The District Magazine Vol. 2 Issue 3, Fall 2017 | Page 28
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27
Matt Masifilo
Founder of Kavafied LLC
www.getkavafied.com
Matt has been living and working in Tampa for the
last five years. Originally from Hawaii, Matt studied
Product Design engineering at Stanford University
while starting on the football team. Midway through
his 2012 rookie season with the San Francisco 49ers,
Matt was picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
and has been living in the Tampa area ever since.
While with the Buccaneers Matt shared Kava, a
relaxing root beverage from his Polynesian culture,
with his teammates. He soon saw a need to develop
a quick and easy way to make Kava after years of
struggling to prepare it in the locker room. “A messy
and tedious manual process”, says Matt. With an
opportunity to finally put his Stanford engineering
degree to work, he invented the world's first kava
maker that now serves as the foundation to his
Kavafied business.
What is your favorite quote?
“The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion
to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their
chosen field of endeavor.”-Vince Lombardi
What would the closest person in your life say if we
asked them, what is the one characteristic that they
totally dig about you, and the one that drives them
insane?
I think my fiancé would say that overall I’m an easy
going kind hearted person. The one thing that I know
drives her insane is that I get really impatient when it
comes to doing anything.
What time does a normal day start for you and what
are the first three things you do every day?
I’m a night owl and the furthest thing from a morning
person so I usually start my day around 10am. Then it’s
Coffee, coffee, and more coffee.
What are your top five attributes to success?
Persistence, adaptability, empathy, sacrifice, integrity
Can you name a person who has had a tremendous
impact on your success? Why and how did this
person impact your life?
David Kelley, one of my advisors back at Stanford, had a
huge impact on my entrepreneur pathway. When he first
introduced Product Design to me I immediately knew
that creating new products and experiences was what
I was meant to do.
28
28
CONTINUED ON PAGE 30