Kickstart wraps up with play time

admin//April 19, 2007//

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This year’s Kickstart has just wrapped up. Caleb Chung, who invented Furby and the upcoming Pleo, closed the entrepreneurship event with a discussion of toys.

Making something out of nothing is the essence of enterprise, Chung told the attendees.

It also describes the process he went through designing his toys.

“All consumer products get commoditized very quickly,” Chung said. “The only thing left is innovation.”

Innovation requires three things: art, science and business.

Art is a great ingredient – the why to do something; science is the how, Chung said.

Balancing the three ingredients is what makes an enterprise great, he said.

“Otherwise you have great tech no one wants, art stuck in the Stone Age or a business plan with no heart,” Chung said.

Knowing your strengths is a key to success.

“I’m not a business guy,” Chung said. “I didn’t know any mechanics until I worked on Furby. When I learned my place in the ecosystem that’s when I got successful.”

Furby’s genesis took years, but the lessons Chung learned are carried over to Pleo – which will be a much more complicated toy.

To date, Chung said he has sold 40 million Furby toys.

“Thank you for contributing to my kids’ college,” Chung said.