Rick Alden of @skullcandy is Entrepreneur of the Year.
Congrats to Rick Alden, CEO at Skullcandy, for winning the Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.
I must admit I love the Skullcandy story, but I think the story you shared about inventing the strapless snowboard binding is better! Pumping your college money into the promos that ended up causing the worn fingers that were the genesis of your binding invention is classic entrepreneurship! It’s such a good story I’m sharing it below.
Your passion for creating products that are useful and cool at the same time make them winners.
Rick Alden, the founder and CEO of Skullcandy, shares his entrepreneurial starts when he launched the Snowboarding Jam Event Series back when he knew everyone with a snowboard on a first name basis. While having to replace defective binding straps, Alden had the inspiration to invent a “strapless†snowboard binding. Alden shows off his first prototypes and tells about his first ride without straps. Later he sold the company to Ride Snowboards for 50 percent cash and 50 percent stock.
This presentation is a keynote from the 2007 Young Entrepreneur Summit in Salt Lake City where Alden shared his passion for starting and building businesses. Also watch a second recording where Alden talks about the genesis and brand creation at his latest company, Skullcandy.
Other interviews with Rick Alden are available on RockyMountainVoices.