Building a Better Garage: A Q&A with Dayne Rusch, CEO of Vyper Industrial

I’m Dayne Rusch, CEO and co-founder of Vyper Industrial, which I co-founded with my dad and brother. At Vyper, we make America’s best shop chairs, carts, creepers, and more. Our products are used by some of the biggest names in the industry — Richard Rawlings, Adam LZ, Chip Foose, Jay Leno, and so many more.

We are taking over the garage industry by bringing actual high-quality, American-made products to the garage and automotive market.

Trust starts with delivering on your promises. In our market, customers depend on their equipment every day, and they’ll quickly see whether a product lives up to the claims behind it. Every interaction matters: how you answer their questions, how the product performs, and how you respond when something goes wrong.

At Vyper, my approach is to let the quality of our products and the way we treat people build our reputation. That means listening closely to the people using our equipment, taking their feedback seriously, and being accountable after the sale.

Authority comes from understanding your customers’ work well enough to help them do it better. You earn it by solving real problems, explaining the thinking behind your products, and consistently giving people a reason to recommend you. A customer putting their own reputation behind your business is one of the strongest signs that you’ve earned their trust.

Make sure you’re building a team of killers who are smarter and better than you. Some may say hiring the best talent is expensive, but I say it’s even more expensive not to have the best players.

Don’t step over dollars to chase pennies.

The idea actually came from my dad, Chris Rusch, a legend in the automotive and metal-shaping community. He was fed up with both the cheap overseas products that were infiltrating the garage market and with injuring himself while using those cheap red stools.

So he built his own overbuilt shop chair for personal use.

It worked great for him because he could work comfortably, do what he enjoyed in the garage, and avoid the aches, pains, and injuries from tipping over.

My brother and I saw it in his garage during Christmas, and it quickly became a “lightbulb moment.” From there, I built a website, hired a buddy to take some photos & videos, and used some of my dad’s influencer connections to send free samples. Slowly but surely, the word started to spread.

Don’t get it twisted: the first 3-4 years were definitely an uphill battle, as we had to build the brand while proving Vyper — albeit the more expensive option —is the best of the best.

Finding the best talent. It took us a while, and it was difficult. Early on, we didn’t have any money. We had no credibility, and as a high-growth e-commerce business in Wisconsin, it was tough to recruit the exact people we needed to match the brand’s vision.

We had to build grit as we set high expectations for the team early on (still do) and made difficult team decisions as we continued to scale the company.

We got through it with time. As the brand and notoriety grew, more people wanted to be a part of what we were building. I will say the combination of our brand-new, state-of-the-art facility alongside one of the busiest local highways, and finding our sweet spot with events like Vyperfest — where over 5,000 people attended in the pouring rain —proves our team is always thinking bigger and better.

I am grateful to that core team. They were pivotal in getting Vyper through some of its hardest times, and still are. The “OG’s” are still with us today and building out their own teams, with the same grit as day one.

I have learned that no matter where you are in the business, you will never be where you want to be.

Hit an impressive revenue goal? Still not good enough.

New website launched? Design could be better.

Updated packaging designs? Great, but here’s what we can do next.

I used to let this “good isn’t great” mentality ruin my mood, but now I let it drive me. It’s genuinely a dream to embark on this journey with a team of brilliant, like-minded individuals.

In my opinion, if your team shares your ambition, your brand will keep reaching new & bigger heights.