The Founder - Todd Greene
Todd Greene, 42, is the inventor and founder of HeadBlade, a company now celebrating 10 years in business. Before starting his head care company, Todd worked for a variety of blue-chip companies, along with upstarts including Paul Allen’s Starwave company that developed the original ESPN.com. While managing the first fantasy games for them, Todd authored a fictional blog under the pseudonym of Mr. Enright. His work history has included positions in fundraising, new business development, web content production, product design and concepting.
Greene describes himself as an “accidental entrepreneur” who places a strong emphasis on the experiential side of life. To that end, he has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia, a long way from his roots in the small town of Augusta, Maine where he was born and raised. For him, the pursuit of ideas and experience takes a higher precedence than a return on investment although that’s nice too. But the big city/small town contrast has also given him a well-developed sense of the absurd and a sometimes satiric temperament best evidenced in his blogging for Huffington Post.
In addition to being well-traveled, Todd makes it a point to follow and occasionally participate in a variety of action sports. These interests have permitted Todd to “discover” sports like mixed martial arts well before they’ve enjoyed mainstream acceptance. In fact his company was one of the very first sponsors of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, now a nearly billion dollar enterprise.
As a well-rounded business owner, Todd is interested in management wisdom found in books such as The Alchemist and The Art of War. He follows the arts and music scenes in Southern California closely, always looking for ideas and inspiration. Not surprisingly, he has been a featured lecturer at USC Pepperdine and the Pasadena Art Center of Design. As an industrial designer, Todd’s strong attraction to form and function underscores his belief in better living through improved design that is hopefully transparent to the user. (No one thinks about the need for an umbrella handle until it’s raining.).
And that would explain his most famous invention. The gestation period for the ergonomic head razor, from idea to prototype to production, was two years of constant testing and development. Todd brought his invention to the market and christened it "The HeadBlade” in 1999. The company just celebrated its 10-year anniversary with nearly 1 million sold.
The HeadBlade razor is now included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; it is a TIME magazine “Best Invention of the Year” and now, the razor is available just about anywhere shaving products are sold. Multiple HeadBlade line extensions of men’s grooming products are introduced each year so the design and R&D process never stops. Taken together, HeadBlade is the total headcare company with yearly revenues approximating nearly $9 million.
With the brand, Todd doesn’t simply sell a “hairstyle”, he sells a lifestyle to the men who shave their heads and the people who love them. One look at his website www.headblade.com and you’ll see what he means. HeadBladers like Todd are proud and confident guys; neither passive about life nor the decisions that affect it. This could actually be a mantra of sorts for his life and business.
Todd resides in Santa Monica and commutes to work to in a signature HeadBlade yellow and black Lotus. In his spare time, Todd travels to HeadBlade sponsored sporting event around the US and occasional visits to wine country. He blogs for Huffington Post and regularly Twitters to his myriad HeadBladers and celebrity pals. Greene holds a BA from Bowdoin College.
