Summary
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Squires and Scott Smith, Founders of Altangle Cycling, where Squires serves as President and Scott is the CEO. Altangle Cycling makes high-quality, innovative products that help solve common problems associated with owning and maintaining a bicycle. After growing up in an entrepreneurial family and in the outdoors, both brothers journeyed down separate paths after college. Squires went into industrial construction, and Scott worked in corporate finance before they ventured into the startup world to bring Altangle Cycling to life. Throughout the episode, James, Squires and Scott discuss the intention behind Altangle Cycling, why it relocated to Bentonville and what it’s like being business partners as brothers.

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‍Show Notes
(0:52) Introduction to Squires and Scott
(1:21) About Squires
(3:18) About Scott
(8:08) The History behind Altangle Cycling
(10:54) About Altangle Cycling
(13:43) From Idea to Reality
(26:27) Altangle’s Move to Bentonville
(30:38) Being Embraced by the Bentonville Community
(34:44) Benefits of Having Altangle Cycling in Bentonville
(41:25) #BecauseBentonville Story
(44:06) From Banker to Founder
(46:13) Being an Inventor
(50:02) What’s Next for Altangle Cycling
(53:05) Closing Questions
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‍Links
JAMES BELL‍‍
‍BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT‍‍‍
SQUIRES SMITH
SCOTT SMITH
ALTANGLE CYCLING

Quotes
“Simply put, our mission is to make high-quality, innovative products that help solve common obstacles associated with owning and maintaining a bicycle. So we ultimately want to have a full product line that at its core helps people enjoy cycling, and all things cycling related, to their fullest extent.” – Scott Smith, (10:59)

“You can see it too, everything happening here is so incredibly intentional, you know? And when you see a city that’s growing really quickly and then the intention behind that growth inspires a lot of confidence, you’re coming into something where you can see the end goal and there’s an opportunity to be a part of the end goal.” – Squires Smith, (29:03)

“It doesn’t matter what your job is, if it’s a startup or not, it may feel a little intensified at the moment, but it’s really easy to bury yourself in your work, but Bentonville has a really good way of keeping you focused but balanced.” – Squires Smith, (35:09)

“People ask me, ‘How do you work with your brother?’ I can work with him because we’re so different and I think we have a pretty good sense of what our lane is and staying in our lane…The most important thing we had to do was trust each other.” – Scott Smith, (48:10)

Building a Brighter Biking Future for All with Altangle Cycling
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Squires and Scott Smith, Founders of Altangle Cycling, where Squires serves as President and Scott is the CEO. Altangle Cycling makes high-quality, innovative products that help solve common problems associated with owning and maintaining a bicycle. After growing up in an entrepreneurial family and in the outdoors, both brothers journeyed down separate paths after college. Squires went into industrial construction, and Scott worked in corporate finance before they ventured into the startup world to bring Altangle Cycling to life. Throughout the episode, James, Squires and Scott discuss the intention behind Altangle Cycling, why it relocated to Bentonville and what it’s like being business partners as brothers. ‍‍‍
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Altangle Cycling Innovations
The name Altangle Cycling is derived from the Smith brothers’ mission to create an alternative angle on biking and bike products. Altangle’s goal is to make the sport of cycling increasingly accessible and gratifying to every level of cyclist. Currently, the business is introducing the first of its innovative product line, the Hangar, which is a convenient and compact bike maintenance station for traveling and urban living. The Hangar is portable and can be utilized in almost any standard door frame, helping to save space.

Furthermore, Altangle’s second product solution is the A2 Lever Head, a pocket-sized attachment designed to turn a standard threaded C02 cartridge into a fully functional tire lever. The objective of both products is to allow cyclists to further immerse themselves into the sport they love by providing them with the items needed to do things better and fix things easier. Overall, Altangle was formed out of a passion for making it less complicated for cyclists to take their bikes to more places.
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“Simply put, our mission is to make high-quality, innovative products that help solve common obstacles associated with owning and maintaining a bicycle. So we ultimately want to have a full product line that at its core helps people enjoy cycling, and all things cycling related, to their fullest extent.” – Scott Smith, (10:59)
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Altangle Cycling’s Relocation to Bentonville
Though founded in Houston, the Smith brothers ultimately decided to move Altangle Cycling’s headquarters to Bentonville after being recruited to the city and visiting it for themselves. From every angle, Bentonville is an incredible fit for Altangle Cycling with it being known as the mountain biking capital of the world. Moreover, being located in Bentonville provides Altangle the opportunity to be in close proximity to its customers.
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“You can see it too, everything happening here is so incredibly intentional, you know? And when you see a city that’s growing really quickly and then the intention behind that growth inspires a lot of confidence, you’re coming into something where you can see the end goal and there’s an opportunity to be a part of the end goal.” – Squires Smith, (29:03)

One of the most enticing aspects of Bentonville’s startup culture, no matter what industry the startup is in, is how coordinated the efforts are to advance new business owners. Not only do entrepreneurs recruit other founders to the area, but they do everything they can to help the founders once they arrive. Likewise, other great advantages to being located in Bentonville are the community’s emphasis on work-life balance and the networking opportunities.
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Get Connected!
‍Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Bentonville Beacon! Join us weekly for more stories from entrepreneurs and business leaders who are making a positive impact on Bentonville’s culture, community and lifestyle. Don’t forget, Bentonville is a place where you can have more of what you want and less of what you don’t! You may reach James at JBELL@GREATERBENTONVILLE.COM or (479) 273-2841.