L.O.L. Surprise creator Isaac Larian
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Isaac Larian left Iran as a 17 year-old with $750 and went on to build a successful career in the US toy industry. Today, at 72, he’s the founder and chief executive of MGA Entertainment, one of the largest privately owned toy companies in the United States.
Over the years, he’s been involved in several high-profile toy launches: from Bratz in 2001 to the acquisition of Little Tikes in 2006, and more recently the L.O.L. Surprise range of toys.
He talks about his journey in life and in business and why he thinks the setbacks along the way are essential to success.
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
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Presenter: Rahul Tandon Producers: Victoriya Holland and Ahmed Adan
(Photo: Isaac Larian, founder and CEO of MGA Entertainment, sitting in front of some dolls. Credit: MGA Entertainment)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.5 | Hello, I'm Rahul Tandon, and welcome to meet the founders from Business Daily on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:14.1 | This is where we speak to innovators around the world about the ideas, risks and realities behind starting a business. Today, an Iranian-American |
| 0:23.8 | entrepreneur who left Iran at the age of 17 with $750 to his name. He later built a multi-million |
| 0:32.3 | toy company that set out to challenge Barbie's dominance in the global market. |
| 0:37.4 | One thing I have learned from my childhood that he was a that set out to challenge Barbie's dominance in the global market. |
| 0:43.5 | One thing I have learned from my childhood that, you know, when you fall, you get up, |
| 0:46.4 | dust yourself and do it over and over again. |
| 0:49.5 | And I have a lot of up and downs in my business. |
| 0:53.1 | Failures in my mind are foundation of success. |
| 0:59.0 | That's Isaac Larian, founder of MGA Entertainment, the maker of Brat Stolls. |
| 1:00.8 | He's my guest today. |
| 1:15.1 | I was born in a city called Kashan in Iran, and when I was four years old, my dad, who was a textile merchant, went bankrupt for various reasons. And he moved the family to a place at a time in Tehran called |
| 1:24.6 | Narmak. And Normak was really slums of Tehran. There was no running water. |
| 1:31.4 | There was no electricity. So I was four when we got there. And then I grew up in Narmac. And my dad |
| 1:41.4 | opened the shop near our house. And since since age of eight I worked in that shop. |
| 1:47.7 | From that young and age you had actually began to work. Yeah. And work and go to school at the same |
| 1:54.2 | time. So yeah, it was a difficult time. It was a difficult time. And that was a lot for your father, |
| 2:00.1 | your family to go through and you as a child. Was it a happy time and that was a lot for your father, your family to go through and you as a |
| 2:02.1 | child. Was it a happy time? |
| 2:04.6 | I have some good memories. One of them is that I made my first toy was a kite that I made |
| 2:13.6 | with pieces of wooden stick that I found on the street and some glue. |
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