Engineering Sustainable Empires, Lessons From Timeless Toys and The Power of Reinvention with Brad Pedersen
Brad Pedersen is an angel investor, accomplished entrepreneur, and business coach. In 2008, he founded Tech 4 Kids, which later became the maker of some of the world’s most iconic toys. He later co-founded Pela, an innovative start-up specializing in sustainable phone cases which he grew to over $100 million.
In 2021, Brad and his Pela team launched Lomi, a successful crowd-funding campaign that raised $9.8 million for the world’s first smart kitchen waste composter which is an incredible device if you haven’t heard about it.
In our conversation, Brad gives us a glimpse of his wild journey filled with epic highs and gut-wrenching lows, including surviving bankruptcy multiple times and how that prepared him to take on the world’s greatest challenges through his later ventures.
You’ll get to hear his tactics on hiring a dream team in your business, and why he’s not a fan of the “24/7” hustle mentality. He also shares a personal revelation inspired by his kids and why he’s now laser-focused on making every moment count with his loved ones.
A Wide-Ranging Conversation Through…
- Fail fast and learn from your flops
- Creating a “don’t do” list
- Just keep moving
- If there’s no health, there’s no wealth!
- You’ll never wish you had more meetings
- Hard work alone doesn’t cut it
- The “School of Hard Knocks” recruitment process
- Aim for leadership that’s firm, fair, but fun
- Choosing discipline over regret
- How small a impact ripples and makes waves
- Brad’s advice on fatherhood, marriage, health, and business
Resources:
- Brad Pedersen
- Connect with Brad Pedersen on LinkedIn
- Tech 4 Kids
- Pela
- Lomi
- Startup Santa: A Toymaker’s Tale of 10 Business Lessons Learned from Timeless Toys by Brad Pedersen
- Chandler Bolt
- Toy Story
- Darren Hardy
- The Ideal Team Player by Patrick M. Lencioni
- Who by Geoff Smart
- Jim Rohn
- Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits! by Greg Crabtree
- Kraig Kramers
Brad Pedersen Bio
Brad Pedersen is an award-winning entrepreneur, angel investor, thought leader, and sought-after business coach. His entrepreneurial life began at age 16 in wood cutting.
In 2008, he founded and scaled one of Canada’s top toy companies, Tech 4 Kids, and subsequently merged it to create Basic Fun; a maker of some of the world’s most iconic toys.
Brad left the toy business in 2018 and subsequently co-founded Pela, creating a new category of the world’s first sustainable smart device protective covers, growing the business to over $100M in revenue.
In 2021, Brad and the team at Pela successfully launched a record-breaking $9.8M crowd-funded campaign for the Lomi, the world’s first smart waste kitchen composter, making it the largest cleantech crowdfunding campaign of all time.
He’s the author of Startup Santa: A Toymaker’s Tale of 10 Business Lessons Learned from Timeless Toys.
Brad has a passion for faith, fitness, entrepreneurialism, and outdoor pursuits and lives with his wife in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada.
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