An Old Game Gets A Do-Over

This entrepreneur revived Spikeball and turned it into a multimillion-dollar business.

- Patricia Mertz Esswein

PROFILE 

WHO: Chris Ruder, 42 

WHERE: Chicago

WHAT: Founder and CEO, Spikeball Inc.

What is Spikeball? 

It’s a game played two on two with an orange-size ball and a small net in the middle—if volleyball and four square had a baby, it would be Spikeball. A player starts a point by serving the ball down onto the net so that the ball ricochets up at the opponents, who have three hits to return the ball to the net. If they don’t, their opponents score. When the ball is in play, there are no boundaries. You run, jump and dive. The first team to reach 21 points wins. The game was originally sold in the late ’80s.

How did you acquire it?