Nick Busto

Name: Nick Busto

Instagram: @rahlies

Nick Busto is the co-founder of Rahlies, a direct to consumer overall company, and In-Game Technologies, a developer of mobile apps for remote coaching. A longtime athlete, Busto captained the baseball team at Cornell before graduating in 2015 to work in finance. He left the comfort of a Morgan Stanley salary for the startup world in 2018. His newest venture, Rahlies, is a brand engineered specifically for a good time. The vehicle? Overalls. Rahlies’ mission to be a positive, fun-loving force in the community has led them to collaborate with institutions like Parsons School of Design and artists such as Samborghini and Adrian Brandon.

What is your greatest extravagance?: Sneakers. There's something special about expressing yourself through sneakers that I can't often find elsewhere.

What is your current state of mind?: "How would the man I want to be go about the things I'll do today?" A teammate of mine in college used to say that and I've been echoing it ever since. Especially right now, it’s so easy to get distracted by the news or become restless being at home, so that quote helps me narrow my focus on the things I can control.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?: I'd talk less. It’s so much more interesting to learn from other people than to hear yourself speak. However, I do have a natural desire for external gratification, so I can talk way too much if I'm not careful.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?: A shark. I've had a fascination with marine life since I was a kid and sharks have always been atop the list. That said, I don't quite take the "apex predator" mindset as a human now, so that'd definitely be a change of pace.

What is your most marked characteristic?: Likely my optimism. I try to view any setback or challenge in work or my personal life as a learning experience or opportunity to overcome the odds. I realize I'm in a privileged situation to even be able to say that, but there's something incredibly freeing about being able to train your brain to think in terms of long term growth as opposed to short term "good" or "bad" outcomes.