LEGAL
A Tough Mudder event is no laughing matter, but camaraderie and a sense of humor are infused throughout the event and the Tough Mudder organization's culture. One look at the Tough Mudder website tells you they have built an event unlike any other, the 10-12 mile obstacle course events designed by British Special Forces, has quickly become the premier adventure challenge series in the world, attracting over half a million participants while raising over $3 million for the Wounded Warrior Project. At the Tough Mudder finish line, a cold beer and coveted orange headband await those who finish, along with a potential prize for those with the best costume or mullet. The humor is seemingly a reprieve from the previous 3+ hours of mental and physical challenge you've just endured, including the sprint through a field of dangling live wires just before reaching the finish line, endearingly titled 'Electroshock Therapy'.
Tough Mudder has experienced an astounding rate of growth since its inception, growing from 3 events in 2010 to 35 in 2012. Additionally, Tough Mudder is growing their organization globally, with events already being held in Canada, the UK and Australia, and an event in Germany planned for 2013. We had the chance to chat with Tough Mudder GC Sheetal Aiyer, read the discussion below to learn more about how he is managing the growth of a corporate legal department within a relatively young organization, while preserving their unique culture. Sheetal and his team are building a legal department equipped to handle rapid growth, global expansion and risk while establishing processes that will stand the test of time – taking true endurance and strength.
Not yet. I will be participating in my first event this weekend in Vermont, and am looking at participating in either our Mid-Atlantic (Maryland) event in September or our Tri-State (New Jersey) event in October. I started working for Tough Mudder as outside counsel last summer and joined in February to build the in-house department.
The Department is currently made up of four attorneys, though we will have two more attorneys joining us by mid-September. We work on a variety of issues including general corporate matters, tax, employment, intellectual property, litigation, privacy, sponsorship, and licensing. We have staffed our department so that we have in-house expertise in most of these areas, and try to keep the bulk of the work in-house. That said, we have three or four "go-to" firms that we view as our partners in areas like employment, tax, and litigation, and since we are now holding events in the UK, Canada, and Australia (and Germany next year), we work very closely with our international outside counsel as well.
Since Tough Mudder is growing exponentially and will not be slowing down anytime soon, my primary role has been to build out the Department to make sure it can keep up with the wider needs of the company. Much of that has meant focusing on recruiting, inducting, and training the bright lawyers who have recently joined our team. I also work closely with the CEO and other executives to make sure that we protect the brand we have worked so hard to build, ensure that we continue to put on kick-ass events while maintaining a strong commitment to safety, and facilitate our international expansion.
Simply put, we take safety very seriously and work with our partners to ensure that our obstacles and the course are as safe as can be while still challenging our participants' physical and mental grit. We work with certified professional engineers to approve our obstacle designs, ensure that that our obstacles are built to spec at each event, have up to 30 trained medical personnel on-site for each event, and comply with all relevant laws and regulations related to endurance challenges for the jurisdictions in which we hold our events.
Given our explosive growth both domestically and internationally, we are addressing a host of issues related to international corporate structuring, employment, tax, intellectual property registration and protection, licensing, sponsorship, and contractual negotiation and standardization. It's an exciting time to be part of the Tough Mudder Legal Department because we get to develop and implement proactive strategies that affect all facets of the business from the ground up.
The key to Tough Mudder's growth, both inside and outside of the Legal Department, is getting the right people to join the company. We have a very defined culture that is central to how we operate, and we have a rigorous interview and induction process in place to make sure that we find people committed to making Tough Mudder the most well-known endurance challenge on the planet. We need lawyers willing to leave behind the task-oriented, individualistic culture of most law firms in favor of becoming long-term strategic thinkers who embrace constant change, genuinely appreciate working as part of a team, and continually push their own boundaries. If we get the right people, we can manage our remarkable growth.
One of the bigger challenges we face as we grow internationally is protecting our intellectual property and other proprietary information. While we welcome competition on fair terms, we do see a number of copycat events popping up that attempt to coast on our brand name and recognition. For that reason, we have in-house counsel dedicated to the registration and enforcement of our intellectual property (domestically and) internationally, and we also have excellent international outside counsel who we will call upon if necessary.
Right now, wedding preparations. I'm getting married on August 4.
I'd start my own company. I hear legal publishing is a promising field.
I started my own law firm prior to joining Tough Mudder, which taught me that embracing change and pushing boundaries often leads to the best opportunities.
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