D2D Con 10 — Keynote Speaker
Tony Hawk
Legendary Skateboarder & Entrepreneur · Founder, The Skatepark Project
Turned pro at 14, landed the first 900 in history at 31, and built a billion-dollar brand out of a sport the industry had written off. Twice he turned down guaranteed cash from Activision to keep a royalty — the franchise went on to do roughly $1.4 billion.
Get Tickets Now1999
First 900 in History
$1.4B
Pro Skater Franchise Sales
12
Straight Years World Champion
700
Skateparks Funded
Key Facts
First Skater to Land a 900
X Games, June 1999, after more than a decade of attempts — the trick the sport had called impossible
He Bet on the Royalty, Twice
Turned down Activision’s buyout before launch, then $500,000 to sell his future royalties. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has since done about $1.4 billion
Rebuilt From $100 a Day
When skating collapsed in the 90s his income halved month after month; he refinanced his house to start Birdhouse, now a decades-old brand
Nearly 700 Skateparks
Through The Skatepark Project he has granted over $13 million to build public skateparks in all 50 states
Industry Expertise
- Entrepreneurship
- Mindset
- Resilience
- Personal Brand
- Leadership
- Keynotes
About the Speaker
Who is Tony Hawk?
Tony Hawk was just nine-years old when his brother gave him his first skateboard. By fourteen he’d turned pro, and by sixteen he was widely considered the best skateboarder on earth. In 1999, he became the first skater to ever complete a 900, and shortly thereafter, launched Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, his now billion-dollar video game franchise.
The Hawk empire includes Birdhouse Skateboards, Hawk Clothing, and the Tony Hawk Signature Series products, as well as his production company, 900 Films. In 2022, a biographical documentary film titled “Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off” by award-winning director Sam Jones debuted on HBO, giving an in-depth look at Tony’s legendary career and personal life.
Tony founded The Skatepark Project, which helps underserved communities create safe and inclusive skateparks for youth.
Speaker Promise
What You Walk Away With
Tony does not do a motivational lap around a famous trick. He walks a room through the two decisions that actually built the brand — refusing guaranteed money for a royalty, and staying in a collapsing industry on $100 a day — and what he was reading in each case that the people offering him cash were not. You leave with a sharper sense of what your own upside is worth and what it costs to keep control of it.
Why It Matters
Why Tony Matters for D2D
- Commission-only reps face his exact trade constantly: take the guaranteed thing now, or back your own upside. He took the royalty over the buyout twice and it became a $1.4 billion franchise.
- He worked through a collapse that looks a lot like a bad season on the doors — income halving month over month for years, demos for $100 a day — and his answer was to take the pay cut and start the company he owned.
- His hardest-won lesson is about owning your name. Reps building a territory and a reputation are building the same asset he signed away once and never again.
- Salesforce already put him in front of sales leaders in their Think Outside the Quota series, so this is not his first commission-driven audience.
Go Deeper
Tony Hawk Resources
How Did I Get Here? The Ascent of an Unlikely CEO
amazon.com
HAWK: Occupation Skateboarder
harpercollins.co.uk
The Skatepark Project
skatepark.org
Birdhouse Skateboards
birdhouseskateboards.com
Hawk vs Wolf (Podcast Archive)
podcasts.apple.com
Entrepreneur: The Licensing Mistake He Made
entrepreneur.com
Take the royalty, not the buyout
d2dcon.com
What Tony Speaks On
Signature Stage Programs
His named keynote, plus the two threads a commission-only room will actually use.
How Did I Get Here? The Ascent of an Unlikely CEO
His signature keynote, named after the business memoir he wrote with Pat Hawk. Authenticity, perseverance, and the long arithmetic of building a global brand from a sport nobody was betting on.
Owning the Brand You Built
Tony has been on both sides of a licensing deal. He signed a bad one early, lost control of his own name for a while, and has been blunt about it since: never give up control of your brand — not your name, not your logo, not your likeness.
Betting on Yourself When the Cheque Is Real
Twice Activision put guaranteed money on the table for his royalty. Twice he said no. The story of why he could afford to say it, and what he was reading that they weren’t.
Steal the Playbook
Three things from Tony a rep can use on Monday.
1) Take the royalty, not the buyout
Why: Activision offered a one-time payment for his name before the first game shipped. He chose per-copy royalties and out-earned that offer tenfold within two years.
How:
- Know what your upside is actually worth before someone offers to buy it from you.
- Build the runway that lets you say no — he could hold out because his house was nearly paid off.
- When the guaranteed number arrives, ask who has better information about the future: you, or the person writing the cheque.
2) Stay when the money halves
Why: “My checks were getting cut in half pretty much every month starting in 1991.” By 1994 he was doing three demos a day in a theme-park parking lot for $100.
How:
- Decide in advance what a bad season does and does not change about your plan.
- Take the pay cut and keep the position — his line was “I didn’t start this to give up on it.”
- Use the down cycle to build the thing you own. He started Birdhouse in the worst of it.
3) Never sign your name away
Why: his own stated first business mistake was a licensing deal that left him no say over what shipped under his name.
How:
- Read what rights you are handing over, especially to your own name and likeness.
- Bring in someone who actually understands the contract instead of guessing.
- Protect the brand you are building on the doors — your reputation in a territory is the asset.
Has Spoken At
- D2DCon
- Salesforce Dreamforce
- Salesforce Connections
- X Games
- Stephen F. Austin Rusche Lecture Series
D2DCon Appearances
- 2027
Quote Bank
“Never, ever give up control of your brand. Not your name, not your logo, not your likeness.”
— Tony Hawk
FAQs
Common Questions
What does Tony actually speak about?
His named keynote is How Did I Get Here? The Ascent of an Unlikely CEO, after the business memoir he wrote with Pat Hawk. It covers authenticity, perseverance, brand ownership and building something global from a niche nobody was backing.
How does his story apply to door-to-door?
He spent years taking guaranteed-money offers off the table to back his own upside, and he worked through an industry collapse on $100 a day rather than quit. That is the same arithmetic a commission-only rep runs in a bad season. Salesforce has already featured him in a series made for sales leaders.
What is The Skatepark Project?
The non-profit he founded in 2002, originally the Tony Hawk Foundation. It has granted more than $13 million to help underserved communities build public skateparks, with nearly 700 funded across all 50 states.
Other Speakers
Tony shares the stage with the biggest names in direct sales and entrepreneurship.
