Pierre Naveau - Sledding to success

Sometime in the winter of 2013-14, Pierre Naveau looked up at a street sign and had to grin. The street’s name was “Schlittelweg” – “sledding lane” – although there was no snow to be seen. That’s not very surprising, since the Uetliberg in Zurich isn’t a particularly high mountain. But for Pierre, who had recently moved to the area to study product design at Zurich University of the Arts, his encounter with this sign triggered more than just a grin... 

Many things ran through his mind: Sledding. What tremendous fun that always was. As a child. As an adult. Always with friends. In the snow. How disappointing when there wasn’t any snow. But wait! Didn’t we like to sit on skateboards and catapult down the hillside streets? In the summer! Sledding in the summer!

With that, the U-Sled idea was born. It’s a sled that needs no snow and can still be steered like a real sled. Not like a summer toboggan run, but with everything that makes sledding fun – shifting your weight, looking for the ideal line. And most of all: overtaking, stopping, laughing. Sledding has a lot to do with social interaction.

With this inspiration, Pierre Naveau came full circle. He had always wanted to become a product designer, but before starting his studies, he had to show considerable courage. After all, he had already established himself as a successful marketing and sales manager. For Renault in Paris he had been in charge of marketing “family cars”, and later, for Liebherr, he had sold gigantic harbour cranes. He left all of that behind him now.

The U-Sled quickly turbocharged his new career. For one thing, the sled offered him an ideal topic for his Master’s project. It also gave him courage to take a second step – becoming an entrepreneur immediately after graduation. Because, whenever he talked about his U-Sled, people would get excited.

But, as we know, courage alone is not enough. So Pierre received entrepreneurial coaching from Creative Hub. This turned out to be another stroke of luck. Creative Hub helped him create a smart business plan, which stipulated that the U-Sled would first be established with companies renting recreational and sport equipment. Which meant that the sled needed to become yet more rugged. And that’s where coach Pierre Dubois came in. Formerly a product designer at Mammut, Dubois covered the topic of sourcing: Where do I find the best materials and the best technology to solve my problems? Pierre Naveau remembers taking so many notes that he could hardly keep up. His biggest take-home message from the sessions: “Find mentors, partners, coaches, helpers! Without them, it won’t work.”

One strong supporter was Pierre’s uncle by marriage – an experienced entrepreneur whom Pierre invited to join the company, ALPN Design, which was founded in 2015. The year 2016 was spent testing the U-Sled, improving and fine-tuning it until it was ready to market.

By now, the first orders have arrived. One customer is Parpan, in the Lenzerheide holiday region: The village wants to use the U-Sled to cope with an occasional lack of snow. The Bernese Oberland region has also expressed interest. And, one day, Pierre Naveau plans to distribute the U-Sled worldwide. In regions that also have special “sledding lanes” – ones without any snow.