A fascinating interview with Ryan Hamilton, the founder and toy developer of Plus-Plus USA and small business entrepreneur with over 10 years in the toy industry.

Discussing things like maintaining a work-life balance, a changing company culture when your business is growing and words of wisdom for any future entrepreneurs or aspiring toy makers.

Ryan discusses how he first got into the toy industry after living in Europe and noticing that the toys they had their were much cooler and thoughtful in design than what could be found in America.

We also touch on things like the rigorous process of getting a toy from initial design to a finalized product found on the shelves, and some of his past ideas that never fully took off like he'd hoped.

Show Notes:

20:00 - Simple toys force the use of the imagination.
21:30 - What Ryan considers the ultimate toy.
24:20 - Managing time and delegation.
27:30 - Keeping his work-life balance in check.
30:00 - Even your own business is just a job that your need to be able to step away from.
32:00 - Ryan's Advice for future entrepreneurs (or toymakers).
34:00 - Kickstarter being used to find toy "knock-off" ideas.
36:30 - Getting honest feedback from someone other than your mom and friends.
39:30 - Like Seth Godin says, "just ship it."

Items Mentioned:
28:45 - Inbox Pause (www.inboxpause.com)
34:00 - Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com)
34:10 - Fidget Cube
37:40 - Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com)

Please leave me a comment and rating on iTunes to let me know your thoughts!

Episode 004: Toying Around With Ryan Hamilton.