Hyzerbomb- Matt Siri Interview

When it comes to interviewing people, I try and not take up too much of their time. It is not like I don’t want to talk to them, it’s just that I know people are busy and I don’t want to take them away from anything they may be doing. However, when it comes to Matt Siri, the owner of Hyzerbomb discs which is a Disc Golf company based in Kansas but has its roots in Texas, we talked for a long time. It was close to two hours and we could have talked Disc Golf for another two hours if we both had the time. Within that conversation I learned a lot about what Matt does so I hope you enjoy.

Hyzerbomb is a company that is more of a household name than some other companies that I have talked to and talked about. But, I wanted to know everything I could about Hyzerbomb. So, I asked Matt how it got its start and he said, “I bought the company three years after it started, it used to be just a tournament and apparel scene”. He explained that the company wasn’t about Discs at first, they just wanted to sell t-shirts like the popular “What Would Jesus Throw” t-shirts. But, they soon grew out from just that and Matt told me “We worked with Ogio before Dynamic Discs did, but then a year before I bought the company they partnered with Millenium.” The company was growing steadily and Matt continued to keep the company rolling. To continue the growth for the company he told me, “I was a tour manager at the time and I signed the first PO for the Flak X bag.” As well as, “The year I bought it was the first year of the Nick Hyde Memorial Tournament.” The start of the company was strong and even today has grown to be a household name in Disc Golf.

Hyzerbomb Discs currently has four discs in their arsenal. They are the Tank, Moab, Mortar, and Veteran. Going from putter, fairway, mid-range, and fairway respectively. I know that four discs does not seem like that much for a company, but, they are becoming a well-known name for only having four discs currently out. Something that I learned when talking to Matt is that these Discs are not necessarily brand-new ideas. He told me that “The tank is just a beadless rhino, the MOAB is just an old Viper with new plastic, and the Veteran is just the Eagle-X” he also mentioned that the Mortar is “just a beadles Gator.” So, all these known discs are just throwback Innova Discs. They sell so well because these are molds that Innova no longer uses so Matt decided to take them and use a different name for them. Clearly, he has done a great job and continues to make Hyzerbomb what it is. He also told me a story on the Mortar disc, as some of us may know, Jeremy Koling is the sponsored player for the Mortar. Matt told me that “Nate Sexton and Jeremy wanted to both have the Mortar sponsor for themselves, but, Nate understood my reasoning for going with Jeremy and we all are still friends now.” May not be the most exciting story, but I think it’s great that even major names like Jeremy Koling and Nate Sexton both want to fight for the right to have their name on your companies disc.

I like to know more about the person as well as the company. When talking to Matt I wanted to know how he got his start within the sport and not just how the company got its start. Like most people, Matt was a competitor from a young age. When he stopped playing competitively in other sports “I missed the competition, so Disc Golf was the outlet for it.” He began to compete and play in tournaments when he could and when he wasn’t the tournament director. He told me that “I used to trade off tournament plays when I did tournaments with another guy, we would switch off who would play tournaments every other time.” He wanted to continue playing and said that “it is the perfect low impact exercise for me and great competition for that side as well.” Not only does he think the competition is great, but he found many friends within the sport too. It is a team game as well as a solo game and he told me “The friendship’s that I found kept me here, it filled the perfect void for me.” He values all the friends he has made and credits them to why he does what he does.

Talking about a company specifically, being a consumer myself I think it is important to know why I should give my business to that company. So, I simply asked Matt “What makes you different?” because I wanted to truly know why he is different than the rest. He told me, trying not to sound cocky “We truly do not have a mold that is unknown. Our tournaments are better, there are very few who stand in the same realm of us.” I can neither agree nor disagree with his statements because I haven’t purchased anything nor have I been to any of the tournaments to say anything either way, but, from what I have seen I could easily believe him. When it comes to his events he went on to say that “we start and end on time, make sure it is all organized and pristine, we also pride ourselves on being perfect on the little details.” He described what all goes on in a tournament or event, and let me tell you, the little details matter more than the big ones. So, focusing on the small details I think is a smart idea and something to be known for. A detail that I was told was that “we are a family with Innova, so, the costs are lower and the benefits are better because of that.” Which, I did not know that he was a partner with Innova, but that does help his events and help get his name out there as well.

With only having four discs, I wanted to know which ones should be used for beginners. Since he is partnered with Innova, he has a wide range of discs that he told me to use for beginners. To start he told me that “Beginners should start with a mid-range or a putter because they are the most forgiving discs to develop your form from.” Which I did not know but is good to know when I want to practice my form on my own. For just discs his list included “Shark or buzz are good to start with, I think the Tank is the best for overstable putters, the Omega from Millennium is a good disc for straight flying as well. For drivers, I would say the Polaris LS or JLS from Millenium are both good choices.” So, he ran the gamut on discs, but they all seem to be good for beginners after doing some research on them myself. The list is long, but, it is worth the length and there is some variety as well to fit your needs as a player.

Hyzerbomb, however small it may seem, does still sponsor players from time to time. Every company is different so I wanted to see how Hyzerbomb wants to have their players be for sponsorship. The answer was simple “we want the full package” Matt told me. What that means is “Being an active member of their community, working with a shop, being a positive influence, etc.” Basically, being someone who is going to grow the brand and represents the brand with the best intentions. They don’t want individuals who are “liabilities, not accountable, or who may be detrimental to the company.” He did tell me though “There is always one waiver take on someone, only one though” Meaning, there is always at least one guy who could be not perfect to what they want. Continuing to grow Matt told me “we are not quite ready for a street team yet, we are starting to branch out and grab people away from the home turf though.” I would be on the lookout for new members to immerge from their team in the next coming year or so.

As with all my interviews, I always want them to get one final word in to the readers so that they can see something they might not have known about the person or the company. Matt was no different in being willing to answer this question with a great response. He wanted to tell me “Hyzerbomb is truly a one man operation, top to bottom I handle everything as well as work a full 40 hour job on top of it. It is a labor of love so I am sorry that I do not respond as fast as I would like when it comes to you guys, I get busy.” His last piece of advice for everyone was “Go out and find something that you love to do and go do that, if you get stuck somewhere that you don’t love, it won’t make the days any easier. I found mine so go find yours.”

I would like to thank Matt for letting me talk to him and pick his brain about Hyzerbomb and him in general. He was a great person to talk to and I easily could have talked Disc Golf for a lot longer with him. If you would like to know more about Hyzerbomb, you can find them at hyzerbomb.com or follow them on social media!

Picture credit goes to hyzerbomb.com