As I'd grown up as a child, Richard Branson was one of my heroes, and I just loved his swashbuckling personality, and I thought it was a great fit for us with the game.

And so I was struck with how am I going to get to Richard Branson? Adam Tratt, he was our first employee, and he ran into my area, and he said, dude, grab a game. And I said, what? What's going on? And he said, you have to go to Borders books right now. And I said, why? And he said, Richard Branson is signing his autobiography. You've got to go. Go. Get his inversion. And so I shuffled across Third Avenue in Seattle and then walked into Borders and sure enough, Richard Branson was sitting there signing signing books so I got into line with my game under my arm and waited till I was in front of him and I'd read his autobiography and I knew that he loved to play games with these kids and then he said what's that under your arm and I said it's my new game cranium and he said you know I love games and I said yes I do I want you to play this with your kids and then he said do you have a partner in Britain and I said no yes, I do. I want you to play this with your kids. And then he said, do you have a partner in Britain? And I said, no, I wanted to be you. That was just one of the

remarkable moments in the extraordinary career and life of Richard Tate, the serial entrepreneur

and Microsoft veteran, best known as the inventor of the hit board game, Cranium.

Tributes and memories have been pouring in from Tate's longtime friends and colleagues

since his death this week at the age of 58 from complications due to COVID-19.

A passionate and visionary entrepreneur with a reputation for being tough,

Tate had a generous spirit, an effusive personality, and a rare ability to connect with the

people he encountered.

This week on the Geekwire podcast, Richard Tate, in his own words.

We're listening back to a conversation that Tate

recorded with Fuel Talent CEO and founder, Shauna Swirland, in 2018 for her podcast, What Fules You.

It's inspiring and insightful, and we're grateful to Shana for allowing us to share it with you here.

On today's What Fules You podcast, I will allowing us to share it with you here.

On today's What Fules You podcast, I will be talking to my friend Richard Tate, a tenacious and brilliant entrepreneur originally from Scotland. You may know him for co-founding the top-selling

game Cranium or finding the Seattle-based energy drink, Galazzo, or for his impressive work

earlier in his career at

Microsoft and most recently at Starbucks. He's been called one of Seattle's most successful

entrepreneurs and is now a judge on Geekwire's elevator pitch. Richard is a perfect example

of being someone who believes in following your dreams, and he sets an incredible example to

all dads out there for his love and commitment to his family. Welcome, Richard. Hello, hello, hello. I had to add the dad thing in there because that, honestly, like, as your friend, is one of the things I love most about you. I just think that, like, you prioritize your kids in such a way, and when you talk about them, you just beam. It makes me happy as a mom. Aw. Yeah. them so much. And I'm trying to do a better, better job. I'm sure they could tell you that there's room for improvement, but I do the best that I can. We're all a constant work in progress. So we're going to start with rapid fire. Okay. I am ready. I love rapid fire. I love it. First, you're the only one I've started with this, but what fuels you?

Because you're like such a this, but what fuels you?

...