# 125: Pitching Your Invention to Big Product Businesses

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2022-05-11
- Length: 38m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Dougal Grimes, Vice President of Innovation at Spin Master, explains how inventors can successfully pitch to large toy companies like Spin Master and Hasbro. He outlines a three-stage pitching process: a concise promotional video, a physical proof-of-concept, and demonstrating manufacturability and safety. Grimes emphasizes that pitches should lead with consumer-facing features rather than technical details, acting as a promotion for the final product. He also details the licensing model, including option agreements and advances, which support inventors during the 18-month to multi-year development timeline.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=0) Introduction: Dougal Grimes and Spin Master
- [2:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=176) Grimes' Career Path from Hasbro to Spin Master
- [8:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=484) Sourcing Ideas: Wish Lists, Social Media, and Inventor Portals
- [8:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=484) The Three-Stage Pitch: Sizzle, Prototype, and Feasibility
- [16:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=980) Pitch Structure: The Newspaper and YouTube Ad Model
- [23:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=1414) Post-Licensing: Inventor Involvement and Product Championing
- [27:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=1641) Development Timelines: 18 Months for Complex Toys
- [30:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=1822) Retail Cycles and Licensing Economics (Options/Advances)
- [36:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses#t=2201) How to Pitch Spin Master: LinkedIn and Inventor Relations

## Topics

- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Spin Master (company)
- Hasbro (company)
- Lego (company)
- Mattel (company)
- Paw Patrol (product)
- Bakugan (product)
- Hatchimals (product)
- Kinder Egg Surprise (product)
- Monopoly (product)
- True Pursuit (product)
- Hatchamels (product)
- Zoomer (product)
- Sonic Finn (product)
- Moonlight Project (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#044 - When not to start a startup - how to license your idea (Part 1), with Stephen Key of inventRight, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-12-20-044-when-not-to-start-a-startup-how-to-license-your-idea-part-1-with-stephen-key) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [S6E17 Scott Putnam | Invention, Licensing, and Venturing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-04-25-s6e17-scott-putnam-invention-licensing-and-venturing) (Being an Engineer)
- [Spin Master/PAW Patrol: Ronnen Harary (2021)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-06-24-spin-master-paw-patrol-ronnen-harary-2021) (How I Built This)
- [S2E37 Defied the odds:  A Physical Product Development Firm That Focuses on Startups & Small Businesses, Mako Design + Invent –Kevin Mako](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-08-23-s2e37-defied-the-odds-a-physical-product-development-firm-that-focuses-on-startu) (Being an Engineer)
- [#355: Mastering the Pitch: MedTech Innovations from Concept to Market](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2024-02-15-355-mastering-the-pitch-medtech-innovations-from-concept-to-market) (Global Medical Device Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-05-11-125-pitching-your-invention-to-big-product-businesses. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Product Startup.