophy has always been that we want to sell in all of the marketplaces, channels, or stores that our customer shops in. Honestly, I don’t care if you want to buy it from Amazon, from our website, or from a physical brick-and-mortar store. As long as you’re loyal to CRBN and you like our products, that’s my priority. Where you want to shop is your decision based on your shopping behavior.
Leland McFarland:
Okay. What have been some of the biggest growing pains you’ve experienced as CRBN has gone from a relatively small startup to an established pickleball brand?
Kyle Goguen:
The biggest one early on by far was supply chain. As I mentioned, we were using new technology and new materials—things that weren’t established at existing manufacturers. Working with manufacturers to design molds, tooling, and procedures to make the products was challenging. Getting them to scale up capacity to produce more paddles in a given period of time was the most challenging thing, and we were always behind. It was a good problem to have, admittedly—better than the alternative—but it was still a massive problem, and I’m sure we left sales on the table because of it.
We were able to solve that over time as we worked with these partners on dual sourcing, efficiency, purchasing farther in advance, and smarter supply chain planning. If there’s one thing I could call out, that was for sure the biggest hurdle we’ve had.
Leland McFarland:
Okay. As an e-commerce entrepreneur, what metrics or signals do you pay the most attention to when deciding whether a product is succeeding on Amazon?
Kyle Goguen:
Specifically for Amazon, the North Star is overall sales velocity—how many units or overall revenue for a product. But we closely monitor customer feedback, whether through reviews left on Amazon or direct customer outreach, to make sure that what we believe we’ve designed aligns with customer perception and that it’s actually improving their game.
Past that, we keep a close eye on all our advertising metrics—how much money it costs to acquire a customer. When possible, we look at repurchase rates and retention. A big part of our business is not just selling someone a paddle one time, but getting them into our ecosystem so they purchase a bag, eyewear, accessories, and their next paddle with us when we launch new things.
Leland McFarland:
Okay. So you’re coming to Amazon Accelerate at a time when CRBN already has experience selling through Amazon. What are you hoping to learn or take away from this event this year?
Kyle Goguen:
I’ve been to Accelerate for at least the last three or four years, maybe longer, and I continue to come back for two main reasons.
The first and most important thing for me has been networking, both with other sellers and with Amazonians. From the seller standpoint, you meet people selling all different types of products who are in the same boat. They share strategies and fixes, building a network of close-knit friends who are willing to share.
On the Amazon side of things, we get to hear about new features Amazon is rolling out in advance, get access to Amazon employees and executives, and escalate any issues directly through support staff in person rather than trying to get a problem solved through Seller Support messages. It’s a whole other level of intimate access to the Amazon team.
Leland McFarland:
Awesome. When you’re at an event like Amazon Accelerate, how do you decide which new tools or opportunities are actually worth pursuing for CRBN, rather than chasing every new e-commerce trend?
Kyle Goguen:
My priority at the event is to absorb as much as possible and meet as many people as possible. I select sessions based on our business needs and my experience. I come away with a ton of notes, present them to our team, and then we prioritize: what actually moves the needle, what’s a distraction, and what’s just nice to know. We run it through a set of criteria to analyze what can move the needle most immediately.
Leland McFarland:
From another small business owner who has a successful product or is considering selling on Amazon for the first time, what do you wish you could tell them before they got started?
Kyle Goguen:
If you sell a product online, you generally have to be on Amazon. There’s an immense amount of customers loyal to Amazon, and if you’re not here, you’re missing out. So my first piece of advice is just do it.
Past actually selling, take it seriously. Some sellers believe it’s just a marketplace where you list products and sales come through the door. That might be the case for some, but most of the time it requires the same level of care and effort that you put into your own website. It’s not a “set it and forget it” platform—you have to optimize listings, run ads, and put in full effort if you expect a serious return.
Leland McFarland:
Finally, final question: when you look at how far CRBN has come in just a few years, what are you most excited about for the next stage of your company?
Kyle Goguen:
Good question. What I’m most excited about with CRBN is, honestly, more of the same. We have some really exciting innovations that we’ve been working on for years, so actually bringing these new paddles to market is exciting to me.
Past that is seeing pickleball grow not just in the US, but internationally. We’ve already started expanding into Asia and Europe. Visiting in person, I see that same exact excitement in countries where pickleball is new that I felt back in 2021 when we started. I want to be at the forefront of that growth, help the sport grow because I care about it, and position CRBN as one of the leaders in other countries, just like we are in the US.
Leland McFarland:
Perfect. That’s all I got for you. Thank you so much!
Kyle Goguen:
Yeah, thank you!
CRBN’s story illustrates how a fast-growing market can create opportunities for small businesses, but also how taking advantage of that opportunity requires more than simply identifying a trend. Goguen and Gosselin combined firsthand knowledge of pickleball with e-commerce experience, product development, supply-chain planning, and a willingness to invest in a product designed specifically for the needs of serious players.
For Goguen, Amazon has become an important part of that growth strategy. Access to Amazon’s customer base, advertising tools, major shopping events, and FBA infrastructure has allowed CRBN to expand its reach while keeping more of its internal attention focused on product development and marketing.
His advice for small businesses considering Amazon is also straightforward: being present on the marketplace is only the beginning. Sellers still need to optimize listings, advertise their products, monitor customer feedback, and give the channel the same attention they would give their own e-commerce operation.
Looking ahead, CRBN plans to continue developing new paddle technology while expanding internationally. Goguen said the growth he is now seeing in markets such as Asia and Europe reminds him of the excitement surrounding pickleball in the U.S. when CRBN launched in 2021. For the company, the next stage is about continuing to innovate while positioning the brand alongside the sport as pickleball reaches a larger global audience.
