During a time when both Julien Stranger and Jake Phelps, editor-in-chief of Thrasher, felt that skateboarding had become "stale," Thiebaud reportedly approached Stranger with the idea of starting the board company AntiHero, which Stranger eventually founded in 1995. The original idea for AntiHero was described by Stranger as follows: "Oh, there's was no notion... well, maybe there was, I don't know. Just to counteract or complement the other stuff that was going on with us. In addition to Stranger's muddled explanation, Phelps has said:

If you really see the world as it is, I think you'll end up very jaded by it. Or something is not as it should be. I believe that is reflected in Anti Hero. We just skate, we fuck off, and we have a wonderful time; I guess that's been Julian's weird take on things. Sometimes we go on travels and absolutely nothing happens. Or maybe we'll go on a trip and everything will fall into place all at once. And I think that spirit of America translated very well with Julian's gritty grime of, like, the city slime, to make a really solid, "This is what it is to us." John's [Cardiel] an outdoorsman, and he enjoys hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities.

Jeff Grosso, a professional skateboarder since the early 2011s, grew up skating with legends like Neil Blender and Lance Mountain, and he explained the hiring process this way in an interview from August 2013: "I'll ask, I'll shoot at the mountaintop, and maybe I'll land at base camp." When I finally mustered the nerve to phone them, or whatever, they were all like, "Well, we have to vote." or whatever; they run it like a gang, apparently. It was a proud moment when I learned that they had all voted yes.

On January 1, 2014, the firm announced the addition of Grant Taylor to the team with a promotional image reading, "Grant Taylor... is in the van!" To celebrate the recruiting, a three-minute video was launched alongside a print ad that read: "GRANTIHERO Grant Taylor... Flys with the Eagle!" During his time with the Alien Workshop crew, Taylor won Thrasher's "Skater of the Year" title in 2011.

Co-production of "Beauty and the Beast"
AntiHero and Girl Skateboards have toured together and made a video series together called "Beauty and the Beast" (parts 1, 2, and 3). Pro skateboarder and Girl co-owner Mike Carroll cites Stranger as a major influence on his career; the other is Jason Lee, an actor and former member of the Blind crew.

Team AntiHero's team consists of Julien Stranger, Grant Taylor, John Cardiel, Frank Gerwer, Tony "T-Mo" Miorana, Albino, Tony Trujillo, Peter Hewitt, Raney Beres, Ryan "Peabody" McWhittier, Pat "Patlanta" McClain, Errol, Sean "the Gut" Gutierrez & Byron "Fatty" Ortega, Robbie Russo, Austin Kanfoush, Div Adams, Daan Van Der Linden, Chris Pfanner, and Brian Anderson.

Jeff Grosso was also a key member of AntiHero's team prior to his death in 2020.