Born to License

Paid acquisition is getting more expensive, marketplaces are more crowded, and copycats can appear within days. In the first episode of the new Licensing Plus format, David Born explores how licensing can give e-commerce brands recognition, credibility, and access to established fan communities — and why it can also add cost, complexity, and risk.

Featuring insights and case studies from The Oodie, Fira X Wear, Plum Deluxe, Hippo Blue, WOLFpak, CamelBak x Crayola, Hismile x KFC, and more, the episode covers product strategy, royalties, minimum guarantees, forecasting, approvals, and the capabilities businesses need before pursuing an IP partnership.

📥 Download the Licensing + E-Commerce one-page cheat sheet: Licensing + E-Commerce: The Episode Takeaway

Links & Resources

• Forbes: Why E-Commerce Brands Are Turning to Licensing to Stop the Scroll
• Read: Why E-Commerce Brands Are Turning to Licensing
• Read: Is Licensing Right for Your Business? The Readiness Test
• Read: How to Get a Licensing Deal for Your E-Commerce Brand
• Read: How to Design Licensed Products Fans Actually Want
• Newsletter: https://thedavidborn.com/subscribe
• In the Money Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoO5tzm9KaE
• E-comm Growth Insider: https://youtu.be/6BU1ZZ7UhVg
• Born to License with Davie Fogarty: https://youtu.be/UcTd3Oe0l38
• Born to License with Rebecca Palmer: https://youtu.be/e8y1lP8BQEA
• Born to License with Fira X Wear: https://youtu.be/Rvis01n2wNo
• Born to License with Hippo Blue: https://youtu.be/6syDsoiWHcM

Chapters:

00:00 Teaser

0:54 Licensing Plus and licensing basics

5:56 Why e-commerce brands are under pressure

12:27 The Oodie: quality, copycats, and a $10M launch

20:43 Small teams and successful licensed launches

37:45 What makes licensed products work

51:26 Collectibility, customer data, and sales spikes

59:41 Campaigns that earn attention

1:08:26 Costs, forecasting, and approvals

1:21:52 Is your business ready for licensing?

1:26:18 Pitching licensors and planning a launch

1:30:11 Resources, monthly picks, and final takeaways

1:35:29 Bonus: In the Money Podcast

Featured contributors:

• Davie Fogarty, Rebecca Palmer, Yael Afriat, Andy Hayes, Jasmine and Vincent, Aldo Burcheri, Alyssa Gourlay, Jenna Chalkley, Julian David, and Andrej.
• Produced by Eduardo Fogaça and Beatriz Pellenz — Born Content.

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

Follow David:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidb0rn/  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidborn1/  

Book a call with David:

Intro: https://intro.co/DavidBorn

Follow Born Licensing:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bornlicensing/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/born-licensing/

Website: https://bornlicensing.com/

Email: [email protected]

Follow Born to License:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/borntolicense/  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/born-to-license

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEhsaakuZM7ryw6AE1ZIVCA  

Website: https://borntolicense.com/

Email: [email protected]

Sponsor - Learn to License: 

Website: https://learntolicense.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/learntolicense/  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/learn-to-license

Discount code: earlybird25

🎧 Subscribe & Follow for new episodes on licensing and the business of IP!

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

🔹 Sign up for Learn to License 

🔹 Learn More about Born to License

🔹 Learn More about Born Licensing

🔹 Follow David on LinkedIn

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🔹 Check out thedavidborn.com

🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

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Paid acquisition is getting more expensive, online marketplaces are more crowded, and copycats can appear within days. Licensing can give an e-commerce brand instant recognition, emotional relevance, and access to an audience that already cares — but it can also add cost, complexity, and risk to a business that isn’t ready.

The first episode of the new Licensing Plus format explores where licensing and e-commerce meet, and what founders need to understand before pursuing an IP partnership. David Born brings together real experiences from e-commerce founders, licensing leaders, and the Born to License team to show how licensed products can improve discoverability, credibility, customer acquisition, collectibility, and repeat purchases.

Through case studies including The Oodie, Fira X Wear, Hubman and Chubgirl, Plum Deluxe, Steven Singer, Hippo Blue, WOLFpak, CamelBak x Crayola, and Hismile x KFC, this episode examines what successful collaborations have in common — and why simply putting a logo on a product is never enough. It also breaks down royalty rates, minimum guarantees, forecasting, product and marketing approvals, and the internal capabilities a business needs before signing a deal.

📥 Download the Licensing + E-Commerce one-page cheat sheet: [ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET LINK]

Topics covered:

• Why rising acquisition costs, crowded marketplaces, and copycats make licensing increasingly relevant to e-commerce
• How The Oodie turned its first Warner Bros. collaboration into approximately $10 million in sales
• How small teams such as Fira X Wear, Hubman and Chubgirl, and Plum Deluxe built successful first licensed collections
• How Hippo Blue used Disney licensing to strengthen credibility and dramatically increase customer acquisition
• How CamelBak x Crayola generated 40 million organic impressions in one week with zero paid media
• Why authentic product storytelling beats “logo slapping”
• How royalties, minimum guarantees, forecasting, and approval timelines work
• How to decide whether your business is truly ready for licensing

Episode resources:

• Download the Licensing + E-Commerce one-page cheat sheet: [ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET LINK]
• Read David’s Licensing + E-Commerce article for Forbes: [FORBES ARTICLE LINK]
• Read more insights from this episode on David’s blog: [DAVID’S BLOG LINK]
• Subscribe to David’s newsletter: [NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP LINK]
• Listen to the full In the Money podcast conversation: [IN THE MONEY PODCAST LINK]
• Listen to the full E-comm Growth Insider conversation: [E-COMM GROWTH INSIDER PODCAST LINK]
• Watch the full Born to License conversation with Davie Fogarty: [DAVIE FOGARTY EPISODE LINK]
• Watch the full Born to License conversation with Rebecca Palmer: [REBECCA PALMER EPISODE LINK]
• Watch the full Born to License conversation with Jasmine and Vincent from Fira X Wear: [FIRA X WEAR EPISODE LINK]
• Watch the full Born to License conversation with Aldo Burcheri from Hippo Blue: [HIPPO BLUE EPISODE LINK]

Chapters:

0:00 Teaser — Can licensing really move the needle?

0:41 What this episode will answer

0:54 Introducing the new Licensing Plus format

2:50 What licensing actually is

5:56 Why e-commerce brands are under pressure

8:17 Discoverability, trust, and quality online

12:27 The Oodie: premium quality versus copycats

15:12 Why physical retail still has an advantage

16:26 “Designer’s block” and the value of proprietary products

19:10 The Oodie’s first $10 million licensing launch

20:43 Fira X Wear: a two-person team’s first license

24:10 Hubman and Chubgirl x Strawberry Shortcake

25:21 Plum Deluxe x Peanuts: standing out and selling out

37:45 Why simply putting a logo on a product fails

41:53 Steven Singer x Wicked: doubling average order value

42:49 Hippo Blue x Disney: credibility and customer growth

51:26 WOLFpak: weekly drops and collectibility

52:18 How The Oodie chooses licenses using customer data

58:02 The truth about licensing spikes versus core products

59:41 CamelBak x Crayola: 40 million organic impressions

1:07:10 Hismile x KFC: creating a moment worth sharing

1:08:26 The real costs of licensing: royalties and minimum guarantees

1:11:57 The forecasting trap

1:13:35 What happens after the contract: product approvals

1:19:46 When approval mistakes get expensive

1:20:35 Marketing approvals: how to plan ahead

1:21:52 How to know if your business is ready

1:25:07 Test your product before adding licensed IP

1:26:18 How e-commerce brands should pitch licensors

1:27:58 Limited drops versus permanent licensed ranges

1:28:45 The four capabilities you need before signing

1:30:11 Born to License and Learn to License

1:31:12 David’s licensing picks of the month

1:33:36 Final takeaways and what’s next

1:35:29 Bonus clip from the In the Money podcast

1:36:19 Final thought: licensing and e-commerce belong together

Featured contributors:

• Davie Fogarty and Rebecca Palmer — The Oodie
• Yael Afriat — Revelyst
• Andy Hayes — Plum Deluxe
• Jasmine and Vincent — Fira X Wear
• Aldo Burcheri — Hippo Blue
• Alyssa Gourlay, Jenna Chalkley, and Julian David — Born to License
• Andrej — E-comm Growth Insider
• Eduardo Fogaça and Beatriz Pellenz — Born Content

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

🔹 Sign up for Learn to License 

🔹 Learn More about Born to License

🔹 Learn More about Born Licensing

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🔹 Check out thedavidborn.com

🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

🎧 Subscribe & Follow for new episodes on licensing and the business of IP!

Season 4 of Born to License starts October 12th, and it's a whole new format.

We're calling it the Licensing+ season. Each month focuses on one topic where licensing overlaps with another part of business, and we go deep on it. We start with one of the fastest-growing areas in the industry, and one that's changing how licensing works: e-commerce.

The conversation keeps going after the episode ends. Each month's topic continues across David's LinkedIn, Instagram, blog and newsletter. Every episode also comes with a downloadable cheat sheet, so you can keep the key insights for later.

Topics covered:

• Season 4 premieres October 12th
• The new Licensing+ format: one topic each month, covered in depth
• Episode 1: Licensing + E-commerce
• Each topic continues on LinkedIn, Instagram, the blog and the newsletter
• A downloadable cheat sheet with every episode

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

Follow David:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidb0rn/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidborn1/

Book a call with David:

Intro: https://intro.co/DavidBorn

Follow Born Licensing:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bornlicensing/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/born-licensing/
Website: https://bornlicensing.com/
Email: [email protected]

Follow Born to License:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/borntolicense/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/born-to-license
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEhsaakuZM7ryw6AE1ZIVCA
Website: https://borntolicense.com/
Email: [email protected]

Sponsor - Learn to License:

Website: https://learntolicense.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/learntolicense/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/learn-to-license
Discount code: earlybird25

🎧 Subscribe & Follow for new episodes on licensing and the business of IP!

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

🔹 Sign up for Learn to License 

🔹 Learn More about Born to License

🔹 Learn More about Born Licensing

🔹 Follow David on LinkedIn

🔹 Follow David on Instagram

🔹 Check out thedavidborn.com

🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

🎧 Subscribe & Follow for new episodes on licensing and the business of IP!

It's been a big year for this podcast, and it's about to get bigger — just not in the way you'd expect. Starting in October, Born to License is moving from weekly to monthly episodes. That might sound like less. It's actually the opposite.

The show has already gone through a few chapters. It opened with ten episodes tracing David's own path through the licensing industry — how he got in, what he got wrong, and what nearly 20 years in licensing actually teaches. From there, some of the best voices in the business joined the show, including guests from Funko and Hasbro. This year brought another shift: shorter, sharper, weekly episodes breaking down the news and trends shaping the industry, with David's take on what it all means.

Now comes the next change. Starting in October, each episode will go deeper on a single theme, with the kind of depth you genuinely can't find anywhere else in this industry — the goal is 30 minutes that deliver more value than anywhere else could. And each month's theme won't just live on the podcast. It'll be the thread running through everything David puts out that month, from LinkedIn and Instagram to the Born to License YouTube channel, his blog, and the newsletter — one theme, explored from every angle, all month long.

This isn't a step back from what's been built together — it's a step toward something better, built for licensing enthusiasts: whether you already work in the industry, are considering a career in it, are a manufacturer thinking about how licensing could grow your business, or you're simply a fan of licensed product who wants to understand the business behind it.

Topics covered:

• Why Born to License is moving from weekly to monthly episodes starting in October
• How the show has evolved — from the origin-story first season to guest episodes with Funko and Hasbro to this year's weekly news breakdowns
• What themed episodes will look like, and why they'll go deeper than anything the show has done before
• How each month's theme will carry across LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, the blog and the newsletter
• Who the show is built for — industry professionals, aspiring licensing pros, manufacturers and licensed-product fans

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

🔹 Sign up for Learn to License 

🔹 Learn More about Born to License

🔹 Learn More about Born Licensing

🔹 Follow David on LinkedIn

🔹 Follow David on Instagram

🔹 Check out thedavidborn.com

🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

🎧 Subscribe & Follow for new episodes on licensing and the business of IP!

Bluey is going to be the biggest licensing moment of 2027 — bigger than Shrek 5, bigger than Frozen 3, bigger than anything else on next year's slate. That's a bold claim, but the number one preschool property in the US, one of the most watched shows in the world, is about to get a theatrical release. Add a tentpole moment to the biggest license on the planet, and you're looking at a different order of magnitude entirely.

One year out from the Bluey movie's August 6, 2027 premiere, D23 — Disney's fan event in Anaheim — delivered the first real look. Friday's Disney Entertainment Showcase revealed the first teaser trailer and poster: Bluey and Bingo playing keepy-uppy with a red balloon, rendered in full 3D for the first time. It's a real departure from the flat, hand-drawn style the show has used for six seasons, and the switch could easily have gone wrong. It didn't.

Saturday's panel, "Bluey: From the Backyard to the Big Screen," moderated by Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson and a self-professed Bluey fan), went deeper. Creator Joe Brumm and director Richard Jeffery walked through the show's origin story — Brumm animating the first pilot at night after his day job, inspired by watching parents glued to their phones at the park — and screened rare original pilot footage. Producer Amber Naysmith (Happy Feet, The Lego Movie) talked about coming home to Australia to make the film, and Brumm confirmed the 3D decision was a deliberate creative call made long before the film was greenlit.

Fan reaction to the 3D switch has been split, with echoes of the Sonic redesign backlash a few years back. But the bigger story is why Bluey's licensing potential goes beyond a typical preschool tentpole. Michelle O'Hearn, who ran licensing for The Wiggles in Australia at their peak, breaks down the structural problem every preschool brand eventually hits — the audience ages out in a matter of years, forcing constant rebuilding of relevance from zero. Bluey is the exception: a Peabody winner with serious critical coverage from outlets like The Atlantic and a real adult fanbase that keeps watching long after their own kids have grown out of it.

This episode also unpacks how the Disney–Bluey partnership actually works. BBC Studios owns and finances the film and handles licensing globally in partnership with Brisbane-based Ludo Studio; Disney's role is theatrical distribution, after which the film moves to Disney+, where Bluey has already been the platform's biggest kids title and the most-streamed show in the US for two years running. And it draws out the difference between a licensing partnership (product, royalties, category-specific — think Moose Toys playsets or Lego Duplo sets) and a theatrical partnership (advertisers and marketing tie-ins built around the film's release), both of which will be running at full speed by next August.

Topics covered:

• Why Bluey's theatrical release makes 2027 the biggest licensing moment on the calendar
• The first Bluey movie teaser and 3D reveal from Disney's D23 Entertainment Showcase
• Inside the "Backyard to the Big Screen" panel with creator Joe Brumm, director Richard Jeffery and producer Amber Naysmith
• The split fan reaction to Bluey's move from 2D to 3D animation
• Michelle O'Hearn (former Wiggles licensing lead) on the structural challenge every preschool brand faces
• How the BBC Studios–Disney partnership actually works, and who owns what
• Licensing partnerships vs. theatrical partnerships — what's the difference
• Born to License's first-ever Bluey product collection, launching soon

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

🔹 Sign up for Learn to License 

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🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

🎧 Subscribe & Follow for new episodes on licensing and the business of IP!

Vote for David to speak at SXSW: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1784330347706001xria

Disney has held the number one spot on License Global's Top Global Licensors ranking for as long as anyone can remember. But this year Disney grew just 2%, while almost everyone else in the top ten grew faster — which means the gap at the top is closing, even if the order hasn't changed yet.

Fresh off last week's deep dive into Disney's licensing machine, License Global's 2026 report dropped at perfect timing. This episode zooms out from Disney to map the entire top ten: Authentic Brands Group at #2 (Forever 21, Brooks Brothers, Sports Illustrated, the rights to Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali and Elvis Presley, plus new additions Care Bears, Dockers, a majority stake in Gas, and Kevin Hart), People Inc. at #3 (40 brands including People, Better Homes and Gardens and Food & Wine, reaching 175 million people a month), NBCUniversal at #4 (up 18% on the back of Wicked, with Shrek 5 landing in 2027), and Hasbro at #5 (Peppa Pig, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Monopoly, and a reach of over 500 million kids, families and fans).

The biggest mover in the entire top ten is Pokémon, up 31% to $3.7 billion, leapfrogging Warner Bros. Discovery into 6th place off a 30th-anniversary campaign and collaborations like the one with Tiffany & Co. Sanrio jumped 39% into 9th, pushing Mattel down to 10th — though Mattel remains powered by Barbie, with a sequel that could be the biggest licensing tentpole the industry has ever seen.

Ten new brands entered the report this year, led by Peanuts Worldwide debuting at #16 with $4.3 billion after Sony bought out Wild Brain's stake, and Ford entering at #25. Four of the ten new entrants are food and beverage brands — TGI Fridays, the Magnum Ice Cream Company, Ocean Spray and Bell — a clear signal of where licensing momentum is heading next. By percentage growth, Libertas Brands (owner of Fila plush) posted a staggering 298% increase, Formula 1 grew 264%, and Mike's Hot Honey grew 159% purely off flavor licensing into snacks and condiments.

And there's a forward-looking twist: if the widely expected Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger goes through, the combined entity would sit at roughly $22.5 billion in licensed retail sales — leapfrogging NBCUniversal into 4th place and becoming the second-biggest entertainment IP owner on the planet, right behind Disney.

Topics covered:

• Why Disney's 2% growth stands out against a top ten that mostly grew faster
• Authentic Brands Group's #2 spot and its Care Bears, Dockers and Kevin Hart additions
• NBCUniversal's Wicked-fueled 18% growth and what Shrek 5 means for 2027
• Pokémon's 31% growth ($3.7B) and its leapfrog past Warner Bros. Discovery
• Sanrio's 39% jump, Mattel's drop to 10th, and Barbie's next film
• Ten new entrants to the report, including Peanuts Worldwide and a wave of food and beverage brands
• The biggest percentage gainers: Libertas Brands, Formula 1 and Mike's Hot Honey
• Why a Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger could reshape the top five
• A programming note: vote for David's SXSW 2027 panel on the power of licensed characters in advertising (voting closes August 23)

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

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🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

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It started with a Lego set. A fan submission through the Lego Ideas platform — Mulder's office, a hovering UFO, eight minifigures, a short film starring Gillian Anderson — and suddenly the Fox catalog felt alive again. But one great product doesn't mean a vault is being fully unlocked, and that tension is exactly what this episode is about.

David Born takes a close look at Disney in 2026: the world's largest licensor, the company that absorbed Fox for $71.3 billion, and the licensing machine behind Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar — and an enormous pipeline that stretches all the way to Mickey's 100th anniversary in 2028.

From the Golden Girls pop-up restaurant touring US cities, to a ten-brand strategic alliance with Kraft Heinz spanning theme parks, cruise lines and streaming content, to a Champion x NFL x Disney collection revealed through a live fan draft at Fanatics Fest — David breaks down how Disney is inserting its IP into fandoms that have nothing to do with animation, and what that says about where licensing is heading.

The box office picture is more mixed: Toy Story 5 and The Devil Wears Prada 2 overperformed, Hoppers proved original Pixar IP can still land, but The Mandalorian and Grogu and the live-action Moana both fell short. The lesson, as David puts it: even the biggest studio on the planet doesn't get a guaranteed win just by putting a familiar name on the poster.

Looking ahead — Spider-Man, Avengers Doomsday, The Simpsons Movie 2, Frozen 3, and a 2027 Star Wars lineup built around the franchise's 50th anniversary. Every one of these is a licensing event as much as a box office one.

And the Fox catalog? Still full of gold. Still largely untapped. That's the open question this episode ends on.

Topics covered:

• The Lego x X-Files set: fan-originated, Disney-approved, and what it reveals about an underleveraged vault
• Why the Disney–Fox acquisition is now Exhibit A in the Paramount–WBD antitrust fight
• Disney's Icons Unleashed presentation at Licensing Expo 2026
• The Golden Girls pop-up restaurant: how a legacy property stays culturally relevant
• Kraft Heinz x Disney: when licensing becomes full brand infrastructure
• Disney x Champion x NFL: 32 teams, four franchises, one live fan draft
• Minnie and Daisy in F1 Academy, and Mickey in an original Formula One comics series
• Box office wins and misses in 2026 — and what's still to come
• Mickey's 100th anniversary in 2028: Disney's once-in-a-generation moment

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

🔹 Sign up for Learn to License 

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🔹 Check out thedavidborn.com

🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

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No script. No studio. David Born drove from LA to San Diego, spent a full day on the floor of Comic-Con 2026, and brought a microphone along for the ride.

130,000 pop culture fans under one roof — and if you work in licensing, this is your customer base in full force. This episode is a front-row seat to what the industry looks like when it's working: people who plan their entire summer vacation around a convention, queue around the block to get merchandise signed, and spend nine months hand-building a cosplay outfit from scratch.

David visits the Keepsake booth — a Born Licensing client — where lines were wrapping around multiple corners for their Invincible and Walking Dead exclusives. He sits down with Adam from Keepsake on the floor, gets a candid look at what it actually takes to manage a trading card licensing program (hundreds of approval submissions per product cycle), and catches up with licensing attorney David Schneider from Nolan Heiman for a legal read on the day's biggest trend: the unstoppable rise of anime and the growing market for micro-targeted, niche properties sold in small runs direct to a passionate audience.

Along the way: Tom Kenny (the voice of SpongeBob) signing autographs, Pokémon celebrating 30 years and $100 billion in retail sales, Grogu at the Star Wars booth ahead of what David calls the franchise's biggest year in a decade, and a dark Joker-meets-Ronald McDonald outfit that genuinely stopped the floor.

The episode closes with a look ahead — the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger extended to at least June 2027, a major new Kraft Heinz x Disney partnership across theme parks, cruise lines and ten brands, and a Lego x X-Files range starring Gillian Anderson.

Topics covered:

• What Comic-Con looks like through a licensing professional's eyes — and why it matters
• Inside the Keepsake booth: Invincible, Walking Dead exclusives, and the signing lines that wrapped the floor
• The reality of trading card licensing: hundreds of approval submissions per product
• The rise of anime and niche micro-targeting: how small-run products find passionate audiences through social media
• Pokémon at 30: $100 billion in retail sales from a single property
• Star Wars, Avengers Doomsday, and which franchises are betting big on Comic-Con 2026
• News: Paramount–WBD merger timeline, Kraft Heinz x Disney, and Lego x X-Files

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

🔹 Sign up for Learn to License 

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🔹 Check out thedavidborn.com

🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

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Buried in paragraph 98 of a federal antitrust complaint is one of the strongest arguments anyone has made about the true value of the licensing industry - and it wasn't written by a licensing executive, a trade publication, or a keynote speaker at Licensing Expo. It was written by state attorneys general trying to block a $110 billion Hollywood merger.

In this episode, David Born unpacks what 12 states suing to block the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery deal actually reveals about how licensing underwrites the biggest films in the world — and why the industry has been telling its own story the wrong way around.

The conventional narrative says licensing follows a box office hit. The states' argument says the opposite: licensing infrastructure is part of what makes a tentpole film financeable in the first place. David backs that up with three examples that each flip the usual order — AMC's collectible popcorn buckets driving ticket sales, Bluey's licensing earnings rising as BBC Studios cut content spend, and Pop Mart building a Sony feature film off the back of a merchandise program that started with a picture book illustration.

Plus: the Comet x Uno collaboration that sold out in minutes, two Licensing Awards nominations for the Born Licensing team, and David's take on Hollywood vs. AI at the box office.

Topics covered:

• The Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger: where the legal fight stands and what's at stake
• The antitrust paragraph every licensing professional should read — and what it actually says
• Why licensing isn't just downstream of box office success — in some cases, it's what makes the box office possible
• AMC's collectible buckets: when merchandise becomes a reason to buy a ticket, not a reward for buying one
• Bluey and BBC Studios: how licensing earnings rose while content investment fell
• Pop Mart: the licensing program that came first and is now funding the film
• ABG's Care Bears acquisition — and what the CEO said he was actually buying
• Born Licensing's two Licensing Awards nominations

🧠 Key Insight:

Licensing isn’t just a revenue stream. It’s part of the financial engine that makes modern entertainment possible.

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

🔹 Sign up for Learn to License 

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🔹 Join the Licensing Conversation: #BornToLicense #LicensingIndustry #BrandPartnerships #LearntoLicense

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📩 Contact: [email protected]

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Six months in, and 2026 has already delivered a mega-merger, a record-breaking animated film, a viral water bottle, a Care Bears acquisition, and a move to LA. David Born goes back through the Born to License archive to score his own predictions, revisit every major story, and catch you up on everything that's shaped the licensing industry in the first half of the year.

From Toy Story 5 taking over an entire city before it even opened, to the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery deal closing faster than anyone expected — and what it means for the licensors who now sit at the very top of the industry — this is the episode that connects all the dots.

David also recaps the guest conversations that stuck with him most: a licensee who fought for months to land Pokémon and called it their best license ever, and a client whose business grew 30% year-on-year after securing a Disney deal. Plus, some personal milestones — trekking to Everest Base Camp fully offline for the first time in 12 years, visiting the world's first standalone SpongeBob restaurant in São Paulo, and making the move to his fourth home continent.

If you've been listening since January, this is the episode that ties it all together. If you're new, this is your starting point.

Topics covered:

• Toy Story 5 predictions vs. reality — and the Taylor Swift connection nobody saw coming
• Super Mario Galaxy's promotional rollout: McDonald's, General Mills, Fisher-Price and a Guinness World Record
• Why a soft Star Wars box office means almost nothing for licensing
• The Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger and what it reshapes for the whole industry
• Care Bears, the Crayola x CamelBak moment, and the Oscar-winning film that became a licensing story
• Guest highlights: what the best licensees actually do differently
• Personal: Everest Base Camp, São Paulo, the Hello Kitty Cafe, and moving to LA

🧠 Key Insight: 

Box office success doesn’t always equal licensing success. And in 2026, power is shifting toward IP ownership, scale, and evergreen brands.

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

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👉 Have a question about licensing? Send it in for our upcoming Q&A episode!

📩 Contact: [email protected]

🎧 Subscribe & Follow for new episodes on licensing and the business of IP!