Adam Garone

adam garone

Co-Founder and CEO
Movember

What do you get when you combine an interest in men’s health with marketing creativity, an entrepreneurial mindset and a cheeky sense of humour? You get Adam Garone, the co-founder and CEO of the global phenomenon known as Movember. In 2003, when he and a group of friends decided that the Mo (Aussie slang for moustache) needed to make a comeback, Adam recognized an opportunity to draw attention to cancers affecting men in the same way women had drawn attention to breast cancer.

It was what you could call a perfect storm in 2004 when Adam and his co-founders officially launched Movember. His penchant for risk-taking allowed him to throw all his financial resources behind the cause. The leadership skills he gained working as an officer in the Australian army while completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Science convinced others to follow. The marketing experience from his Master’s in Marketing at Melbourne Business School and his work in e-commerce for Vodafone helped him spread the message.

Today, over 627,000 men and women in 10 countries have participated in Movember, raising over $100 million for prostate cancer foundations around the world. Adam Garone, now living in Southern California, has won a number of awards for his innovative contribution, including the most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, which he won in the social category in 2008. A true visionary, Adam has shown that cause marketing can be done with fun and humour.

A few questions with Adam…

What are you most passionate about?
I’m passionate about creating grassroots movements and how you inspire people into action to make change in the world in this new era of social media and digital technologies. Movember is an example of that, but more recently the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia are others.

If you could have lunch with any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Princess Diana. Why? She was true to herself, she followed her heart, she wasn’t perfect but made such a huge impact on the world.

In the spirit of F1, what was the first car you ever owned?
It wasn’t the first car I owned but it’s my pride and joy – a 1978 Sandman Panelvan which is the iconic Australian surf car of the ‘70s. A time when the Moustache ruled the beaches this was the car to roll in. It’s in storage in Melbourne and comes out every Movember to help promote the campaign and moustache season.

Movember van