Will Dean (entrepreneur)
Will Dean (born 1980) is an entrepreneur who founded and was CEO of endurance event company Tough Mudder[1] and co-founded Immersive Gamebox (previously Electric Gamebox), where he is currently CEO.[2]
Born in Sheffield in 1980, Dean is a native of Nottinghamshire, in England's East Midlands. He studied at Bristol University in the UK.[3]
Dean completed an MBA at Harvard Business School.[4] During his time at Harvard, he created obstacle course racing company Tough Mudder. He left Tough Mudder in 2019 focusing full-time on Electric Gamebox.[5] Dean published a book about his time at Tough Mudder, It Takes a Tribe, in 2017.[6] Dean is an advocate for 'simplifying the process' in business practices,[7] by 'arriving at the essence of an issue'.
He was named on Crain's annual "40 Under 40" list in 2012,[8] ranked #2 in Fortune's '40 Under 40: Ones to Watch' list,[9] received the US National EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Emerging Award,[10] was on the Sports Business Journal 40 under 40 in 2017,[11] and received an MBE in 2017.[12]
References[edit]
- ^ Branch, John (29 April 2010). "Playing With Fire, Barbed Wire and Beer". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ Ford, Jonathan (8 December 2019). "Will Dean: Tough Mudder experience spurs teamwork". www.ft.com. Nikkei. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ University of Bristol. "Centre for Innovation External partners". www.bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ Wallop, Harry (24 August 2017). "The man who made millions out of mud". Times Newspapers. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ Ackerman, Naomi (11 June 2021). "Entrepreneurs: Meet Tough Mudder founder Will Dean". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ Dean, Will (12 September 2017). It Takes a Tribe: Building the Tough Mudder Movement. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-241-97932-7.
- ^ Noonan, Aisling (2018-07-05). "Will Dean, Founder & CEO, Tough Mudder". Siegel+Gale. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
- ^ "40 Under 40 - Will Dean". Crain's New York Business. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ Schawbel, Dan. "Will Dean: How To Build A Tribe Around Your Business". Forbes. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ Rothenbaugh, Gary (19 November 2013). "Tough Mudder founder & CEO named EY Entrepreneur of the Year". endurance.biz. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ "2017 Forty Under 40 Awards". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ Hall, Joe (31 December 2016). "New Year's honours 2017: The full rundown of the business community's representatives on this year's list". CityAM. City AM Ltd. Retrieved 25 July 2021.