Another successful ToyCon is behind us, and we hope you have enjoyed connecting with your peers and sharing valuable insights with our industry leaders. We look forward to seeing you at ToyCon '09. Goodbye from Phoenix. Safe travels home!
This morning, ToyCon attendees were fortunate to hear directly from a panel of deal-making giants and learn the inside story of what it takes to make a deal firsthand. Tenenbaum started with a humorous list of what NOT to do when trying to close a deal, including alienating senior management, not listening to the other person, insisting on “my way or the highway,” and not trusting your gut. The conversation then evolved into a discussion of the elements that need to be in place to give you the most favorable landscape to achieve your ultimate goal. Essentially, you have to know what you want BEFORE you enter into any kind of discussion. The entire discussion will be emotionally draining to you and everyone else involved in the deal. It will take its toll on you one way or another, and you have to expect a change in relationships between you and the rest of your senior management team. What’s the right time to sell? There’s no right answer because no one can really know. You have to feel in your gut that it’s the best possible time. Feely said he used to believe that you should wait until you have a major hit before you put your company on the market. People caught on eventually, however, so this tactic might no longer work. Furthermore, what may be the right time for YOU to sell might not be the right time for your partners or senior management team. If you’re going to sell your company with the intention of walking away, sell if for the best cash deal you can. If you want to sell your company with the intention of still being involved in a senior position, it’s a very different deal because you’re still concerned about your employees and you care about the future of the company. Foreman advised that if you’re taking paper, stock or back-end participation, you need to be more involved and active instead of just taking cash and walking away. If you’re going to take an earn-out, then you need to maintain some level of control. As far as when it’s time to walk away from the deal, each panelist had valuable advice. Rubin said he would walk if he felt uncomfortable with anyone in the room, or if he found himself arguing over minutiae. Feely said he would walk if he didn’t feel it’s a win-win situation or if he felt there was any aspect of the deal that was even remotely unethical. Foreman said he would walk if the lawyers were pushing too hard or if there wasn’t enough respect from the other side. In the end, all panelists agreed that either buying or selling a company is essentially a calculated risk – and that the best way to handle the transaction is to get yourself some expert advice from trusted and reputable professionals, and to actively involve your executive team.
Moderator Bernie Tenenbaum (China Cat Capital LLC), and panelists Jay Foreman (Play Along), Arnie Rubin (Funrise), and consultant Pat Feely provided a candid exchange recounting their personal experiences both buying and selling companies.
It IS Easy Being Green Toy companies are faced not only with selling products and developing the next great “play memory” – they now also need to implement changes to their businesses to become more “green” and eco-friendly. Dr. Steve Dunn, Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Business, brought his multi-disciplined career experiences to ToyCon to advise the toy industry on the simple actions we can take right now to improve efficiencies, lower energy costs, and help care for the environment. Some of these include: Dr. Dunn offered other suggestions and action items for companies that want to take an even more ambitious approach to long-term sustainability. For these and other ideas, visit Dr. Dunn’s website at http://www.iso2050.com/
Guber, Founder and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment and veteran Hollywood visionary, told his entranced audience that the key to success is to always remember that you’re a storyteller, and that everything you do and experience is a story waiting to be told. According to Guber, the world of toys is no different. As digital play begins to evolve, the lesson to be learned is that you have to stay in the game even if you experience failure after failure. He recounted some of his own failures throughout his career, and pointed out the joy of success was always worth the pain. Over the course of his career, Guber has been able to synthesize his experiences to develop a formula for success that he calls MAGIC: M = Motivation A = Audience G = Goals I = Interactivity Guber certainly made an emotional connection with his audience tonight, as his speech was received with thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Goodnight from Day 2 of ToyCon. See you tomorrow!
Once upon a time, under a starry desert sky, more than 200 people gathered to hear a story from one of the entertainment world’s most noted storytellers: Peter Guber.
C = Control
The MAGIC of success is to get other people to do what they ordinarily wouldn’t do. Guber asserted there is no such thing as a customer. Instead, you are communicating to an audience that is hungry for an emotional connection. It’s up to you to move people’s hearts with your stories and with your products. Your business becomes “emotional transportation” instead of a series of transactions.
“I gotta play, and I gotta stay connected to my friends.” That’s what today’s kids and tweens want from their online gaming experiences, said Steve Youngwood of MTVN Kids & Family Group, and this afternoon’s keynote speaker. MTVN’s solution is to create successful Virtual Worlds such as Neopets and NICKtropolis that offer young gamers better, faster, more direct ways to play and interact with one another. Today’s kids are wired, and they want their technology to be invisible; they just want relevant, involving content. Youngwood concluded that key factors for a successful virtual world must include good intellectual property, innovative product and development capabilities, advanced operational infrastructure, and effective, efficient distribution.
According to Youngwood, most kids play games as their primary online activity. Games are a sort of social currency that can earn them “street cred” among their peers. A perfect virtual world allows kids to work on their identity and feel achievement, and is comprised of seven aspects of interactivity:
