Mike Sierra doesn’t golf. That’s the first thing he’ll tell you. He’s a business guy, not a sports guy. But when he saw a new kind of golf tee at a student pitch event on the University of Central Florida campus, he didn’t see a hobby—he saw margins.
The tee was originally created by an engineer named Daniel Whalen, who had tested a few 3D-printed prototypes and wanted help bringing it to market. The idea was simple: reduce the friction at impact and stabilize the ball’s flight. It didn’t spin as much, didn’t wobble off the line, and flew straighter. He called it FlightPath.
Mike called Caroline Castille. She wasn’t a golfer either, but she was a digital marketer with a background in startup investing. They had crossed paths at UCF’s Blackstone LaunchPad and had worked together before. They both agreed the same thing: a golf tee was boring. But if you could sell it the right way? Boring could scale.
They acquired the rights, trademarked the name, and launched FlightPath Golf in 2020.
A Better Tee
The FlightPath tee is molded from a durable polyurethane blend and shaped with a curved slot and winged head. When the clubface strikes the ball, the design minimizes surface contact and helps guide the launch down the intended line. It’s legal for tournament play under USGA rules. It doesn’t break like wood, and it doesn’t fly into the next fairway. If it does, the company replaces it for free.
Each pack includes five or ten tees and costs more than the usual bag of wooden pegs. Caroline and Mike bet that golfers would care more about consistency than cost—and they were right, eventually. But the early months weren’t easy.
They launched during the pandemic. Golf participation had just spiked, but brick-and-mortar retail was a mess. They focused entirely on e-commerce. Caroline used her marketing agency, Clickable Impact, to run ads, write landing pages, and test messaging. Mike handled operations, fulfillment, and manufacturing. They were packing and shipping orders from a living room floor. Then it snowballed.
Holiday Chaos
One viral product review turned into another, and by the next holiday season, FlightPath got hit with 12,000 orders in under a month. There wasn’t a warehouse. There weren’t employees. Mike and Caroline flew to the Michigan factory that molded the tees and hired 40 temp workers to help them fulfill the backlog. They got it all out the door in three days. They say they cried in the car afterward from sheer exhaustion.
Since then, they’ve set up systems and scaled production. The tees now ship from a warehouse. Inventory gets tracked. There are wholesale orders. Caroline still runs ads and writes emails, but she also manages partnerships with brands like OnCore Golf. Mike still looks at numbers. He still doesn’t golf.
The Diamond Tee
In 2023, they launched a $100,000 golf tee. Yes, that’s correct. Made with white gold, real diamonds, and a laser-engraved FlightPath logo. It’s not meant to be used. It’s a collector’s item, and it got them the media coverage they wanted.
They also sell a gold-plated tee for $100. That one people actually buy.
These deluxe versions weren’t about showing off. They were a way to hammer home the idea that the tee isn’t just a disposable accessory—it’s gear. And in golf, gear matters.
How They Work
You insert the tee like normal. The ball rests on the angled slot, which creates a cleaner launch. Most amateur golfers don’t strike the ball perfectly straight. A traditional tee can exaggerate side spin or catch the clubface too much. FlightPath reduces that side friction, which leads to straighter drives—especially for players who tend to slice.
The design is rigid enough to hold shape but flexible enough to withstand repeated swings. Some customers report using the same tee for dozens of rounds. Others lose them before they break.
Culture
Every Monday, the FlightPath team starts their meeting with one thing: everyone says what they’re grateful for. It sounds small, but Caroline insists it keeps the team sane. That, and a saying they repeat often: progress over perfection.
She means it literally. Early in the business, Caroline overdesigned the first product box and ended up with 5,000 units that didn’t fit in any standard mailer. They pivoted. They’ve been pivoting ever since.
The team stays lean. They work with contractors. They test everything. If it doesn’t work, they kill it. If it works, they double down.
Who They Are
Caroline Castille has a degree in finance and a second one in Spanish. Before FlightPath, she helped launch an angel investor network in Florida and founded Clickable Impact, a digital ad agency for e-commerce brands. She used to dance professionally, and she co-founded a footwear brand for dancers. She talks fast and edits her ad copy in Google Docs at midnight.
Mike Sierra is quieter. He analyzes. He tracks what ad spends are converting and what SKUs are moving fastest. He once said in an interview, “I don’t need to like golf to know this works.” That sums him up. He doesn’t chase trends. He builds systems.
They are married now. They run FlightPath and Clickable Impact together.
The Business of Tees
FlightPath Golf still sells one core product. There are no clubs. No gloves. No apparel line. Just a golf tee, designed to do one thing well.
They’ve shipped to over 100 countries. They’ve had copycats. They’ve had imitators. But they still own the patent. And they still answer customer emails themselves, if it comes to that.
A $1 tee isn’t going to change your swing. But it might help you hit one less ball into the woods. That’s enough for a lot of people. And sometimes, enough is all it takes to build a business.
