“A few strike out without map or chart | Where never a man has been | From the beaten path they draw apart | To see what no man has seen. | There are deeds they hunger alone to do; | Though battered and bruised and sore, | They blaze the path for the many, who | Do nothing not done before.” Edgar Guest
It takes courage to pursue an idea. Especially when everyone around you is advising against it. And so, we can safely say that Curtis Levangie is a man of courage. It was 1987. At the time, Curtis was an avid outdoorsman—in addition to being a celebrated entrepreneur. When he stumbled upon an idea for a sturdy saw that could easily collapse and safely strap on to a snowmobile or an all-terrain, Curtis immediately recognized its value and decided to invest in it. Here’s where the courage comes in: he believed so strongly in this idea that he decided to take on the task of developing the product himself. His consultants and advisors told him not to do it. But the idea had sparked something in Curtis and he remained persistent. It took him three years to develop the Take-Down Buck Saw but he stuck with it. As it turns out, what started as a tool for clearing paths would soon be blazing trails.