115: How to Successfully Design & Launch a Toy Invention

Product Startup

Feb 23 2022 • 31 mins

Dan Klitsner is the inventor of the super-popular toy Bop It, along with over 300 other toy inventions of his that are out on the market. Bop It alone has sold more than 30 million units. Dan has been in the product game for over 25 years with over 500,000 followers on social media. Today Dan is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can use best practices from his success in the toy industry to build and launch a successful toy product, and how those lessons can apply to success in any hardware product vertical.

Today you will hear us talk about:

  • Failures are the best way to lead to success
  • Toys blended with industrial design
  • Toys are generally creating opportunity, where products solve a problem
  • Don’t just think of products as a problem solving tool
  • Everything is RITE (a formula for how to evaluate your idea)
  • Relationship, Idea, Timing, Execution
  • Meetings that are failures, they can be learned from
  • A great idea is only one part of the puzzle
  • Pretend that your idea is only a 5 out of 10, then improve it
  • Timing is not luck, you can gauge this via research
  • Relentless listening to everyone and everything throughout your product journey
  • Knock on the right doors, and enough doors, to find a good fit
  • Listen to your prospective buyers


EPISODE LINKS

Dan Klitsner Links:



The Product Startup Podcast Links:



Mako Design Links: