{"id":"e8bc8b00-5771-434d-addd-5262499ef980","slug":"rick-smith-axon","name":"Rick Smith","bioBrief":"Founder and CEO of [Axon Enterprise](/companies/axon) (NASDAQ: AXON), the public safety technology company behind TASER energy weapons, body-worn cameras, and Evidence.com. Smith founded the company as TASER International in a Tucson garage in 1993 after two of his college friends were shot and killed, with a mission to make bullets obsolete. He holds a B.S. cum laude in Neuroscience from Harvard University, a Master's in International Finance from the University of Leuven (Belgium), and an MBA from the University of Chicago. In 2019, he authored 'The End of Killing,' arguing that lethal force is a technology problem solvable through innovation. Under his leadership, Axon has grown into a $40B+ market-cap company pioneering AI-powered drones for first responders (DFR program) and Dedrone counter-drone systems.","priorExits":null,"nationality":"American","verificationPosture":"verified","aliases":[],"sources":[{"url":"https://investor.axon.com/management-team?item=126","title":"Rick Smith — CEO & Founder, Axon Enterprise","sourceName":"Axon Investor Relations (official)"},{"url":"https://www.axon.com/leadership/rick-smith","title":"Rick Smith — Axon Leadership","sourceName":"Axon (official)"},{"url":"https://www.forbes.com/profile/rick-smith/","title":"Rick Smith — Forbes Profile","sourceName":"Forbes"},{"url":"https://www.axon.com/blog/founders-day","title":"Celebrating Rick Smith and Axon's 29th Founder's Day","sourceName":"Axon Blog"}],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","createdAt":"2026-08-18T04:01:23.437Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-19T07:43:08.626Z","educations":[],"companyRoles":[{"id":"5ded9a21-6768-4271-8dee-29ccc1e49e8b","personId":"e8bc8b00-5771-434d-addd-5262499ef980","companyId":"4b53c637-6a84-4632-b9db-25e284a80a6e","role":"ceo","roleTitle":"Founder & CEO","startDate":null,"endDate":null,"currentRole":true,"roleBasis":"verified_secondary","createdAt":"2026-08-18T04:01:24.194Z","company":{"slug":"axon","name":"Axon Enterprise"}},{"id":"d5f5226d-7abb-4141-b385-a4d74f131f33","personId":"e8bc8b00-5771-434d-addd-5262499ef980","companyId":"4b53c637-6a84-4632-b9db-25e284a80a6e","role":"founder","roleTitle":"Founder","startDate":null,"endDate":null,"currentRole":true,"roleBasis":"verified_secondary","createdAt":"2026-08-19T07:43:46.681Z","company":{"slug":"axon","name":"Axon Enterprise"}}],"boardRoles":[],"investorRoles":[],"foundings":[]}