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Nobody would license to Spin Master while it was private. Licensors could not see the balance sheet, so they could not tell whether a failed product would be covered. Going public fixed that, and Disney, Universal and Monster Jam followed.
Ronnen Harary, co-founder and chair of Spin Master and co-creator of Paw Patrol, tells Ian Schwartzman why transparency was worth more than control, and where he thinks a toy company should stop.
Also: the pass that cost them Beyblade, and the product he is proudest of because he had nothing to do with it.
Timestamps
00:00 Three college friends, no investors, no famous last names
00:53 Bulgarian immigrants and a Persian carpet gallery in Toronto
02:05 Diagnosed with dysgraphia at ten, and why he calls it a gift
03:10 Campus Faces, and paying for university with advertising space
04:05 Nobody would hire any of the three founders
04:44 Earth Buddy, and the $1.5 million he put straight into Devil Sticks
06:02 Three flops in a row, named
06:53 The pass on Beyblade
08:59 Sega wanted twelve million for a TV show. He came back with six.
09:45 A good toy sells once. A good story sells forever.
12:07 The downside of being a public company, and what he says instead
12:26 Why transparency won them Disney and Universal
13:02 What a licensor is really asking about your balance sheet
13:42 Why Paw Patrol does not sell direct to its own audience
18:01 "I didn't even know about Patreon"
22:08 What he did when he turned 50
23:44 Hatchimals, the product h
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