Rick Alden, Founder & CEO of Skullcandy, Dec 18th, noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room
December 5, 2008 Entrepreneurism, Venture Capital 1 Comment
Rick Alden is the founder and CEO of Utah based Skullcandy, creators of headphones, mp3 player watches, audio accessories and other audio-enabled products, such as backpacks with built-in speakers and iPod controls. Alden’s Park City, UT business hit $35.7 million in sales last year (2007), according to Inc. (magazine).
While working for his Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Alden co-founded his first company, National Snowboard Inc (NSI), with Jim Gardner in 1986. Alden later sold NSI to the American Ski Association in 1991. After years of snowboarding, Alden launched his second venture in 1995, designing and patenting the first ever step-in snowboard boot and binding system. This venture was co-founded with snowboard industry veteran Brett Conrad, and launched under the brand name, Device Manufacturing. Four years later, Alden sold Device Manufacturing to Atomic Ski Company.
In 2003, Alden formed Skullcandy. The first Skullcandy product – the Skullcandy™ Portable LINK – was introduced at the 2003 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where it won its first Design and Innovation Award. A few weeks later, the brand was launched to the action sports industry at the Snow Industries America (SIA) show.
The CEO of Skullcandy, Alden, was named one of vSpring Capital’s “Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs” of 2008, and holds a patent for technology that integrates mobile phones and music players.
In September 2008, Alden was featured on CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, starring Donny Deutsch. In 2008, he was also featured in Inc. (magazine) “Inc 5000 Award” for Skullcandy’s three-year (2004-2007) growth of 24,077.4%.
In addition to Alden’s entrepreneurship, he is the holder of numerous patents in the snowboarding, audio and electronics industry and fly fishing industries, including a design patent for the Orvis Batternkill Large Arbor Fly Fishing Reel.
He is a known resident of Park City, Utah where he lives with his wife (Holly) and four children (Preston, Brooklyn, Autumn, Tyler). He and his wife, Holly Alden, have been married since 1989.
