Will Dean, Founder and CEO of Tough Mudder, has been named the National EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Emerging Award winner. The EY (Ernst & Young) Entrepreneur of the Year Award is positioned as the most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs in the US. The award encourages entrepreneurial activity and ‘recognizes leaders and visionaries who demonstrate innovation, financial success and personal commitment as they create and build world-class businesses.’
Tough Mudder is designed to test participants’ overall strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie. Dean was recognized for his vision to create an innovative and spirited obstacle course that is now a leading international series. He was honoured at the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards gala, the culminating event of the EY Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Springs, California.
The Forum is a major US gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. Awards were given in 10 additional categories. The EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges and from more than 250 regional award recipients.
“We are excited to honour Will Dean with this esteemed award and recognize him for his vision to create a successful and globally recognized company that inspires a sense of teamwork and accomplishment for those involved,” said Bryan Pearce, EY Americas Director, Entrepreneur Of The Year.
In addition to this recognition, Dean was previously named to Crain’s ‘40 Under 40’ class of 2012 and received the Wounded Warrior Project’s Talkhouse Award this year for his service efforts.
By running a Tough Mudder challenge, participants are encouraged to work together to overcome 12-foot walls and other obstacles to discover a sense of camaraderie and accomplishment.
“I believed there were others who felt the way I did, that they wanted to do an activity with friends and not take themselves too seriously, get a little nutty and not care about what time they do it in and then have a few beers afterwards,” said Dean.
“I think one of the hardest things when you’re first starting any business is this belief that people will actually buy your product,” he added. “Now, people are actually clamouring to go to our events. We fill up hotel rooms and restaurants, and will generate US$2-3 million for a local economy over one weekend.”
Today, as CEO, Dean oversees the company’s daily operations and more than 150 employees from its headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. The company, which has grown more than 3250% since its creation in 2009, puts together 53 obstacle courses across the world in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany with up to 20,000 people participating together during a single event.
In May 2013, Tough Mudder announced that it had reached 1 million total registrations since it started.
Much of Dean’s inspiration for Tough Mudder came from a combination of his previous position as a counter-terrorism agent for the British government as well as his experience in marathons and triathlons on three different continents. All of the obstacle courses are designed by the British Special Forces and the organization has raised over US$6 million for the Wounded Warrior Project.
“The fact that we get so many injured veterans to our events and the sense of pride that they have doing our events is something that I think you can’t duplicate,” said Dean. “The sense that you built a company that gives people that is just an amazing feeling.”
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