Today we’d like to introduce you to Dean Kakridas
Hi Dean, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a Greek-American dual citizen, originally from Boston, but I’ve called Austin home since 2003. I’m married to an amazing woman and partner—this year marks our 20th anniversary—and we have an equally amazing daughter who’s about to turn 16. My wife runs a dental practice in downtown Austin, and my daughter is a sophomore at St. Andrews Episcopal School.
These days, I serve as a Senior Partner at Eidra, a global consultancy based out of Sweden.
My early career started in Boston after engineering school, working in high-tech hardware companies during the Computer Age. Then, in 2000, I made a bold move—left Boston for Oslo to join Opera, a web browser startup, as a business developer. It was a major career pivot: from hardware engineering to software business development and from the U.S. to Scandinavia. Being one of the few non-Norwegians at Opera gave me a unique lens on the business, and being part of one of the few independent browser companies during the rise of the Internet was a whirlwind. The company eventually moved me to Austin to establish our U.S. office and build our stateside presence.
My second big pivot came when I shifted from software into the world of design and innovation consulting. I joined frog in 2007, just as the Mobile Age was gaining momentum. I got to work with some of the world’s leading mobile brands, helping design groundbreaking hardware and software experiences. I’ve been in strategic-creative consulting ever since and love the variety, challenge, and satisfaction of helping companies—from startups to global brands—create meaningful, usable, and impactful products, services, and experiences.
At the heart of it all, I’m driven by people—collaborating, amplifying efforts, and creating value that matters. I’m always looking for ways to do good work that does good in the world.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s definitely not been a smooth road. But I’ve always worked hard to make sure I wasn’t simply a product of my circumstances—I wanted to be a product of my decisions. For reasons I can’t fully explain, I’ve never been one to chase the easy route.
One of the bigger challenges came in 1999 when I left home and moved to Norway—without a job lined up. I had to be resourceful and resilient, adjusting to a completely new country, culture, language, and professional environment with little to no support system around me. It forced me to grow up fast and figure things out as I went.
Another major hurdle was learning to navigate a totally different professional culture. The norms, expectations, and “rules of engagement” in Norway were worlds apart from what I knew in the U.S. But rather than resist it, I leaned in. I saw it as a chance to stretch, to evolve, and to adopt new ways of thinking. That period helped shape me into more of a global citizen—with a broader, more open perspective in both business and life.
And then there’s the personal stuff—the harder-to-talk-about stuff. I’ve never had a particularly close relationship with my parents, especially my father. That lack of unconditional love and support, especially early in my career, was painful. It left me feeling alone and uncertain at times—like I was figuring everything out without a safety net. It’s something I’ve had to navigate for much of my life, and truthfully, it’s still something I work through every day. But having a family of my own has been a powerful, healing force.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Eidra is a strategic-creative consultancy collective headquartered in Stockholm, with around 1,200 people across 17 companies. We’ve got offices throughout Northern Europe, as well as in New York and Chicago. As a group, we offer a broad range of services—brand and business strategy, product and UX design, engineering, performance marketing and growth, and sustainability consulting.
My role is to help grow our presence in the U.S. That means I spend my time working closely with clients to understand the challenges and opportunities they’re facing—and partnering with them to develop smart, creative, and effective solutions. I also work with our internal teams to make sure we’re delivering real impact. At the end of the day, I’m in the outcomes business—and I love it. Helping people overcome tough business problems and create products and services that truly serve their customers (which is often all of us) is what drives me.
Eidra is a modern consulting collective with a strong, values-driven culture. The people here are sharp, ambitious, and creative—but also kind and grounded. I feel lucky to be part of this global team of thinkers, makers, and changemakers.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
That I used to be an engineer and quite introverted and nerdy ha!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eidra.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kakridas/
- Twitter: https://x.com/ATX
