Three freshly graduated Herbert Business School alumni launched Second Catch, a second-hand fishing gear website, designed to give fishermen a specialized and secure online marketplace.
Colin Elliott did not hang up his fishing rod when he moved from Boston, Massachusetts to study at University of Miami. Neither did his twin brother Kyle nor their close friend Dennis Lee, when they all decided to co-found Second Catch.
Colin and Kyle’s passion for fishing wasn’t the only thing passed down through generations;so was most of their gear..
“It was just my dad handing down his gear from the 1980s,” Colin Elliott said. “It was a family heirloom.”
Both the Elliotts and Lee were blue tuna fishermen from Massachusetts, a fact these three fishing enthusiasts discovered when they became suitmates in their freshman year.
They teamed up to catch all the different fish species in Miami, but finding the right gear was an unexpected issue.
“I was always on Facebook Marketplace doomscrolling,” Colin Elliott said. “I was looking at this expensive gear and seeing if I could find something good quality, but not for $1,500.”
In addition to the hefty prices, most sellers were not verified. They frequently demanded to meet in person for the transaction, and Colin Elliott did not trust the process.
That was how Second Catch was born. The idea struck during their semester abroad in Barcelona, their sophomore year. Immediately, the twins and Lee began doing research.
Second Catch, a site “for fishermen by fishermen,” allows users to sell or buy second-hand fishing gear. Using Stripe’s electronic payment services — which require people’s Social Security numbers — sellers are verified and authorized to protect all members of these cashless transactions.
A week after their “cold launch”, the company’s challenge was to lure sellers away from Facebook and onto their site. The website design had been outsourced to specialists while the founders focused on promotion and networking.
Breaking into the fishing world required connections — some form of bait — and UM provided the founders with the perfect opportunity: UM’s fishing club.
“My junior year, they kind of disbanded the fishing club,” Colin Elliott said. Without it, he had lost his connection to fishing.
No executive board had been selected for the 2024-2025 year. Without leadership, the club was deemed inactive. Elliot took it upon himself to revive it.
“I made it the way I wished it was when I was younger,” Elliot said.
He established guest speakers, group activities and opportunities to connect with people who share similar interests. He and his brother remained part of the E-board until they graduated last month.
The fishing club gave them connections, while the Herbert Business School, where the founders studied finance, gave them the confidence to create Second Catch.
“I think the entrepreneurship program [helped push] us to put ourselves out there if there was a problem that we thought we could solve and make better,” Colin Elliott said.
Becoming an entrepreneur, Colin Elliott noted with a smile, “is risky,”
“I know it’s easy to get a salary and look for a job outside of being an entrepreneur,” Colin Elliott said. “And having something that’s comfortable and you’re just getting paid weekly and you know it’s there.”
Still, he is hooked on starting his own venture.
“It’s really good to have something that [we] love and something that we want to do for the rest of our lives,” Colin Elliott said, “Which is fishing.”
Second Catch will continue to evolve. The team is looking into local pickup as an alternative to shipping, while maintaining all transactions through the website to keep banking secure.
“If I can keep fishing the rest of my life and make some money doing it, that’s the dream,” Colin Elliott said. “I mean, this is just the beginning.”