Ronnen Harary is the co-founder of Spin Master, the global children’s entertainment company behind some of the most recognizable toys and franchises in the world.

At just 23 years old, Ronnen teamed up with his childhood friends Anton Rabie and Ben Varadi to start what would become Spin Master. They had little experience, limited resources, and no idea just how big the company could become.

Their first product was the Earth Buddy. From there, Spin Master grew into a global toy and entertainment powerhouse, creating and building franchises including PAW Patrol, Bakugan, Air Hogs, and many more, while expanding across toys, entertainment, and digital games.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Ronnen shares the journey behind building Spin Master. From betting on himself in his twenties and finding the company's earliest products to creating global franchises that have become memorable for millions of people around the world.

We dive into the stories behind PAW Patrol and Bakugan, the risks and failures that came with building Spin Master, finding the right co-founders, spotting great ideas, creativity, leadership, and what more than three decades of entrepreneurship have taught Ronnen about building something that lasts.

We also discuss the ideas behind Ronnen’s new book, No Experience Necessary: Why Betting on Yourself in Your Twenties Is the Best Decision You’ll Ever Make. Ronnen explains why he believes inexperience can actually be an advantage, why your twenties can be such a powerful time to take risks, and why young people shouldn't wait until they feel completely ready to start building.

From launching a toy company at 23 to helping build PAW Patrol, Bakugan, Air Hogs and a global entertainment business, this is Ronnen Harary’s story of betting on himself and the lessons he wants to pass on to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Ronnen’s new book, No Experience Necessary:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/789812/no-experience-necessary-by-ronnen-harary/

#RonnenHarary #SpinMaster #PAWPatrol #Bakugan #Entrepreneurship #Toys #NoExperienceNecessary #LegendsNLeaders

Brandon Sawalich is the President and CEO of Starkey, one of the world’s leading hearing technology companies and the largest U.S.-based hearing aid manufacturer.

Brandon’s journey at Starkey began in 1994, when he started working in the company’s hearing aid repair department at just 19 years old. Over the next three decades, he worked across nearly every part of the business before eventually becoming President and then CEO.

Today, Brandon leads more than 5,000 employees around the world and is helping push Starkey beyond the traditional idea of what a hearing aid can be.

Under his leadership, Starkey has increasingly combined artificial intelligence, integrated sensors, health and wellness capabilities, and advanced audio technology to turn hearing aids into intelligent devices designed to do far more than amplify sound.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Brandon shares his journey from the repair department to the CEO's office, the leadership lessons he learned along the way, and how Starkey is approaching the next generation of hearing technology.

We dive into AI, hearing health, product innovation, building and leading a global company, competing in a rapidly changing technology industry, and why Brandon believes hearing devices have the potential to become increasingly powerful health and communication tools.

We also discuss what three decades inside one company taught him about customers, culture, innovation, and the importance of understanding a business from the ground up.

From repairing hearing aids at 19 to leading Starkey through the AI revolution, this is a conversation about leadership, technology, and reinventing an industry.

#BrandonSawalich #Starkey #AI #HearingTechnology #HealthTech #Innovation #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #LegendsNLeaders

Jody Mettler is COO and President of Trust at BitGo, one of the leading infrastructure companies behind the institutional digital asset economy.

As crypto moves deeper into traditional finance, the conversation is expanding beyond buying and selling digital assets. Banks, asset managers, fintech companies, and other institutions are increasingly focused on the infrastructure required to securely custody assets, move money, settle transactions, operate with stablecoins, and support tokenized financial products.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Jody takes us inside that transition and explains what it actually takes to build the regulated infrastructure behind digital finance.We discuss BitGo, institutional crypto adoption, digital asset custody, stablecoins, tokenization, and the growing intersection between traditional financial institutions and blockchain technology.

Jody also explores how regulatory approaches are influencing how companies and institutions approach digital assets—and what still needs to happen for this infrastructure to operate at truly global scale.

We also look at why custody is about much more than simply storing crypto and what happens as more traditional financial assets move onto blockchain-based infrastructure.

From regulated custody to 24/7 settlement and tokenized assets, this is a conversation about the infrastructure being built underneath the next generation of finance.

#BitGo #Crypto #Stablecoins #DigitalAssets #Blockchain #Tokenization #FinTech #Finance #LegendsNLeaders

Uri Levine is the co-founder of Waze, serial entrepreneur, investor, author, and founder of the Uri Levine Startup Academy.

Uri co-founded Waze in 2007 around a problem nearly everyone could understand: traffic. The navigation platform grew into a global phenomenon before Google acquired Waze for $1.1 billion in 2013.

He was also the first board member and an investor in Moovit, the public transportation platform that was acquired by Intel for approximately $1 billion in 2020.

But Uri didn't stop after Waze. He has spent the years since building, backing, and advising startups while developing a philosophy centered around one principle: “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.”

Now, he's taking decades of lessons from building companies and launching the Uri Levine Startup Academy, designed to teach entrepreneurs the practical journey from identifying a problem and finding product-market fit to fundraising, scaling, and eventually exiting.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Uri takes us inside the journey of building Waze, the billion-dollar Google acquisition, the mistakes founders make, what separates great entrepreneurs, and why he believes solving the right problem matters more than falling in love with an idea.

We also discuss his approach to investing, building multiple startups, lessons from both successes and failures, and why he's now focused on passing what he's learned to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

From Waze and Moovit to the Uri Levine Startup Academy, this is a conversation about building billion-dollar companies—and what Uri has learned about entrepreneurship along the way.

#UriLevine #Waze #Moovit #Entrepreneurship #Startups #Google #Founders #VentureCapital #LegendsNLeaders

Wayne Kimmel is the founder and Managing Partner of SeventySix Capital, a venture capital firm investing at the intersection of sports, technology, and innovation.

For more than two decades, Wayne has been backing entrepreneurs and identifying technologies that could change how we play, watch, bet on, and experience sports. Through SeventySix Capital, he has invested in more than 100 startups, with portfolio companies going on to be acquired by companies including DraftKings, Intel, IBM, Walgreens, Yahoo, and Aramark.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Wayne shares his journey into venture capital, the story behind building SeventySix Capital, and how he developed his approach to finding and backing entrepreneurs.

We dive into the evolution of sports technology, sports betting, venture capital, what Wayne looks for in founders, how he evaluates early-stage companies, and where he believes the biggest opportunities in sports are emerging.

Wayne also shares lessons from more than 25 years of investing—the wins, the mistakes, and what decades of working with entrepreneurs have taught him about building companies that last.

From investing before sports tech became a major category to backing the next generation of companies changing the industry, this is a conversation about entrepreneurship, venture capital, and the future of sports.

#WayneKimmel #SeventySixCapital #SportsTech #VentureCapital #SportsBusiness #Startups #Entrepreneurship #LegendsNLeaders

Carmen Hijosa is the founder of Ananas Anam and the creator of Piñatex, an innovative material made using fibers derived from pineapple leaf waste.

After spending years working in the leather industry, Carmen began questioning the environmental impact of traditional materials and searching for a better alternative. Her journey eventually took her to the Philippines, where she saw an opportunity in something that was largely being discarded: pineapple leaves.

That idea became Piñatex.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Carmen shares the extraordinary journey of turning an agricultural byproduct into an innovative material used across fashion, footwear, accessories, and other industries.

We dive into the years of research and development behind Piñatex, founding Ananas Anam, convincing an established industry to embrace a completely new material, scaling manufacturing, working with global brands, and the challenges of taking an invention from an idea to commercialization.

Carmen also shares what decades in the leather industry taught her, why materials are so important to the future of fashion, and what she has learned about innovation, sustainability, persistence, and entrepreneurship.

From seeing potential in discarded pineapple leaves to creating a material recognized around the world, this is a conversation about challenging an established industry and building something entirely new.

#CarmenHijosa #Pinatex #AnanasAnam #Sustainability #Materials #Fashion #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #LegendsNLeaders

Chuck Newhall is a co-founder of New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the world’s most established venture capital firms and a major force in the growth of the technology and healthcare industries.

In 1977, Chuck co-founded NEA alongside Dick Kramlich and Frank Bonsal. What began with a relatively small first fund grew over the decades into a global investment firm that has backed generations of entrepreneurs and companies.

But Chuck’s journey started long before venture capital. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, later entered the investment world, and ultimately became one of the pioneers of an industry that was still in its early stages when NEA was founded.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Chuck shares the story behind the founding of NEA, what venture capital looked like in the 1970s, how the industry evolved alongside Silicon Valley, and what he learned from decades of backing entrepreneurs.

We dive into identifying exceptional founders, taking risks on new technologies, building an enduring investment firm, learning from investments that worked—and those that didn't—and how venture capital has changed as the amount of money flowing into startups has exploded.

Chuck also reflects on leadership, entrepreneurship, military service, decision-making, and the principles that have guided him through more than four decades of investing.

From the early days of venture capital to helping build NEA into a global investment institution, this is a conversation with one of the pioneers who witnessed—and helped shape—the modern startup ecosystem.

#ChuckNewhall #NEA #VentureCapital #Investing #Startups #Entrepreneurship #SiliconValley #LegendsNLeaders

Cliff Weitzman is the founder and CEO of Speechify, the AI-powered text-to-speech company helping millions of people listen to books, documents, articles, and other written content.

Cliff grew up with dyslexia and struggled with reading. While in college, he began building technology to turn text into audio—initially solving a problem he faced himself. That project eventually became Speechify.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Cliff shares the founder journey behind Speechify, from teaching himself to build the earliest version of the product to scaling it into a major AI voice platform.

We dive into the early days of Speechify, building a product around a personal problem, finding product-market fit, competing in a rapidly changing AI industry, scaling a technology company, and the lessons Cliff has learned along the way.

Cliff also shares his perspective on voice technology, entrepreneurship, learning differently, and building products people genuinely need.

From struggling to read as a kid to building technology designed to change how millions of people consume information, this is a conversation about turning a personal challenge into a global company.

#CliffWeitzman #Speechify #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Dyslexia #Entrepreneurship #Startups #LegendsNLeaders

Dan Hesse is the former CEO of Sprint and one of the most experienced leaders from the transformation of the American wireless industry.

Dan spent more than two decades at AT&T, eventually becoming President and CEO of AT&T Wireless, before later taking the top job at Sprint. As CEO of Sprint, he led the company during one of the most transformative periods in mobile history—as smartphones, mobile data, and new wireless technologies fundamentally changed how the world communicates.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Dan shares his journey through the rise of wireless, what it was like leading one of America's largest telecommunications companies, and the decisions required to navigate an industry undergoing massive technological change.

We dive into the smartphone revolution, competition between America's wireless giants, leadership under pressure, customer experience, major strategic decisions, and how the telecom industry evolved throughout Dan's career.

Dan also shares lessons from decades of leading large organizations and his perspective on technology, innovation, corporate leadership, and how CEOs make difficult decisions when billions of dollars and thousands of employees are at stake.

From the early days of cellular to leading Sprint through the smartphone era, this is a conversation with someone who had a front-row seat to the wireless revolution.

#DanHesse #Sprint #Wireless #Telecom #Technology #Leadership #Business #LegendsNLeaders

Dan Reich is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder of DIBS Beauty, with a career spanning technology, consumer brands, and multiple successful exits.

Before DIBS, Dan co-founded TULA Skincare, which grew into a major beauty brand and was ultimately acquired by Procter & Gamble. He also co-founded Troops, a software company acquired by Salesforce, and previously built Spinback, which was acquired by Buddy Media.

In this episode of LegendsNLeaders, Dan shares the founder journey behind his companies, what he learned from multiple acquisitions, and why he continues to start businesses even after successful exits.

We dive into entrepreneurship, identifying opportunities, raising capital, building consumer brands, scaling startups, knowing when to sell, and the differences between building technology companies and physical consumer products.

Dan also shares his perspective on what makes a great founder, how he thinks about risk, and why some businesses break through while others don't.

From building companies acquired by P&G and Salesforce to his chapter with DIBS Beauty, this is a conversation about building, selling, learning, and doing it all over again.

#DanReich #DIBSBeauty #TULA #Entrepreneurship #Beauty #Startups #Founders #LegendsNLeaders