# Dynamics of the Family-Owned Manufacturing Business w/ Ryan Margolin

- Show: [The Manufacturing Executive](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive)
- Published: 2023-07-18
- Length: 29m
- Episode: 162
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin
- Listen: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-manufacturing-executive#episode-ad9f9746-6e28-4684-b9bc-572d79518641

## Summary

Ryan Margolin, CEO of Professional Hair Labs, discusses the unique dynamics of running a family-owned manufacturing business, detailing how his team used time studies to identify bottlenecks and hire for specific roles rather than fitting family members into pre-defined seats. He explains the painful but necessary process of succession planning, which involved restructuring from a standard to a group company to optimize tax efficiency and secure his father's income. Margolin also highlights the critical importance of intellectual property protection, describing a five-year legal battle to revoke a bad-faith trademark in China and stop counterfeiters from selling unsafe, subpar adhesives on the skin.

## Chapters

- [0:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin#t=35) Introduction: Ryan Margolin and Professional Hair Labs
- [2:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin#t=167) Origin Story: Chemical Poisoning and Product Safety
- [5:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin#t=343) Family Business Dynamics: Empathy and Role Definition
- [8:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin#t=499) Operational Efficiency: Time Studies and Delegation
- [12:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin#t=768) The Risk of Undocumented Tribal Knowledge
- [15:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin#t=941) Succession Planning: Tax Restructuring and Ownership Transfer
- [21:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin#t=1273) IP Protection: Fighting Counterfeits and Trademark Revocation
- [27:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin#t=1656) Leadership Reflection and Final Advice

## Topics

- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Professional Hair Labs (company)
- Gorilla 76 (company)
- FDA (other)
- Gucci (product)
- WIPO (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Advice Line with Carlton Calvin of Razor](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2026-08-20-advice-line-with-carlton-calvin-of-razor) (How I Built This)
- [Scrub Daddy: Aaron Krause. How a Failed Experiment Became a Billion-Dollar Sponge](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2026-03-16-scrub-daddy-aaron-krause-how-a-failed-experiment-became-a-billion-dollar-sponge) (How I Built This)
- [Against All Odds: Overcoming Huge Setbacks to Sell 5 Million Worldwide](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/its-only-a-prototype/2025-05-15-against-all-odds-overcoming-huge-setbacks-to-sell-5-million-worldwide) (It's Only a Prototype)
- [TRX: Randy Hetrick (2018)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-08-27-trx-randy-hetrick-2018) (How I Built This)
- [#238 - Legal Ask-Me-Anything with Giannuzzi Lewendon](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-03-03-238-legal-ask-me-anything-with-giannuzzi-lewendon) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-07-18-dynamics-of-the-family-owned-manufacturing-business-w-ryan-margolin. 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 The Manufacturing Executive.