Nick Ponte knows things. Clocking in at around forty books a year covering everything from economics to politics to sociology, it would be hard for him not to. Five years ago he took the test to become a fireman.
“Thank God I failed it,” recalls the thirty-three year old, who these days is a bona fide member of the Hawaii digerati. Firemen make a good living on Maui but next year Ponte’s digital operations are set to take in north of five million as he completes his fourth full year of operation.
It didn’t necessarily have to turn out that way. Nick, like a great many of his peers, spent a lot of his formative years at the beach, hanging around with friends he doesn’t see much of these days.
Though an unusually large number of them return home, most of Maui’s best and brightest, like Nick, head for the mainland at some point. But he would take a slightly different route in acquiring the education, seasoning and polish which allows natives like him to flourish in a competitive and difficult to navigate Hawaii marketplace.
An uneven family life was capped tragically when Nick and his three brothers lost their mother to a drug overdose.
“We never had much money growing up and, particularly after my mom passed away, I constantly worried about how the future was going to unfold for me.” It’s a lament you hear over and over from some of the most successful people: a fear of economic uncertainty.
“You can get past whatever obstacles you decide to get past. Whether it’s family circumstance or the next business challenge; it’s all about making up your mind and following through. It’s actually not even complicated. But good Lord, it’s not easy.”
Before finding his way in the technology marketing space, Nick spent his time like many other Hawaiian teens, checking the tide tables and maybe living a little too fast. Nearing twenty, Nick continued to drift through a series of dead-end jobs, spending long days at the beach surfing and… not much else.
“I was just a wild boy from Hawaii. As famous and beautiful and desirable as it is, Maui’s not the easiest place in the world for a kid to discover business unless you’re somehow connected to the Big Five sugar industry families” Hawaii closed its last sugar mill in 2016, right around the time Ponte started figuring out the internet.
After almost killing himself in a car accident at nineteen, a family friend from Europe invited Nick to Switzerland. Maybe he could reset his life. The man suspected that the world held more in store for Nick than Mai Tais and sunsets.
“It sounded like a dream. I wasn’t going to the mainland for college, I was going to Europe with the smartest guy I had ever met.” And his new mentor was wealthy. Over the next few years, Nick traveled around Europe and met his mentor’s friends. They were artists, businessmen, politicians; movers and shakers from all over the continent. It was rare air for a country boy from literally the middle of nowhere. Ponte soaked it all up like a sponge.
He took special note of the fact that although his mentor was a primarily a physician, the man did lots of other things. He invented medical tools and devices, invested his money in a studied, logical way and spent a great deal of time and energy cultivating and maintaining a network of friends and associates of outstanding caliber. Nick saw a life of mobility, accomplishment and wealth. A life that eschewed routines and a way of accumulating wealth that enhanced more than just your bank account. It would prove to be a blueprint.
Buzzing between European capitals with a veritable Renaissance Man arguably provided a better education for Ponte than the State U’s on the West Coast where Hawaii kids usually go. It was certainly a hell of a lot cooler deal. Most kids from Makawao have never even heard of Monaco; Nick’s the only one of them who’s ever driven it’s two mile Grand Prix circuit in a yellow Ferrari.
“I remember just asking him questions for hours and hours about everything I saw in each of the countries we traveled in. Endless questions, all of which he answered.”
They discussed the origins of civilization, art, history. There didn’t seem to be anything the man couldn’t shed light on. These experiences set the bar unbelievably high when Nick returned home to Maui. He certainly didn’t want to go back to work at some beachfront resort, or end up earning a living at Maui’s outsized airport like his father had.
He set his sights on becoming a certified Porsche mechanic. His father had been an expert mechanic and Nick was good with his hands. With the right credentials, certifications and skills a guy who works on German sports cars can make a lot of money.
Even though Ponte was proving himself to be a gifted high-end mechanic with a bright future, something still didn’t feel right about his new path and one afternoon a friend described an issue he was having with his website.
Nick had no idea how he might go about fixing his friend’s problem but the discussion intrigued him and he offered to help. A handful of Google searches, two hours and four thousand keystrokes later Nick had earned his first two hundred dollars from the information economy. The idea clicked in his mind like a tumbler in a safecracker’s stethoscope: It’s not about the number of hours you can bill someone for, it’s about the actual value you can deliver.
The die was cast. After that initial engagement Nick became completely obsessed with how to sell more just like it. He found that he could educate himself on a topic one day and turn that information into value for his customers the next day. He had heard the information economy happened fast and was now learning first-hand what that really meant. And he saw the possibilities.
Nick quickly developed relationships with local businesses who were being radically underserved in the Maui market. Early clients responded to Nick’s obvious passion and his new business was jet-fueled by an enormous creativity that had been waiting thirty years, looking for a place to happen. And he started making money. More money than anyone in his family ever had. More than almost anyone he knew.
“I remember that first year when I hit six figures in revenue and I realized that if I was going to work on a Porsche, I wanted it to be my own Porsche.” Ponte never picked up a wrench for hire again. And he ended up getting a tricked out Toyota Tacoma Pickup to carry his surfboards– which is similar to a Porsche in certain circles out in Maui.
He partnered with another budding entrepreneur in the space and things took off for them fast as they executed relentlessly on their mission: To help as many entrepreneurs as possible hit $100,000 in their first year.
Less than five years later Nick and his partner Tom Gaddis have built Offline Sharks into a multi-million dollar educational software platform and a community of participants in over a dozen countries. And to date thousands of those student-customers have broken through to add more revenue on the board.
“We show people exactly what we’re doing to build and grow our own marketing businesses. The rest is details.” And Ponte and company execute those dreary details extremely well. In 2020 the Pacific Business News named him a Hawaii Business Leader. The award was made in connection with Nick’s invaluable work assisting thousands of local businesses with information and assistance in accessing COVID19 CARES act relief programs.
In addition to assisting other young online entrepreneurs in breaking the six-figure barrier through his Offline Sharks platform Ponte delivers traditional online ad agency services through Nick Ponte Marketing. Nick also continues to help local businesses do “more than survive” the pandemic through the innovative Hawaii Thrive Initiative. Hawaii Thrive is an information and community service platform that has helped thousands of businesses and customers connect – and thrive – through the pandemic.