Nate Martin (born January 13, 1983) is an American entrepreneur, game designer, and software executive. He is the co-founder and CEO of the escape room company Puzzle Break.[1] He is often referred to as the "Founding Father of Escape Rooms."[2][3][4][5][6][7]
He is an alumnus of the DigiPen Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation and Computer Science.[6][8]
Martin was recruited by Microsoft early in his career[6] and also worked as a software executive for Electronic Arts before founding Puzzle Break, the first escape room company in the United States, in 2013.[9][10] Martin funded the company with an initial $7,000 investment and grew the company yearly revenue into $1 million by 2016.[11]
Martin is a frequent lecturer and podcast guest on the topics of escape rooms, interactive entertainment, and entrepreneurship. His interviews have appeared in the New York Times,[12] Entrepreneur Magazine,[13] and Forbes.[14] In 2017, he spoke on the future of experiential storytelling at the Sundance Film Festival.[15]
