Jerry Hsu, 2007: Nike offers him a contract, he signs with Emerica over a questionnaire. What was in it?

On April 23, 2007, Emerica dropped a few‑second clip titled “Guess Hsu?”. Jerry Hsu was 25, fresh off the end‑cap of Bag of Suck, and had just left Osiris. What no one knew yet was that Nike was in the mix. Hsu said no. And the reason’s in an email.

He told the story five years later, sitting next to Louie Barletta in front of a camera. A questionnaire sent during the recruitment process. You’ll find out what was in it. But first, you gotta know who was getting it.

San Jose, 1999-2006: Hsu, from Osiris to Bag of Suck

Jerry Hsu grew up in San Jose, California, in a family that came from Taiwan. He started skating in the early ’90s. One day his mom brought home a concrete parking curb from the street so he could practice. He’d later call it a “very thoughtful” move.

In 1999, he was 17 and Maple turned him pro. That same year he was still an Osiris rider when the video The Storm - 1999 dropped. Inside, a never‑seen trick: a nollie backside 180 kickflip, with a second late flip of the front foot. The “Storm flip”. It’s still requested today, and he refuses to do it again, too heavy for his taste.

Then came enjoi, the brand built by Marc Johnson. Johnson was mostly after Barletta. Hsu joined the crew as a “package deal”. Johnson summed him up in 2013 in one line: they stole him. In 2006, Bag of Suck - 2006 came out. Hsu signed the end‑cap, almost eight minutes in two parts, over Cass McCombs and the Sonic Youth cover of “Superstar.” Transworld gave him the best video part award, plus the readers’ choice.

That’s the skater who finishes his Osiris contract. A 25‑year‑old pro with a part everyone’s replaying. Exactly the profile a shoe brand wants on the ground.

April 2007: “Guess Hsu?”, what Emerica put on the table

On April 23, 2007, the video “Emerica Guess Hsu?” dropped with a straight‑forward caption: Jerry Hsu is with Emerica, shoes and apparel. He leaves Osiris and the Swedish brand WeSC in one swoop.

The known terms fit on one line: a shoe deal plus a textile deal, from the same brand. The amount was never made public. We’re not going to make one up.

Emerica, at that point, was a brand born in 1996 under the roof of Sole Technology, the parent company of etnies and d’éS, run by Pierre‑André Senizergues, a former freestyle pro. A skater’s company, made for skaters. We told that story in Emerica a refusé de devenir Nike pendant 28 ans.

Why 2007: an Osiris contract ending, two doors opening

The timing hits just right. The Osiris contract runs out, and Hsu finds himself free at the exact moment his rating explodes. That same year, he’s playable in Electronic Arts’ first Skate game, and he films the intro himself.

In May 2007, Vice published the episode of Epicly Later'd dedicated to Hsu, shot by his friend Patrick O’Dell, former Thrasher photographer. It shows the family house, his parents, VHS footage of him at 13. O’Dell talks about a prodigy kid.

What Emerica is after is simple: the skater everyone’s talking about, with an image that fits the brand. What Nike wants is the opposite of the problem it’s been dealing with for ten years. In 1997, its first skate shoes get rejected by shops. In 2002, it creates the SB label. In 2004, it signs Paul Rodriguez as a flagship. In 2007, it’s gearing up for its first video, Nothing But The Truth - 2007. It needs names that shops respect.

Two brands want the same skater the same year. One shows him a video. The other sends him a form. — The Hsu deal, spring 2007

Picture yourself back in 2007 for two seconds. A neighborhood shop, the shoe wall at the back, boxes stacked to the ceiling. The Dunk SB in plastic on one side, the Emerica with rubber soles on the other. The clerk talks about Hsu’s part like it’s a match from yesterday. And somewhere, in an email inbox, a message waits for a reply.

Behind the scenes: September 2012, Hsu drops the Nike story

For five years, nothing comes out. Then in September 2012, the RIDE Channel invites Hsu and Barletta to Weekend Buzz, a fan Q&A show. Things go wild, with jokes and falls. And in the middle, a cash question pops up: did he almost ride for Nike after Osiris?

Hsu doesn’t deny it. They asked him if he wanted to come. Then he explains how it went: no meeting, no phone call from a team manager. An email. With a questionnaire inside.

Hsu adds some doubt, and he counts it. He doesn’t even know if Nike really wanted him. The host drops a joke: Nike would be in big trouble without him. No clash, no settling of scores. Just a story we tell once, five years later.

2008-2010: the Hsu, then Stay Gold in switch

Career-wise, the Emerica deal keeps its promises fast. In 2008, his first signature shoe drops, the “Hsu,” then a low version, the “Hsu Low.” In 2011, the Hsu 2 Fusion arrives, a rising model. He wanted it that way to protect his ankles.

Then comes Stay Gold – 2010, the first big Emerica video he appears in. Hsu comes out of ankle surgery and two or three knee surgeries. His knee no longer has the strength to ride in its normal direction. So he films all his part in switch.

Jon Miner, the filmer, said it in 2011: Jerry “went through hell” for that part, on a damaged knee, in the wrong direction. A brand that only sees the result would have replaced the rider. Emerica waited for him.

Emerica vs. Nike SB: two ways to buy a skater

Meanwhile, Nike SB is expanding. Nothing But The Truth premiered in New York in 2007. In 2009, Eric Koston leaves Lakai for Nike. The brand we pushed out of shops a decade earlier is now signing the biggest names.

Emerica is playing a different tune. In 2013, it released Made - Chapter One at a pay‑what‑you‑want price, with a minimum of one dollar. And for the DVD edition, it handed Hsu an 80‑page photo book. He filled it with his own shots and those of Ed Templeton, Mike Burnett, and Brian Gaberman. A brand that asks its rider to make the book, not just fill out a form.

The market, on the other hand, went the opposite way. Nike won the volume battle. In March 2018, Emerica ended its relationship with Hsu. Then in May 2024, the Swiss group Nidecker acquired etnies, éS, Emerica, and ThirtyTwo. The two approaches didn’t finish in the same place.

Verdict: what was in Nike’s questionnaire

So, that infamous email. According to Hsu, it was a pre‑written questionnaire, a template, “totally impersonal.” Nothing personal, according to him. The questions he recalls: “What do you like about Nike?” and “What do you think you can bring to Nike?” He sums up the rest himself: “blah, blah, blah.”

His conclusion boils down to one line: “If that’s how they do it, that’s not really my thing.” That’s the answer. It wasn’t a number that tipped the scales. It was a question asked the wrong way: what can you do for us?

Marc Johnson described him back in May 2007 on the episode of Epicly Later’d. He lives by his own rules. He wears what he wants, he sleeps when he wants. And in the business world, that’s a problem.

He lives by his own rules. He does whatever he feels like doing. — Marc Johnson on Jerry Hsu, Epicly Later’d, 2007

So who came out on top? Nike didn’t lose anything on paper; they signed Koston two years later. Emerica got eleven years of Hsu, a signature shoe, a share in Switch that we’re still reviving, and a photo book. And Hsu scored what he was looking for: a brand that spoke to him like a person.

What’s left today? In 2017, Hsu launched Sci‑Fi Fantasy. The first drops went live in a few hours at the start of 2018. Since October 2018, he’s had no traditional skate sponsors. His brand is his main revenue stream. The kid who refused to tell Nike what he could bring ended up owing nobody anything.

You, at 25, with Nike in your inbox and a standard form to fill: do you hit “reply” or do you sign with Emerica? Drop it in the comments ↓