Wes Soto came up with Hat Dock after one too many hats went sliding off his truck's dashboard mid-turn while he was out working -- a small, familiar annoyance for anyone in the trades that he decided, about a year ago, to actually solve. The product is simple: a low-profile, 3M-taped dashboard mount that keeps a hat elevated, which Soto found makes it roughly 10 percent cooler than lying flat, a real difference for guys wearing a hat outdoors all day. He tried 3D printing early units himself, but the plastic melted in Florida heat, pushing him to a molded, UV-treated ABS design instead.
Teaching Himself CAD With AI, Selling Mostly to Texas
With no engineer and no outside product-design help, Soto taught himself CAD software using AI tools rather than pay outside designers roughly $150 to $300 per adjustment, a workaround he credits with letting him move from concept to a provisional patent and a for-sale product in under a year. Hat Dock is now a genuine family operation -- his daughter serves as the brand's Instagram ambassador and drives its highest-performing organic content -- and the company currently ranks number one on Amazon in its dashboard hat-holder category. Despite the Sarasota roots, most sales come from Texas, a state Soto expected to lean toward cowboy hats but which has instead bought mostly baseball caps. Long term, he's eyeing a licensing deal with a major hat brand or shelf space next to products like Yeti's Waggle in stores such as Dick's or Bass Pro, though he's wary of the cash-flow strain that comes with big-box retail's slow accounts-receivable timelines.
Soto grew up in Sarasota playing baseball, was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, and now raises his own kids in the same South Sarasota neighborhoods where he trained as a kid, sending them to Phillippi Shores and Sarasota Middle. He says the city has changed almost beyond recognition since his own childhood, but that the growth has made it an even better place to raise a family.
Roundabouts, With a Built-In Sales Pitch
Asked about roundabouts, Soto turns the question into a plug: he says he hates them because a hat can slide right off the dash going around one, then adds, half-joking, that a Hat Dock would solve that too. He closes by recommending Nick Aman Titus, owner of Fuego and Modern Gent, and futures trader Josh Martell as future Sarasota SpeaX guests.
What you'll take away
- Wes Soto taught himself CAD design using AI tools rather than pay outside designers per adjustment, taking Hat Dock from concept to market in under a year
- Hat Dock ranks number one on Amazon in the dashboard hat-holder category, driven largely by organic, family-focused social media content
- Despite being Sarasota-based, most Hat Dock sales come from Texas, primarily for baseball caps rather than cowboy hats
- Early 3D-printed prototypes melted in Florida heat, pushing Soto toward a molded, UV-treated ABS plastic design
- Soto, a former Baltimore Orioles draft pick, was raised in Sarasota and now raises his own children in the same part of the city
“It's a problem that we don't know you can take care of unless you have something to put it on.”
“I don't have the resources to go hire said company to go through every step of the process.”
Places mentioned: South Sarasota, Phillippi Shores