Taking a swing at a pickleball startup: In corporate America, Stanley

Stanley Anderson ’79 is chief executive of Costa Pickleball, a Las Vegas–based startup that sells high-performance paddles in decorative designs. MIT Technology Review's report describes him applying management expertise from HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center to that job. He says the designs let customers “bring their identity to the court.” He is also developing a quieter paddle he expects will provide a competitive advantage.

This piece is for players comparing paddles and for readers following Stanley Anderson ’79 from MIT into the CEO job at a Las Vegas startup. It covers the decorative high-performance paddles Costa Pickleball sells, the quieter paddle he is developing, and his career at HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center. It also records his account of growing up in Chicago and the MIT lesson he says is part of why he thinks he has what it takes.

Taking a swing at a pickleball startup: what actually changed

Stanley Anderson ’79 now leads Costa Pickleball, a Las Vegas–based startup that sells high-performance paddles in decorative designs. He says the designs give customers a way to “bring their identity to the court.” Along with those paddles, he is developing a quieter type of paddle and expects it to provide a competitive advantage. He calls that project a bet on technology. The background he is applying as CEO is management expertise from HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center.

In corporate America, Anderson says, executives often assume that their peers grew up in privileged circumstances. He did not. Raised in Chicago, he says, “I spent my early years trying not to get recruited into gangs, getting shot at, watching my friends get murdered, and thinking that if I don’t leave, I will die.” He adds, “I was fortunate to survive.” He then thrived, building an impressive career at HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center before taking the CEO job at Costa Pickleball.

Taking a swing at a pickleball startup: how it works

Costa Pickleball sells high-performance paddles in decorative designs, and Anderson’s stated reason for those designs is a personal one for customers. The designs are there so customers can “bring their identity to the court.” The startup selling them is based in Las Vegas. He is also developing a quieter type of paddle, a technology bet he expects will provide a competitive advantage. He says succeeding in today’s pickleball market will be tough, which is the setting he gives both efforts.

The method he names comes from MIT, where he is Stanley Anderson ’79. “There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you are willing to put effort into it,” he says. He presents that lesson as part of why he thinks he has what it takes for Costa Pickleball. The effort he points to is management expertise from HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center, used in the CEO job on decorative paddles already for sale and a quieter paddle still in development.

Taking a swing at a pickleball startup: why it matters now

Anderson frames the moment as today’s pickleball market, which he says will be tough. Costa Pickleball is already selling high-performance paddles in decorative designs, and he is developing a quieter paddle because he expects a competitive advantage. He thinks he has what it takes, partly from an MIT lesson: “There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you are willing to put effort into it.” Stanley Anderson ’79 brings a career at HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center to the Las Vegas startup.

He sets that claim against a habit he sees in corporate America. Executives, he says, often assume that their peers grew up in privileged circumstances. He did not. “I spent my early years trying not to get recruited into gangs, getting shot at, watching my friends get murdered, and thinking that if I don’t leave, I will die,” says Anderson, who was raised in Chicago. “I was fortunate to survive.” He then built an impressive career at HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center before becoming CEO of Costa Pickleball.

Taking a swing at a pickleball startup: who is affected

Customers are the people Anderson addresses with the paddles already for sale. Costa Pickleball offers high-performance paddles in decorative designs so they can “bring their identity to the court.” The company is based in Las Vegas, and the CEO is Stanley Anderson ’79. He is still developing a quieter paddle and expects it to provide a competitive advantage. He says succeeding in today’s pickleball market will be tough for Costa Pickleball, and he expects the quieter paddle to supply that advantage.

Anderson also describes himself as someone executives in corporate America may misread. Executives, he says, often assume a privileged upbringing, and he says that was not his life. In Chicago he tried not to get recruited into gangs, was shot at, watched friends get murdered, and thought that if he did not leave, he would die. “I was fortunate to survive,” he says. A career at HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center followed. He now applies that experience, and his MIT lesson on effort, as CEO.

Taking a swing at a pickleball startup: what to watch

The open product is the quieter paddle. Anderson is developing it and expects it to provide a competitive advantage, while the paddles already for sale are high-performance models in decorative designs. He ties those designs to a customer’s chance to “bring their identity to the court.” Costa Pickleball remains a Las Vegas–based startup while the quieter design is in development. He says succeeding in today’s pickleball market will be tough, and the quieter paddle is the technology bet he is using to compete.

The measure he offers is a lesson from MIT. “There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you are willing to put effort into it,” says Stanley Anderson ’79. He says he was fortunate to survive, then built a career at HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center, and he thinks he has what it takes as CEO of Costa Pickleball. That CEO job now covers decorative high-performance paddles for sale and a quieter paddle still in development, in a market he calls tough.