Robert Valli
Founder, Designer, OWNER, Operator
“Rob Valli builds tools with a purpose. If the right tool already exists, he uses it. If it doesn’t—he builds it.”
Rob Valli isn’t your typical watchmaker. He doesn’t come from a design school or a Swiss heritage brand. He comes from the field.
Born in a small mountain town in central Pennsylvania, Rob grew up hunting, shooting, and riding go-karts and mini-bikes through the woods…
…His father was a mechanical engineer who manufactured drilling equipment, and held a Class 3 firearms license on the side. His mother was an artist. That mix of precision and creativity set the tone early. By the time Rob was five, he was already shooting. By ten, it was select-fire.
He graduated with honors from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., and later from Boston University with a degree in Environmental Studies and Policy. What followed wasn’t a straight career path—it was a long arc of building, testing, learning, and adapting.
He lived and worked all over the western U.S., including a year in a two-man tent on an Apache reservation doing endangered species fieldwork, and two stints with The Nature Conservancy on one of Idaho’s most legendary trout streams.
By 1995, Rob was also working in SEO and digital marketing—building over 150 websites and founding six companies, including a nonprofit. That work paid for what came next: over a decade of competitive dog sled racing.
He trained in Alaska under a 7-time world champion sprint kennel, then launched his own team and backcountry outfitting company in Park City, Utah. He set multiple records on the Colorado Mountain Musher circuit, including a 10-dog mid-distance championship. In 2004, he won a bronze medal for the U.S. in a 200-mile World Cup race in far eastern Siberia, racing around five volcanoes in under 72 hours. His company led high-end tours for clients like VISA, IBM, GE, and NBC, and he was featured on The Today Show and Wild On E! during the 2002 Olympics.
After retiring from racing in 2007, Rob moved to Florida and opened a firearm company, designing modular Glock platforms and gas-piston auto revolvers. He continued building systems—digital and mechanical—for startups, product companies, and his own ventures.
Rob is also a lifelong outdoorsman—an avid camper, fly-fisherman, and deer hunter. He holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and treats gear the same way he treats training: you test it until it proves itself.
That mindset is what led to OUTCAST.
Rob didn’t create the brand to chase trends—he built the first watch because the gear he needed didn’t exist. His time on the trail showed him the limitations of the tools that were out there. So he made something better. First the Field & Sea, then the Marksman Dial. Each watch has a function-first design that solves real problems in the field—whether that’s timing a sled heat, tracking tide shifts, or calculating wind holds at long range.