438: How Nick Mowbray Built ZURU into a Multibillion-Dollar Toy Company

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Mowbray is the co-founder of ZURU Toy Co., ZURU Edge, ZURU Tech, and Rhodes Pet Science. In 2018, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year in his home country, New Zealand, and he’s listed in the World Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. He and his siblings, co-founders Mat and Anna, are worth more than $3 billion, while the company revenue was north of $2 billion AUD in 2022. Despite their success, the siblings didn’t go into the toy business with a deep knowledge of business or manufacturing. In fact, they didn’t even know much about toys. They just had one hot air balloon model, a lot of hustle, and a willingness to learn from their mistakes.

Listen to Nathan and Nick discuss:

• How a childhood hot air balloon model inspired the business
• Borrowing $20K from his parents to relocate to Hong Kong
• The growing pains of the early days and learning through failure
• Their first toy megahits, Robo Fish and Bunch O Balloons
• Running a lean business using automation and no inventory
• The company’s 2% improvement philosophy
• The brainstrust business practice
• Working alongside his siblings
• And much more scrappy business growth advice...

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