Vertical Integration, Palantir, and Pickleball | Tom Barnes | #28

Vertical Integration, Palantir, and Pickleball | Tom Barnes | #28

From Idaho Entrepreneurship Club by Jacob Cloward and Thomas Knapp

February 20, 2026 · 58 min

About this episode

Tom Barnes discusses the importance of in-house research and design at Selkirk Sports and their use of Palantir.

Tom is the director of R&D at Selkirk Sports, a leading brand in pickleball. Today, you will hear why keeping research and design in-house is important, how they utilise Palantir as one of the smallest non-defence companies to do so, and the story behind their official Tesla Plaid edition paddle.

People in this episode

Guest: Tom Barnes

Topics covered

  • Vertical Integration
  • Palantir
  • Pickleball
  • Research and Development

Keywords

  • Selkirk Sports
  • Tesla Plaid edition paddle

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Selkirk Sports, Tesla Plaid edition paddle

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