Stab Member Content ONLY!
Sam McIntosh grew up inland in a small town called Casino. He learned to surf on the north coast of NSW, around Byron Bay and Evans Head, and used to work doing paper runs when he was young. When he turned 13, his parents bought The Pacific Hotel in Yamba, a move that changed his life forever, and one that fuelled his fledging love affair with the ocean.
Sam also loves charging big waves, something he’s done for a some time with good mate Mark Mathews. And thats put him right in the zone with the worlds best surfers. To run a successful magazine and online platform that engages the best in the business, you have to walk the walk, and indeed he has.., and still does. Sam also poured over every surf mag he could when he was young and after producing a learn to surf book with Taj Burrow, he hatched the idea of starting his own publication with Derek Reilly.
In the beginning the magazine polarised – it was so different to every other title that went before it and many didn’t know how to take it – and many also predicted it’s downfall in those formative years. Fast forward over a decade and STAB has not only survived, but flourished, innovated and pioneered through the up’s and downs that the industry has gone through and by embracing the digital era has lead the way the for others to follow. It quickly become the magazine that kids wanted to be featured in, and despite some of the vitriol thrown around through its online forums, it never seemed to deter the stars. Their early concept shoots was what set them apart (read about the latest iteration – The Makings of The Dock here) and along with projects like Little Weeds and Stab in the Dark the media business has established itself as one of the market leaders in the space.
The title was acquired by Surfstitch in 2015 and the parent company has had its fair share of turbulence to negotiate in recent times.
The Business of Surf has always been curious about how life might look from the inside for STAB, now that it’s under the wing of a publicly listed company. We asked Sam a few questions about the journey, the acquistion, the digital space and the separation between him and Derek Reilly. Did we get more than we bargained for? Maybe, but our mission is to always to get under the surface a little, and indeed thats what we got – a candid and transparent response from Sam McIntosh.