Rick Alden

Last updated
Rick Alden Rick Alden on a skateboard.jpg
Rick Alden

Richard P. "Rick" Alden (born July 4, 1964 in Baltimore, Maryland) is the founder and former CEO of Skullcandy, Inc., Device Step-In Snowboard Bindings, Stance Socks, and co-founder of Plus550 LLC. [1]

Contents

Education and career

While studying at the University of Colorado Boulder, Alden co-founded his first company with Jim Gardner in 1986—National Snowboard Inc (NSI), an events and marketing company producing consumer, amateur, and pro-snowboarding events nationwide. When NSI moved to Denver, Rick transferred to the University of Colorado Denver, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in political science. [1] Alden launched his second venture in 1995, designing and patenting the first step-in snowboard boot and binding system. [2] This venture was co-founded with snowboard industry veteran Brett Conrad, and launched under the brand name, Device Manufacturing.

Skullcandy

In 2003, Alden formed Skullcandy designing products that offered consumer audio solutions[ buzzword ] conducive to an active lifestyle.[ clarification needed ] [3] 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 SnowSports Industries America Snow Show.

In 2008, Skullcandy debuted 2XL to the marketplace at all retail stores. From on ear headphones (Shakedown, Phase, Barrel), earbuds (Spoke, Whip, Offset), and even Bluetooth speakers (Ringer), 2XL products come in a wide variety of colors, which is similar to all Skullcandy products like the Uprock, Ink'd 2, and even Jib.

While CEO of Skullcandy, Alden was issued a patent for technology that integrates mobile phones and music players, known as LINK. [4]

Alden holds a design patent for the Orvis Batternkill Large Arbor Fly Fishing Reel. [5]

Awards and recognition

In 2008, Alden was featured as #31 in (#1 in Consumer Electronics Category) Inc Magazine's Inc 5000 Award for Skullcandy's three-year (2004–2007) growth. In December 2009, Rick was named "Entrepreneur's Entrepreneur of the Year" [6] [1] and appeared on the cover of the January 2010 issue.

Personal life

Alden resides in Park City, Utah.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowboarding</span> Snow sport involving a single board

Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games.

Bose Corporation is an American manufacturing company that predominantly sells audio equipment. The company was established by Amar Bose in 1964 and is based in Framingham, Massachusetts. It is best known for its home audio systems and speakers, noise cancelling headphones, professional audio products and automobile sound systems. Bose has a reputation for being particularly protective of its patents, trademarks, and brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burton Snowboards</span> American manufacturing company

Burton Snowboards is a privately-owned snowboard manufacturing company that was founded by Jake Burton Carpenter in 1977. The company specializes in products aimed at snowboarders, such as snowboards, bindings, boots, outerwear, and accessories. The company, whose flagship store is in Burlington, Vermont, was privately owned by Jake Burton Carpenter, until his death in 2019, and by his wife, Donna Carpenter, who has been active in the business since 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salomon Group</span> French sports equipment manufacturing company

Salomon SAS is a French sports equipment manufacturing company based in Annecy, France. It was founded in 1947 by François Salomon in the heart of the French Alps and is a major brand in outdoor sports equipment. Salomon constitutes a part of Amer Sports, owned since 2019 by the Chinese group ANTA Sports with sister brands Wilson, Atomic, Precor, Arc'teryx.

The multinational technology corporation Apple Inc. has been a participant in various legal proceedings and claims since it began operation and, like its competitors and peers, engages in litigation in its normal course of business for a variety of reasons. In particular, Apple is known for and promotes itself as actively and aggressively enforcing its intellectual property interests. From the 1980s to the present, Apple has been plaintiff or defendant in civil actions in the United States and other countries. Some of these actions have determined significant case law for the information technology industry and many have captured the attention of the public and media. Apple's litigation generally involves intellectual property disputes, but the company has also been a party in lawsuits that include antitrust claims, consumer actions, commercial unfair trade practice suits, defamation claims, and corporate espionage, among other matters.

Never Summer Industries is a snowboard, longboard, wakeboard, and apparel manufacturer based out of Denver, Colorado. Tim and Tracey Canaday founded Never Summer snowboards in 1991. As the company progressed, they began expanding beyond snowboarding, such as a clothing line. All Never Summer merchandise is made in Denver. In 2016 they celebrated their 25-year anniversary by filming a documentary on the culture of the company the Canaday brothers established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocs</span> American shoe manufacturing company

Crocs, Inc. is an American footwear company based in Broomfield, Colorado, that manufactures and markets the Crocs brand of foam footwear. Crocs Inc term these "clogs", but they do not contain any wood like traditional clogs.

Armada is an American manufacturer of skis, poles, technical outerwear and skiing-related softgoods, based in Park City, Utah with a European office in Innsbruck, Austria. The company's products are sold in over forty countries worldwide through wholly owned subsidiaries and distributors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blendtec</span> American blender company

Blendtec is an American company that sells commercial and residential blenders. It is a division of K-TEC, Inc. Blendtec was founded in 1975 by Tom Dickson, and as of 2022 still operates primarily from Orem, Utah, United States.

Marc Frank Montoya is an American professional snowboarder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the iPhone</span> History of Apples iPhone

The history of the iPhone development by Apple Inc. spans from the early 2000s to about 2010. The first iPhone was released in 2007. By the end of 2009, iPhone models had been released in all major markets.

Skullcandy Inc. is an American company based in Park City, Utah, that markets Technology headphones, earphones, hands-free devices, audio backpacks, MP3 players, and other products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belle Baby Carriers</span> Manufacturer and designer of front baby carriers

Belle Baby Carriers is a privately held company that designs and manufactures a new form of front baby carrier. Belle was founded in 2006, and has quickly grown to sell its carriers in over 250 stores in the United States and in many other countries. Belle has received notable press from ABC News, the Boulder County Business Report and the Rocky Mountain News and was featured in the October 2008 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine. Its products have been reviewed in numerous independent national publications, such as People Magazine, Her Sports and Fitness, Earnshaws, Pregnancy, and Fit Pregnancy. Belle's carriers have been photographed on Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, and Nicole Kidman. The company is based in Boulder, Colorado and is a division of Inventista, Inc., a Colorado design and engineering firm. Belle is known for producing a baby carrier that provides direct contact between the parent and the child. Belle has patents pending and is trademarked in the United States and internationally. Belle manufactures its products in the United States and consolidates its manufacturing and distribution facilities in the Colorado Front Range area.

Rain-X is a synthetic hydrophobic surface-applied product that causes water to bead up and run off surfaces, most commonly used on glass automobile surfaces. The brand has since been extended to a range of automotive and surface care products, including wiper blades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freeboard (skateboard)</span>

A freeboard is a specialist skateboard designed to closely simulate the behavior of a snowboard. Freeboards were developed to allow snowboarders to transition to skateboarding without the need to adapt to a smaller deck and narrower wheel-base.

MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States-based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 assorted other publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin's</span> American Candy

Justin's is an American brand of natural and organic nut butters and peanut butter cups. The Boulder-based company manufactures and markets jars and single-serve squeeze packs of nut butter, along with various kinds of organic peanut butter cups. Justin's peanut butter cups are USDA-certified organic and use Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa. Both the peanut butter cups and nut butters are distributed through stores such as Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Starbucks, and Target in the United States.

Limited Snowboards was a Canadian snowboard brand founded in Toronto in 1993 by Perry Gladstone and Ricardo Camargo. Limited Snowboards Inc. and its successors distributed snowboards bindings, boots, clothing and accessories under the brands Limited and LTD.

Gilson Snow is an American snowboard and ski manufacturer based in Winfield, Pennsylvania. Gilson is the largest producer of custom snowboards and skis.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rick Alden, Plus550 LLC: Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  2. "United States Patent: 5660410". United States Patent and Trademark Office. August 26, 1997. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
  3. Bekker, Joe (2008-09-01). "How I Did It: Joe Bekker, Thrustmaster of Texas - Manufacturing Industry Leaders". Inc. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
  4. "Patent Monkey: Skullcandy Patents LINK between Cell Phone and iPod". TechCrunch. 13 March 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  5. "United States Patent: D443017". United States Patent and Trademark Office. May 29, 2001. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
  6. Entrepreneur Archived January 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine