![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Roberts-Cropped-Headshot.jpg\")
Ryan Roberts ’12 created TreadTop.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cThe designs on the market, they were OK. You had different colors, but there\u2019s nothing to really express your style. If you were into luxury cars or motorcycles or 4x4s, there\u2019s nothing for that automotive market,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I just kind of had an epiphany one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most unique feature of the TreadTop is the screw-off top that resembles a tire. The stainless-steel base keeps liquid in bottles or cans cool for hours by using double-wall, vacuum-insulation technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cTreadTop is not a conventional water bottle, but I still categorize it as a product in this industry since it reduces waste and utilizes the same insulation technology catalyzing industry growth,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cUsers increasingly drink the entirety of their beverage, since the last sip is as cold as the first. This reduces gross consumption at a unit level \u2014<\/b> drink more beers and sodas to completion, and you’ll ultimately open fewer.\u201d<\/p>\n
TreadTop is available for purchase on Amazon<\/a> for $19.99, and Roberts is working to secure agreements that would allow him to move inventory in different ways. The executive director of Furman\u2019s new Office for Innovation and Entrepreneurship<\/a>,\u00a0Anthony Herrera,\u00a0introduced him to some of those potential business partners\u00a0after the two met at the Furman Business Series breakfast in Atlanta in the fall.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said, \u2018this is what I\u2019m doing,\u2019 and gave me a prototype \u2026 What he needed was a plan, and he needed contacts,\u201d Herrera said. \u201cWhen you talk about entrepreneurs, people think there\u2019s this magical, technical skill or infusion of money that happens, and a lot of times what really needs to happen is connecting to individuals who can provide a resource or an open door \u2026 So that\u2019s really what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n Herrera is slightly underplaying the support he has provided, according to Roberts.<\/p>\n \u201cAnthony is awesome. He is super well-connected, very supportive and just enthusiastic about helping,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cWe chat all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n A TreadTop holder (above) keeps a bottled drink cold but can work for cans.<\/p><\/div>\n Roberts still has a day job as a senior product marketing manager for AT&T in Atlanta. But it was more than four years spent at Crown & Caliber, also in Atlanta, that gave him the knowledge and confidence to believe he could launch his own business venture as he helped Crown & Caliber grow into a multi-million-dollar company.<\/p>\n \u201cI was one of the original members at an e-commerce startup here in Buckhead, and every step along the way I kept analyzing our business model and identifying its strengths and considering ways to adapt the successful components to other fields of business,” Roberts said.<\/p>\n He founded Arbin Ventures LLC in October of 2017 to house TreadTop with the ultimate goal of producing traditional reusable water bottles.<\/p>\n Roberts wishes he\u2019d had access to Herrera while at Furman, though he admits he never envisioned the path he\u2019s on when he was an undergraduate.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has that moment (of inspiration) at different times. Some people know in high school; some people know in college, and some people don\u2019t know until they\u2019re in their 40s. I don\u2019t know if I would have had the confidence to go and jump into it when I was pursuing English in college,” Roberts said. “I personally needed a few years working at a startup before I knew what to look for, but I know there were a ton of friends that I had that would have been sitting in Anthony\u2019s office all the time talking about stuff. And frankly, if he\u2019d been there maybe I would have realized I could have started doing something then.”<\/p>\n![\"Someone](\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/TreadTop-Bottle-River.jpg\")