Richard Tait, Grand Poo Bah, Cranium, Inc.
Cranium, Inc. Grand Poo Bah Richard Tait thrives on changing the rules. Whether pioneering a new approach to retail distribution, transforming the game and toy industry or forging a fresh approach to corporate culture, Richard is always exploring new ways to do differently.
A former “Employee of the Year” at Microsoft, Richard started more than a dozen new companies in his 10 years with the software developer. Then, in 1997, Richard left Microsoft to make board game history.
With cofounder Whit Alexander, Richard created what would become the fastest-selling independent board game in history: Cranium. In a time of technological excess, Cranium’s high touch (versus high tech) approach and mission to give everybody the chance to shine was groundbreaking.
Inc. magazine named the new company “one of the hottest start-ups” in 1999. Two years later, the same magazine dubbed Cranium, Inc. “the smartest little company in America,” and Richard became one of Fortune magazine’s Fast 50.
In the years since, both Cranium and Richard continue to be recognized for excellence. As his company secured the Toy Industry Association (TIA) T.O.T.Y. Game of the Year award an unprecedented five times, Richard was equally renowned for his accomplishments. Deemed one of the “most powerful people in Seattle” by Seattle Magazine, the Scotland native was twice nominated for the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award and included among Puget Sound Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty.”
A voracious student of passion brands and corporate culture, Richard is equally passionate about sharing his secret sauce for success. In addition to being included in William C. Taylor and Polly G. LaBarre’s best-selling Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win, and From the Sandbox to the Corner Office: Lessons Learned on the Journey to the Top by Eve Tahmincioglu, Richard is also a regular speaker at leadership events for Starbucks, Target Corp., Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, IDEO and the Stanford School of Business.
Richard, a Peter Pan at heart and father of three, is a vocal advocate for the power of play. He sparked a national conversation on the importance of unstructured play with his 2006 PARADE magazine article, “Let’s Play.” Richard also has a monthly column on modernmom.com where he regularly shares simple ways families can play every day.
Distinguished worldwide for his maverick approach to creating games, toys and even a corporate culture that gives everybody the chance to shine, Richard is a member of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization Hall of Fame in the U.S., as well as the Entrepreneurial Exchange Hall of Fame in his homeland of Scotland, and he sits on the TIA Board of Directors.
His motto: “Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s license.”