Will Dean (businessman)
Will Dean, MBE (born November 8, 1980) is a British businessman and former counter-[...] officer and Harvard Business School MBA, who is the co-founder and CEO of Tough Mudder, and often is called "The Mark Zuckerberg of Extreme Sports." Dean was named to Sports Business Journal{{'}}s prestigious 2017 "Top 40 Under 40 List." Tough Mudder currently employs over 150 people worldwide. The company repeatedly has been identified as one of the live streaming industry's content leaders.
Early life
A native of Great Britain, Dean was born in Sheffield, England.
Education
Dean attended the University of Bristol, where he graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Economics and Politics. Dean later attended Harvard Business School where he received an MBA.
Counter-[...]
In between his undergraduate and graduate studies, Dean spent five years working in counter-[...] for the UK Foreign Office.
Businessman
Dean co-founded Tough Mudder while attending Harvard Business School with Guy Livingstone, a former corporate lawyer. The company now hosts events in 10 countries, including the U.S., China, Australia and Dubai; more than 2.5 million people participated in Tough Mudder events last year, when the company generated over $100 million in revenue.
Dean created the concept at business school, however his professors were skeptical that Tough Mudder could become a thriving business. Defying their reservations, Dean hosted the first event in May 2010 with an expected participation of 500. 5,000 people turned up, vindicating Dean's stance and confirming the validity of the concept.
Dean has been named to Sports Business Daily's 40 Under 40, Crain's annual 40 Under 40 list (2012), was included on Fortune{{'}}s 40 Under 40: Ones to Watch List (2013), and received the United States National EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Emerging Award (2013).
In 2014, Forbes profiled Dean, and asked him for his five top tips for entrepreneurs.
In 2015, the New York Times profiled Dean and explored what the CEO personally does to stay in shape while running the Tough Mudder business.
Philanthropy
Tough Mudder has raised over $13 million for a variety of charities including Help for Heroes in the UK and other charity organizations around the world. In the 2017 New Years Honours, Dean was made MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his charitable contributions to sport.
Tough Mudder/Origins
When Dean entered Tough Mudder in a business-plan competition at Harvard Business School, judges questioned the viability of a team-centered, obstacle course combined with an untimed distance run as something people would enjoy - and willingly pay money to do. Dean started Tough Mudder to provide camaraderie for participants — challenges that offer a variety of physical and mental and fun and designed it to foster teams working together towards achieving common goals. As such, Tough Mudder participants display rare loyalty: over 10,000 people have a Tough Mudder tattoo - and counting. Dean started the business in America because of its market size and the country's positive attitude toward start-ups and entrepreneurs.
Since its launch, as the company’s CEO, he has grown Tough Mudder into a global brand with events held in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, China, Germany and Ireland, with events also slated to be held in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore in 2017. Tough Mudder currently employs over 150 people worldwide.
In Dec. 2016, Dean revealed that the company will seek to launch a chain of fitness boutiques in the United States in 2017 to expand the brand beyond Obstacle Course Racing events. Accelerating that brand development into a full-fledged active lifestyle and media company, Tough Mudder also signed television partnerships with CBS, The CW Network and Sky Sports; the company expects non-ticket receipts to account for half its annual revenue within five years.
In June 2017, Dean and CBS Sports expanded their partnership with the development of a new event, Tough Mudder X. As part of that deal, all Tough Mudder programming was moved to CBS Broadcast.
It Takes a Tribe: Building the Tough Mudder Movement
Will Dean’s book, It Takes a Tribe: Building the Tough Mudder Movement, was named one of Financial Times “Must Read Business Books of the Month” for September 2017, due to the insights and experiences on such topics as leadership lessons, rapid expansion and learning from failure that are provided by Dean for entrepreneurs. The book examines the social psychology, corporate theory and personal anecdotes that has led to the success of Dean’s Tough Mudder company. Dean provides advice on how one can apply Tough Mudder principles and values into one’s own life and companies with advice on overcoming fears, cultivating and connecting with a community, innovation and navigating the challenges of business ownership.
Top three career tips Dean offers are:
- Build a tribe you believe in, beginning with your team.
- Be resilient.
- Have fun.
Dean also advises:
- If one wants to be disruptive they have to challenge convention and not be afraid to do so.
- When starting a business, one has to believe in themselves even when no one else does.
- Only when one takes risks and directly faces a tough challenges does one learn to build confidence and resourcefulness.
- To keep growing a business, always keep innovating.
- The organization and its values must mirror the brand and it may not be the best fit for everyone, but it must be the right fit for one’s internal team.
- Obstacles and challenges are perfect opportunities to help define and differentiate one’s organization from others.
- As important as it is to be willing to fail, it’s more important to recognize as a CEO one doesn’t know all the answers and you will need other’s people help to be successful.
Controversy
Tough Guy
While at Harvard Business School, Dean studied Tough Guy, a UK company that specializes in survival competitions. Dean explored the feasibility of international expansion for Tough Guy. When Dean launched Tough Mudder in 2010, a lawsuit ensued, alleging Dean had used confidential information to start the company. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2013, with no admission of wrongdoing.