Brad Pederson: How Toys, Failure, and Startup Santa Taught Him to Fail Forward
About this episode
Toy entrepreneur Brad Pederson discusses how his experiences with failure and resilience shaped his approach to creativity and leadership.
Toy entrepreneur Brad Pederson shares how building multiple toy companies and going through three bankruptcies taught him that struggles forge character. From launching a styrofoam glider as a kid to getting thrown into special loans by his bank, Brad unpacks why pride comes before the fall, how he learned to become antifragile rather than just resilient, and why courage is the cardinal virtue that makes creative ideas matter. He discusses the three roles of a CEO, the importance of play for adults, and how his book Startup Santa captures the lessons of failing forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Host: Srinivas Rao
Guest: Brad Pederson
Topics covered
- entrepreneurship
- failure
- character development
- creativity
- leadership
Keywords
- toys
- bankruptcy
- antifragile
- CEO roles
- play for adults
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Startup Santa
More episodes of The Unmistakable Creative Podcast
- Charles Duhigg: The Science of Becoming a Super Communicator
- Bruce Lipton: Reprogramming Your Subconscious Mind and the Biology of Belief
- Brad Montague: The Courage to Create Like a Kid
- Ben Guttmann: Why Simple Messages Win in a Noisy World
- Allison Schrager: The Economics of Risk, Uncertainty, and Making Better Decisions
- Annie Murphy Paul: Why Your Best Thinking Happens Outside Your Head
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