Ronnen HararyCo-founder & Board Chair

We discussed business around the dinner table every night at six-thirty. My father ran a gallery selling Persian carpets, and my mother ran the business side. Being steeped in that conversation showed me that anything is possible, but it also taught me that I did not want to work in retail.

My father was a junior partner with a profit-sharing arrangement but no equity. When the owner closed the business, my father had to find a new job. He became a vice president at a juice company but was let go six months later. This drove me to want to control my own destiny.

I was identified at age ten with dysgraphia, which is the inability to express thoughts through writing. My handwriting was so poor that teachers could not read my exams and graded me with C's. My parents never talked about it, which caused me to grow up with a lot of shame.

Public school systems are not designed for outlier brains. Fortunately, because I was identified, I received accommodations like extra time on exams and tutor sessions. If I had not received those accommodations, I likely would have dropped out of school and taken a totally different path.

When you grow up with a learning disability, you are constantly the underdog. Overcoming those difficulties builds a strong muscle of persistence, making you believe that nothing is impossible. When you enter the business world, you feel untethered from school constraints and can express your artistic curiosity.

My mother was incredibly supportive and never showed any doubt. She let us take over her house for prototyping, gave me the keys to her car, and shared her professional contacts. Her encouragement drove me to Western University to make my case for admission.

We got the idea from Israel, where the product was highly popular. My mother and I debated whether we should import them or build them. I decided to manufacture them ourselves because I wanted to maintain control over the production and quality.

When you are young and lack experience, you do not know the real risks, which prevents your mind from getting cluttered. You are not bogged down by rational reasons why something cannot be done, allowing you to build momentum and move forward.

While it is good to get advice from a select group of people, seeking too much feedback introduces doubt. Doubt is the ultimate momentum-killer. Once you lose momentum, you freeze up, and your business idea fails to launch.

They passed because flying toys are risky, break easily, and have fast spinning propellers that present safety hazards. Because we were naive, we did not pass on it. Instead, we solved those issues by inventing plastic propeller tips, foam nose cones, and pop-off wings.

Bakugan sales had peaked at a billion dollars and were beginning to decline. We applied conventional toy industry wisdom, which dictated that you retire a brand and bring it back seven years later for a new generation. If I had been in my twenties, I would have ignored that rule.

I drove down to Detroit and pitched a buyer who told me he was not the right person. I searched the headquarters building and found the correct buyer, Adrian Zaks. I shared our startup story, and she ordered forty-eight thousand pieces on the spot.

Kmart promised that if the first batch sold well, they would order half a million pieces. Because of production lead times, we could not wait for the sell-through data to arrive. We bet on ourselves and began producing the half-million units immediately.

Older leaders love the energy of youth, and helping young founders is a primal way for them to give back. It takes them back to their own early career milestones, and they do not view twenty-five-year-old startups as a threat to their market share.

He was the patriarch of the toy industry. When my business partner and I were twenty-five, he took our phone calls and gave us advice. He loved toys and wanted to support young people driving innovation, which ultimately brought more customers to the stores.

When you are in your twenties, your naivety is endearing and authentic. However, once you pass age thirty-five, industry incumbents stop viewing you as an underdog and start seeing you as direct competition, making them less willing to share advice or contacts.

AI tools act like a McKinsey or Bain consultant in your pocket. They accelerate the learning curve, allowing young founders to make better business decisions and start companies at a much lower cost, which is crucial for managing cash flow.

Traveling exposes you to different cultures and products that may not exist in your home market. You can spot unique consumer trends and import the concept, just as we did when we brought the Earth Buddy idea from Israel to Canada.