Richard P. "Rick" Alden | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | July 4, 1964 (age 59) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Bachelor's Degree |
| Alma mater | University of Colorado Boulder |
Richard P. "Rick" Alden (born July 4, 1964 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American entrepreneur and the founder and former CEO of Skullcandy, Inc., Device Step-In Snowboard Bindings, Stance Socks, and co-founder of Plus550 LLC. [1]
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.
In 2003, Alden formed Skullcandy designing headphones and other audio products targeted as skiers, skateboarders and other outdoor activities. [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]
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.
Alden resides in Park City, Utah.
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.
Koss Corporation is a company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US that manufactures headphones. The company introduced the first high fidelity stereophones.
Jake Burton Carpenter, occasionally also known as Jake Burton or Jakie, was an American snowboarder, founder of Burton Snowboards, and one of the inventors of the modern day snowboard. A native of New York, he grew up in Cedarhurst, New York.
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 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.
Monster Inc. is an American company that manufactures and markets about 6,000 products, but is best known for audio and video cables. It also produces speakers, headphones, power strips, mobile accessories and audio devices for automobiles. The company was founded by an audiophile and engineer, Noel Lee, in 1979 by experimenting with different ways to build audio cables. It grew by doing demonstrations to convince the industry that audio cables made a difference in audio quality and by establishing relationships with retailers that were attracted to the cable's profit margins.
Sony MDR-V6 is a large diaphragm folding pair of headphones, the initial entry in Sony's Studio Monitor headphones, one of the most popular model lines among professional audio engineers. The product line was augmented by the MDR-V600, the MDR-7506 and then the MDR-7509 and MDR-7509HD models, which continue to be popular for audio editing, live sound and broadcast applications. The four models use a closed, circumaural sealed-ear design with a coiled oxygen-free copper cord, tipped with a combination ¼″ (6.35 mm) and ⅛″ mini (3.5 mm) TRS phone connector. As a product line, the MDR-series Studio Monitor folding headphones have been noted as a "favorite of sound professionals because they're reasonably flat sounding, inexpensive, compact, and they can take a lot of punishment." The MDR prefix is an initialism of the Micro Dynamic Receiver trademark.
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.
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 such as headphones, earphones, Bluetooth speakers and other products.
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.
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.
LifeProof is a U.S. consumer electronics accessory company headquartered in San Diego, California, and was acquired in 2013 by OtterBox. The company designs, manufactures, and markets cases that protect the functionality and condition of smartphones and tablets from water, snow, dirt, and shock. Their products include cases, flotation jacketing, belt clips, headphones, chargers, connectors, arm bands, bike mounts, and photography equipment.
V-MODA is a private company that specializes in the design and production of mobile audio products, including headphones, earphones, portable amplifiers, protection ear plugs and accessories.
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.
Jaybird is a Utah-based consumer electronics company owned by Logitech. The company designs and manufactures headphones and wearable activity trackers. The company is mainly known for its line of wireless Bluetooth sports headsets. Jaybird was founded in 2006 by Australian entrepreneur Judd Armstrong.
ASTRO Gaming is an American consumer electronics manufacturer specializing in video gaming headsets, peripherals, and accessories.