Origin Story: PODS and Red Rover

PRESS THE PLAY TRIANGLE ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE PODS/RED ROVER ORIGIN STORY

The beginning of Pete Warhurst’s career was defined by tragedy. A young girl was hit by a car at the gas station where 15-year-old Pete was working. He did what he could at the time – he got the fire department there as soon as possible, but it wasn’t enough to save the girl. The feeling that he could have done more with more knowledge drove Pete to join the fire department. He wanted to get the knowledge and the opportunity to exercise that knowledge in helping others. 

Pete has always been pragmatic and a problem solver. It was these skills that, despite having little exposure to tech, got Pete “voluntold” by the Fire Chief to help implement the first 911 system in Tampa Bay. That work ultimately lead to Pete leaving the fire department to start his first company – a 911 system support platform. 

Pete and his partners sold that company to Bell Atlantic.

Pete enjoyed semi-retired life for a short while, but got the itch to put his money to work. He built a storage facility near his house and opened for business. It did quite well and before long Pete start searching for other locations to build on. There’s a specific formula for population density, demographics and land prices that need to align for a site to be right for a new storage facility, and Pete struggled to fine one. It was during this time that Pete’s pragmatism kicked in again and he had the idea to take the storage to the people. PODS was born.  

Click the play arrow above to hear how Pete grew and sold PODS, and subsequently started Red Rover (a concept he took to, and was rejected by, PODS).