How Melissa & Doug Fight Fakes, Dupes and Copycats

From Problem Solvers by Entrepreneur Media

March 9, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

Melissa Bernstein shares her entrepreneurial journey and strategies to combat counterfeit products.

Melissa Bernstein co-founded Melissa & Doug and built it into a billion-dollar children's toy company. Along the way, she learned a lot about entrepreneurship, which she shares in her new book The Heart of Entrepreneurship. Today, for the first time publicly, she shares the three-part strategy she used to fight back and what happened the moment new ownership stopped following it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Melissa Bernstein

Topics covered

entrepreneurship
business strategy
children's toys
intellectual property
copycat products

Keywords

Melissa Bernstein
Melissa & Doug
entrepreneurship
children's toys
copycats
business strategy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Melissa & Doug

Books & works: The Heart of Entrepreneurship