Rick Alden - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Richard P. "Rick" Alden (born July 4, 1964 in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

) is the founder

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

and CEO of Park City, Utah

Park City, Utah

Park City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...

based Skullcandy

Skullcandy

Skullcandy is a Park City, Utah-based company that markets headphones, earphones, hands free devices, audio backpacks, MP3 players and other products. The company was founded in 2003....

, creators of headphones

Headphones

Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...

, mp3 player watches, audio accessories and other audio-enabled products, such as backpack

Backpack

A backpack is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but there can be exceptions...

s with built-in speakers and iPod controls.

Alden started skiing in Massachusetts in 1970, moved to Colorado in 1975, and started snowboarding in 1985. While attending the University of Colorado in Boulder, Alden began managing the Wave Rave snowboard team which included snowboarding legends such as Tim Windell, Dave Dowd, Kevin Delaney, the Pappas Brothers and Jim Gardner. Alden's brother, Dave Alden, was a professional snowboarder riding on the Burton Pro team from 1983 to 1990.

While working for his Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

in political science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

from the University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

, Alden co-founded his first company with Jim Gardner in 1986-- National Snowboard

Snowboard

Snowboards are boards, usually with a width the length of one's foot, with the ability to glide on snow. Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user...

Inc (NSI). An events and marketing company producing consumer

Consumer

Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...

, amateur

Amateur

An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....

, and pro-snowboarding events nationwide. As quoted by Rocky Mountain News reporter, David Lewis, on February 5, 1992,"Gardner and Alden did not invent snowboarding, but they distilled it, translated it, and marketed it. They were instrumental in making snowboarding

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...

an industry and not just another youth-culture fad." Alden later sold NSI to the American Ski

Ski

A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...

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. A few years later, Conrad and Alden sold Device Manufacturing to Ride Snowboards, then later to the Atomic Ski Company http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5660410

In 2003, Alden formed Skullcandy designing products that offered the consumer audio solutions and that also fit into his active

Active

Active may refer to:Human Activity* An active lifestyle, a lifestyle characterized by frequent or various social, intellectual, and physical activities* An "active" in a fraternity or sororityComputers and electronics...

lifestyle http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080901/how-i-did-it-joe-bekker-thrustmaster-of-texas.html. Alden is an individual who spent his entire life blurring the lines between work and play. While most people are deeply passionate about something, they generally develop a career in something that has nothing to do with their true love. Not Alden. The first Skullcandy product – the Skullcandy Portable LINK – was introduced at the 2003 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, 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. An initial tough sell to the action sports market, the first store to branch out and carry the brand was Milo Snow & Skate in Utah. Alden's Park City

Park City, Utah

, business hit $35.7 million in sales in 2007, according to Inc. (magazine)

Inc. (magazine)

Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...

. CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/ reports 2008 sales as "...approaching $100 million dollars."

The CEO of Skullcandy, Alden, has been named one of vSpring Capital's "Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs" in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, and holds a patent for technology that integrates mobile phones and music players. In addition, Alden was named Enrst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year for the state of Utah during the spring of 2008. The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes men and women who have excelled at growing and sustaining market-leading businesses. As CEO and Founder of Skullcandy, Alden has built a company dedicated to producing high-performance audio products, successfully saturating both the mainstream and action sports markets.

In September 2008, Alden was featured on CNBC

CNBC

CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...

's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch
The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch
The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch was a talk show on CNBC hosted by Donny Deutsch. The show offered success stories that outlined a "roadmap to the American Dream." Every weeknight at 10pm, Donny Deutsch, the CEO of advertising and media business Deutsch Inc., introduced the audience to successful...

. In 2008, he was also featured as #31 in (#1 in Consumer Electronics Category) Inc. (magazine)

Inc. (magazine)

"Inc 5000 Award" for Skullcandy's three-year (2004–2007) growth of 24,077.4%. In addition to his national recognition, Alden's company, Skullcandy, was noted as being "the world's coolest ear bud," by both CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/ and Fortune Magazine during December 2008. A multi-million dollar company, Entrepreneur Magazine named Skullcandy a "Top 100 Company to Watch" in their June 2009 issue http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/100brilliantcompanies/article201808.html.

The launch of Skullcandy brought a variety of new opportunities for Alden...In October 2008 CEO of Skullcandy, Rick Alden, debuted 2XL http://www.2xl.com/ to the general consumer market place. A new line of audio electronics, 2XL http://www.2xl.com/ offers "music to the people" and is available in Best Buy, Circuit City and a variety of other mainstream markets. A bold and unique line of headphones and audio accessories rooted in lifestyle and culture, 2XL offers today’s generation “individual style with universal appeal”, including a level of unprecedented self expression and diversity. A youth-centric brand, 2XL http://www.2xl.com/ speaks to all facets of the youth market with timely, attention grabbing aesthetics and meaningful performance.

During early 2009, Alden was honored as being named CEO of the Year for Utah, as seen in the March 2009 issue of Utah Business Magazine. His award recognition was due to Skullcandy's tremendous growth and development through 2008, as well as Alden's overall managerial style and core leadership with driving the companies direction.

In December 2009, Rick was named Entrepreneur magazine

Entrepreneur Magazine

Entrepreneur is a publication that carries news stories about entrepreneurialism, small business management, and business opportunities. It is published by Entrepreneur Media Inc., headquartered in Irvine, California....

's "Entrepreneur of the Year" http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/january/204384.html and appeared on the cover of the January 2010 issue. Alden was also selected as a national finalist for Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....

's entrepreneur of the year. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/200911150300PR_NEWS_USPR_____NY11339.htm In July 2010, Alden was selected to speak on an executive panel at Fortune Magazine's Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, CO. https://fenwebsnsp01.maritz.com/vportal/VideoPlayer.jsp?ccsid=C-ed76c85a-6aed-4fdb-a840-86706be86679:3#

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 http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&p=1&p=1&S1=((%22large+arbor%22+AND+reel)+AND+Alden)&OS=

Alden is grandson of Rose Marie Reid

Rose Marie Reid

Rose Marie Reid Rose Marie Reid Rose Marie Reid (born Rose Marie Yancey (September 12, 1906 in Cardston, Alberta, Canada - November 18, 1978 in Provo, Utah) was an American swimsuit designer....

, recognized as being one of the most famous women during the 1940s and 50's. In 1955, Reid, an American swimsuit designer, was named Designer of the Year by Sports Illustrated and Woman of the Year by TIME Magazine.

He is a known resident of Park City, Utah where he lives with his wife (Holly) and four children (Preston, Brooklyn, Autumn, Tyler), as reported in the June issue of Utah Business Magazine. He and his wife, Holly Alden, have been married since 1989.

External links

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