Hi there, my name is Matt.  I enjoy bicycles, fake mustaches, and t-shirts.
I don't have the mechanical knowledge or abundance of human facial hair to manufacture the first two so I began printing t-shirts.

I started TrickGo in January 2008 out of my tiny freshman dorm at the University of the Arts.  I started with two designs, printed 100 of each shirt and sold out in a week, I had something here, let’s do that again.

I quickly realized that everyone and their brother seemed to print t-shirts.  Everyone I would tell about TrickGo would respond with, “Oh yeah my friend does that,” or “I used to do that!”  I didn’t want TrickGo to be just another t-shirt start up so I did what any sensible college student would.  I dumped my life savings into printing on better shirts, custom packaging, individually numbered hang tags, and vinyl stickers to promote the brand.

I printed 10,000 stickers in 4 different designs and gave away every single one.  Slowly my stickers began to creep around campus appearing on laptops and street signs across Philadelphia.  More and more people began to hear about my shirts and a small following began.

I continued to come up with new designs and began to use past work experience to try and figure out how to run a brand.  I pulled all nighters constantly trying to balance school with TrickGo.  I spent countless hours researching other brands, figuring out everything from taxes to trademarks, researching local boutiques, figuring out what the hell a look book is, etc.

More and more people began to approach me about helping out with spreading the word.  I began to hold Sticker Saturdays where a handful of friends would meet me at a park, everyone who showed got a free t shirt and each person got about 500 stickers.  They would then all go out with their mission being to use every last sticker.  My favorite were people getting a moving bus and cop cruiser!  By having that many stickers go out that quickly we began to see them EVERYWHERE.

TrickGo started to get a bigger local buzz.  After approaching several different shops and getting turned away Deep Sleep boutique in Philadelphia’s Old City district agreed to carry product.  Not only did we start being sold in Deep Sleep but we were also allowed to throw our very first release party in the store!  After about a year of working our butts off it was time to play!  We had a big party in Deep Sleep, did an individually numbered limited edition collaborative t shirt with the store, and had an awesome time.

TrickGo continues to slowly build everyday.  Everything is produced domestically and in small limited edition batches.  Nothing is mass-produced, often re printed, or produced overseas.  We are currently in select boutiques and plan to stay exclusive.  This company was started off of my top bunk bed, this is a homegrown business, not a corporation.

TrickGo has grown into a collective of young artists, mostly students, working together to help build a brand with no formal business education or know how.  It has been successfully run thus far fueled by dedication, a whole bunch of street smarts, and a smorgasbord of artist talents.  One day I will make fake mustaches, but let’s see where t-shirts can take us first.