# Marucci Sports - Kurt Ainsworth

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2024-12-16
- Length: 1h 10m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-12-16-marucci-sports-kurt-ainsworth

## Summary

Kurt Ainsworth, co-founder and CEO of Marucci Sports, explains how he and partners Jack Marucci and Joe Lawrence built a wooden bat company in his backyard after his MLB pitching career ended due to injury. The company faced a critical near-death experience in 2012 when the NCAA decertified their aluminum bats for testing above performance limits, forcing a costly recall and melt-down of inventory. Ainsworth details the strategic pivot to regain trust, the acquisition of Victus, and the eventual sale to Fox Factory, leading to Marucci becoming the official bat of Major League Baseball in 2025.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-12-16-marucci-sports-kurt-ainsworth#t=0) Introduction: Kurt Ainsworth and Marucci Sports
- [5:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-12-16-marucci-sports-kurt-ainsworth#t=339) Ainsworth's MLB Career and Injury
- [16:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-12-16-marucci-sports-kurt-ainsworth#t=961) Starting Marucci Bat Company in the Backyard
- [35:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-12-16-marucci-sports-kurt-ainsworth#t=2144) Transition to Aluminum Bats and Marucci Sports
- [52:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-12-16-marucci-sports-kurt-ainsworth#t=3140) The 2012 NCAA Decertification Crisis
- [57:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-12-16-marucci-sports-kurt-ainsworth#t=3460) Recovery, Victus Acquisition, and Growth
- [1:04:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-12-16-marucci-sports-kurt-ainsworth#t=3840) Acquisition by Compass and Fox Factory

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Quality & yield](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/quality-and-yield)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)

## Most relevant to

founders before launch, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Marucci Sports (company)
- Louisville Slugger (company)
- Victus (company)
- Fox Factory (company)
- Compass (company)
- NCAA (other)
- MLB (other)
- BBCOR (other)

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- [Rooting for the Home Team with Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2026-05-27-rooting-for-the-home-team-with-paul-freedman-and-bryan-carmel) (Oxide and Friends)
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## Citing this page

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