Isaac Larian, entrepreneur: Failure is the foundation for success

Summary

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The Interview – BBC World Service

Episode: Isaac Larian, entrepreneur: Failure is the Foundation for Success
Date: April 24, 2026
Guest: Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment
Host: Rahul Tandon

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Overview

In this episode, Iranian-American entrepreneur and toy industry titan Isaac Larian shares his remarkable journey from a difficult childhood in Tehran to founding one of the world’s largest private toy companies, MGA Entertainment. Larian reflects on the hardships that shaped him, the value of persistence, and how failure laid the groundwork for his later success. The conversation covers entrepreneurship, immigration, family, and the changing situation in Iran, all underpinned by Larian’s resilient and optimistic spirit.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Humble Beginnings and Early Influences

• Childhood in Iran:
  • Born in Kashan, Iran.
  • Family struggled financially; moved to the slums of Tehran after father’s bankruptcy ([04:29]).
  • Worked in father’s small textile shop from the age of 8, juggling school and work ([05:23]).
    • “I remember we didn't have food to eat when I had to do homework, we didn't have electricity. I had to do it on the candlelight. Yeah, it was definitely a struggle.” — Isaac Larian ([05:41])
  • Learned business fundamentals young, traveling to buy and sell goods for the shop ([06:43]).
  • Channeled lessons from his strong-willed mother, who urged resilience in the face of hardship ([07:15]).

2. Immigrating to America

• Decision to Leave:
  • At 17, inspired by the movie Easy Rider, decided to seek a new life in Los Angeles ([07:56]).
  • Faced family resistance; father objected but mother advocated for his opportunity ([08:10]).
    • “She persisted and she borrowed $753 from her brother, a one-way ticket and a yellow blanket, which I still have. And off I was to Los Angeles.” — Isaac Larian ([08:10])
• First Impressions & Struggles:
  • Overwhelmed by LAX and American scale; did not speak English ([03:35], [09:00]).
  • Ran out of money within a month; worked graveyard shift as a dishwasher, attended school by day ([04:00], [09:32]).
    • “So after about a month in Los Angeles, I was left with 25 quarters in my pocket. I got a job as a dishwasher in a coffee shop … from 11 to 7 in the morning I washed dishes and in the morning I went to school.” — Isaac Larian ([04:00], [09:32])

3. Building a Career Amid Adversity

• Education & Early Work:
  • Studied civil engineering; graduated in 1978, delayed by necessity to work part-time jobs ([10:35]).
  • Brief stint in California Highway Patrol department ended due to dissatisfaction with the menial nature of assigned tasks ([10:52]).
    • “I went to school and through hardship to become an engineer. I didn't come here to bring you coffee and do filing. So I quit.” — Isaac Larian ([10:52])
• First Entrepreneurial Steps:
  • Saved $13,000 from restaurant tips, started a mail-order business importing giftware from Korea ([11:45]-[12:01]).
  • “A lot of people tell me that I’m cheap, and I’m proud of that.” — Isaac Larian ([12:38])

4. Navigating Political Upheaval: Iran and Family

• Experiencing Revolution:
  • Returned to Iran post-1979 Revolution, found the new regime worse than the Shah’s, and quickly left again ([13:20]).
• Supporting Family:
  • Eventually facilitated his brother, sister, and later his parents' escape to America, highlighting difficulties of being Jewish in revolutionary Iran ([20:09]).
    • “Eventually I brought them, smuggled them through Pakistan and Afghanistan to Switzerland and got them visas to come to America.” — Isaac Larian ([20:09])

5. Business Growth and the Toy Industry

• Expansion into Electronics and Toys:
  • Mail-order business moved into consumer electronics and then video games. Business grew rapidly ([18:24]-[19:31]).
    • “With the consumer electronics, that business grew to about $70 million.” — Isaac Larian ([19:31])
  • Secured the U.S. rights to Nintendo’s Game & Watch; formed “Micro Games of America” ([21:11]).
• The Move into Toys:
  • Transitioned into the toy industry after learning hard lessons about inventory and shifting trends ([21:48]).
    • “Kids are very fickle, and toy business is good business, but it’s a fashion business. You don’t want to have too much inventory of old products.” — Isaac Larian ([22:48])
  • Launched MGA Entertainment, later producing iconic toys like Bratz dolls ([22:07]).

6. Embracing Failure as a Foundation for Success

• Learning from Setbacks:
  • Emphasized perseverance and the importance of failures in building long-term success ([22:07], [22:40]).
    • “Failures in my mind are foundation of success.” — Isaac Larian ([22:07])
    • “Every failure I looked at this, okay, what did I learn from this? And now I’m going to do it, find out and do it better.” — Isaac Larian ([22:48])
• Enduring Drive and Creativity:
  • Continues to generate business ideas daily; colleagues tease him about his relentless energy ([23:38]-[23:46]).
    • “I have insomnia, so I get ideas. And at 3, 4 in the morning, I said, oh, let’s make this toy. Let’s make this toy…And they say, where the hell does he get the energy? Just stop.” — Isaac Larian ([23:46])
  • Sees business as a form of art, a source of personal satisfaction ([24:18]).
    • “This is my art. The business is my art.” — Isaac Larian ([24:18])

7. Reflections and Philosophy

• Never Dreamt of Such Success:
  • As a child struggling in Tehran, could not have foreseen his eventual achievements ([25:29]).
    • “My goal was…push the ball forward. So I always wanted to push the ball forward. And…I would not change it for anything.” — Isaac Larian ([25:29])
• Connection to Iran and Hope for the Future:
  • Deeply pained by Iran’s current regime but optimistic that people’s resilience will win out ([16:15]).
    • “Iranian people are very smart and resilient, and they'll figure it out.” — Isaac Larian ([16:15])
  • Would gladly invest in Iran’s future if the regime changes and sanctions are lifted ([17:52]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you're not a little bit afraid then you're not paying attention.” — Isaac Larian ([02:17])
• “Failures in my mind are foundation of success.” — Isaac Larian ([22:07])
• “This is my art. The business is my art.” — Isaac Larian ([24:18])
• “I would not, despite all the hardship…if I ever come back again in life, I would not change it for anything.” — Isaac Larian ([25:29])

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------| | 02:17 | Isaac Larian’s initial reflection | | 03:35 | Arriving in Los Angeles — first impressions | | 04:00 | First U.S. job and struggle to adapt | | 04:29 | Childhood in Iran and formative experiences | | 09:00 | Culture shock on arrival in the U.S. | | 10:52 | Quitting civil engineering job | | 13:20 | Insight on post-revolution Iran | | 16:15 | Reflections on current Iranian regime | | 18:24 | Building his first business | | 19:31 | Breakthrough in consumer electronics | | 21:11 | Shift to toy industry/Nintendo connection | | 22:07 | Lessons about failure and persistence | | 23:38 | Endless new business ideas | | 24:18 | “Business is my art” | | 25:29 | Childhood reflection — philosophy of progress |

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Summary

This episode offers an inspiring account of Isaac Larian’s rise from poverty to business prominence, underpinned by a philosophy that values hard work, enduring optimism, and continuous learning from setbacks. Larian’s story is a testament to the power of resilience, the immigrant experience, and the idea that failure—rather than something to be feared—can be the very soil that success grows from.

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Transcript

[BBC Podcast Narrator]

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[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Hello, I'm BBC presenter Rahul Tandon and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. The best conversations coming out of the BBC People shaping our world from all over the world.

[Isaac Larian]

If you're not a little bit afraid then you're not paying attention. We have never seen seen a people so united.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Do not make that boat crossing do not make that journey.

[Advertisement Voice]

Being born in America, feeling American having people treat me like I'm not.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

We're more popular than populism. For this interview I met the Iranian American businessman Isaac Larian. He was in California. I was in a studio at the BBC headquarters in London. The 72 year old billionaire is the founder and chief executive of US based MGA Entertainment, one of the world's largest toy companies. Over the years he's been involved in several high profile toy launches including the Bratz Range of dolls back in 2001. But his success today, regularly appearing on rich lists compiled by the likes of Forbes, is a far cry from his early years growing up in Tehran, where his family often struggled to put food on the table in a home without electricity or running water. His father ran a small textile shop that young Larian would work in buying and selling stock. And at the age of just 17, Larian took this business experience with him when he bought a one way ticket to America to seek his fortune.

[Isaac Larian]

First of all, the things I remember when I got to lax, wow, the airport was so much bigger than the Tehran airport. I've never flown or actually I've never traveled anywhere. My first trip out of Iran was that trip.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Did you speak any English before you went there? And when you landed then, was it easy to get a job? How did you get a job?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, no, so I didn't speak English. So after about a month in Los Angeles, I was left with 25 quarters in my pocket. I got a job as a dishwasher in a coffee shop and for the graveyard Shift from 11 to 7 in the morning I washed dishes and in the morning I went to school.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Welcome to the interview from the BBC World Service with Isaac Larian.

[Isaac Larian]

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 the time in Tehran called Narmac N a and Narmac was at the time really slums of Tehran. There was no running water, there was no electricity. So I was four when we got there. Then I grew up in Narmakhe and my dad opened the shop near our house. And since the age of 8 I worked in that shop.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

From that young an age, you had actually begun to work and.

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, and did work and go to school at the same time. So yeah, it was a difficult time.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

It was a difficult time and that was a lot for your father, your family to go through and you as a child. Was it a happy time? Was your childhood happy? Did you enjoy bits of it? Cause it was a struggle, wasn't it?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, it was, you know. Yeah, of course it was very difficult. I mean, we had. But I remember we didn't have food to eat when I had to do homework, we didn't have electricity. I had to do it on the candlelight. Yeah, it was definitely a struggle. I mean, I have some good memories. One of them is that, you know, we didn't have money. So I made My first toy was a kite that I made with pieces of wooden stick that I found on the street and some glue. And that's what I remember as my joy when I flew that kite. Playing soccer on the, on the dirty sidewalks.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

It's important, it's important to have those happy moments. But you said you were working from a very young age and studying. What were you doing in your father's business? What were you and I presume clearly you shouldn't have been working at that age, but you learn from that experience, don't you?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah. Yeah. That's something that really has been the foundation of my business and my life. Of course it was hard. I was a child and what I did, I would take two buses at that young age, go to Bazaar of Tehran and buy textile for the shop and bring them back so my dad could sell it. And I was always looking for deals

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

even at that age. I mean, did you have the confidence as a child to be striking this?

[Isaac Larian]

Well, I learned, you know, my mother was a very strong person and strong influence in my life and my sibling's life. And she taught us to be strong. And life has a lot of up and downs. Keep your chin up and do what you have to do. And that's what they did. I mean, she was a very strong woman at age 17. Finally, after I graduated from high school, I told my mom and dad that I want to get out of Narmac and go to America. I had seen a movie called Easy Rider and they said, oh, I want to go there to Los Angeles.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

When you sat down with your mom and dad and you said to them, I want to leave Iran and I want to go to the US and it's always a scary experience for a parent, I think, to see their child go. But what did they say to you? Did they try and talk you out of it?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, my dad was absolutely against it. He didn't want me to leave. And he said, we don't have money to support you. How are you going to make it living there? No way. And my mom insisted and she won. She was very strong so that no let him go and let him have a better future than we are having here. So she persisted and she borrowed $753 from her bro, a one way ticket and a yellow blanket, which I still have. And off I was to Los Angeles.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Do you remember that moment when you landed in Los Angeles? Because your picture of America had come through Hollywood movies, so when you landed it must have felt very different.

[Isaac Larian]

It was absolutely very, very different. I mean, first of all, the things I remember when I got to lax, wow, the airport was so much bigger than the Tehran airport. I've never flown or actually, I've never traveled anywhere. My first trip out of Iran was all within Iran, to be honest with you. Was that trip.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Did you speak any English before you went there? And when you landed then, was it easy to get a job? How did you get a job?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, no, so I didn't speak English. So after about a month in Los Angeles, I was left with 25 quarters in my pocket. So, yes, at the end, you know, I got a job as a dishwasher in a coffee shop and for the graveyard Shift from 11 to 7 in the morning I washed dishes, and in the morning I went to school. So that was my first job, $1.65 an hour, which, you know, I multiplied by the exchange rate in Iran. It was pretty good.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Prices were a little bit higher, I think, in Los Angeles than they probably were much in. Much higher than you were in Iran. And you were studying. And then at this time, while you're studying and you're working and earning, you know, not much money, but when you put it in that Iranian currency seems a little bit more. Had you always had a thought of, you know, I've seen my dad do business. You've been involved with his business at a young age, that this was something you wanted to do, you wanted to move into your own business?

[Isaac Larian]

Well, you know, I got a civil engineering degree first because, you know, my dream was get an engineering degree, go back to Iran and.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Yeah.

[Isaac Larian]

Build infrastructure, etc.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

And what age, what time is this? And what year did you graduate? Do you remember?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, I graduated in 1978. And the reason it took so long was that I was working. I graduated from washing dishes to bus boy and waiting tables. So I could not take full classes. So I graduated in 1978. I went to work for the Department of Highway Patrol in California. And that job lasted, I think, eight or nine days because when I got there, they were asking me to bring files and coffee. And I was saying, you know, I went to school and through hardship to become an engineer. I didn't come here to bring you coffee and do filing. So I quit. I quit and I went back to work as a waiter and started a little company.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

And what was that company doing?

[Isaac Larian]

It was importing from Korea giftware and selling it on mail order.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

And where did you get the money from for that? Because I presume for businesses you had to pay upfront for what you were bringing in, or were you only bringing in very small amounts to begin with?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah. No, no. By the. I mean, I was. When you work in the restaurant, not only they pay you at that time, 650 an hour, but you make tips. I was charming, so I made a lot of tips and saved that money. I had $13,000 when I started my business, so I used my savings to fund it.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

That's not bad, is it, from that moment when you had a couple of quarters left, that over the years you managed to save so much money and has that been an important part of your success in business that you are careful with whatever you earn and whatever you have you're looking to reinvest in?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, I am. I'm careful. Of course, now I have more money at 72, so I'm more easy and spending money. But a lot of people tell me that I'm cheap, and I'm proud of that. So it's a good.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

You know, in a modern world, it's a good thing to be cheap sometimes. Be careful with my. I always say to my children, maybe you should be a little cheaper than you actually are. But they. They're not listening at this moment. Of course. 1978, you come out of college and 1979, a significant moment in your life. And a lot of people listening to this will be watching events in Iran and will know 1979 was Islamic. So was that a moment where you suddenly realized you couldn't go home?

[Isaac Larian]

No, actually, after the revolution, I did go home. When I was growing up in Iran, I was not a big fan of the Shah.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

We'll just remind people he was the man who ran Iran and, of course, was replaced by the Islamic revolution. Wasn't he Ayatollah?

[Isaac Larian]

Yes, exactly. But I went there and I was in Iran, I think, for two, three months. And I realized that this regime is worse than the previous regime. So I packed my bags and came back to usc.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

You're listening to the interview with the BBC World Service. We always like to give you a little picture of what the interview was like. Isaac, I have to say, is somebody who is full of life. And even though we weren't in the same studio, I could hear in his voice, I could also see him as well, how much he was enjoying not just the interview, but he's somebody who enjoys life a lot as well. And I think you get a sense of that in the story that he told to us.

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[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

okay, let's return to my conversation with Isaac Larian when we talk about Iran. And of course it has dominated the news for weeks. What do you make of the situation that Iran is in now? And economically you left a country that' seem to be in a much better position than it is now. How does it get back to where it was, do you think?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, so unfortunately this regime, I call them occupier regime, basically took over and brainwashed a portion, not all, a portion of the Iranian population. You know, there are right now 92 million people living in Iran and out of that I estimate are about 10% or about roughly 10 million people who support the regime. But that 10 million people have they part of the corruption, they get the money, et cetera, and have taken the rest of 82 million people in Iran as a hostage. And it breaks my heart. Iran is an old, old civilization that has brought a lot of great things to science over the years, art, physics, math, medicine, et cetera to the world has came from that area. So it really bothers me and hurts me especially when I hear President Trump saying that I'm going to destroy civilization. I think that is really way too far. Definitely this regime in Iran has to go, and eventually I think they will fall. It will take a long time to rebuild Iran. But Iranian people are very smart and resilient, and they'll figure it out.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

So you are hopeful economically, if the sanctions are removed, that we could see an Iranian economy beginning to thrive again. Would you be willing to invest in it?

[Isaac Larian]

Yes, of course I will. You know, 17 years of my life is in that country. It's part of my DNA. And I love the culture. I love the language, I love the food, and I love the people. Iranian people are great people. They are not what the news media portrays. And it's only a small minority who have unfortunately taken over the culture.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

So you came back in and did you go back to your same company again? Was that continuing or did you have to start afresh?

[Isaac Larian]

It was still continuing. I was doing the business from Iran. I had a friend who would go to the post office and pick up the checks that we were getting for this mail order business. And so, yeah, and so I went

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

back to that business and that business was doing okay. But then you made a big step up, didn't you? And that was with your involvement with Nintendo.

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah. So this mail order business at the time was very slow. And I don't have patients because at that time you had to go buy, put ads in magazines and the magazines will come out six months later and then you get the checks. So it was too slow for me. I always say, joke and say if I was patient, I would be Amazon. But so I was impatient. And then I got into consumer electronics first. And with the consumer electronics electronics, that business grew to about $70 million.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Wow, what a journey that was.

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, it was incredible. So, and I was. Now I was traveling, I was in Osaka, Japan, and I was reading the Wall Street Journal where Nintendo had become one of the biggest video game companies after demise of Atari.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Yes, I remember Atari when that was launching. Of course, Nintendo did take over and that was when Japan was dominating those things all the time. When that business grew so much. Were your parents still in Iran at that point in time or had you all come to the US and was that hard knowing that they were there?

[Isaac Larian]

About that time, I brought my brother and one of my sisters to America and they were going to school. And when the revolution happened, things were not good because we were also Jewish and we were normal in really bad area of Iran. A lot of fanatics. It was hard Hard to live as a Jew in that part of Iran. So I wanted to get my parents out. Eventually I brought them, smuggled them through Pakistan and Afghanistan to Switzerland and got them visas to come to America.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

What a journey that had been in your life up to that point. Let's get back to your business. And there you were. You'd had this incredible success with intender. When was the idea then to move into the toy business? You talked in this interview about your love of building things yourself at a young age. So what made it, you know, video games are part of entertainment, toys a part of entertainment. Where was the, the shift there?

[Isaac Larian]

So, you know, I was running, as I told you, console electronic division and got, went to Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto, Japan. I got the rights for Nintendo Game and Watch. These were small handle games at the time that people probably don't remember. I still have samples of them in my office. And that's how I got into toy business, called that division of my company Micro Games of America. After two years I had few million dollars of Nintendo Game and Watch and nobody wanted to buy them because kids are very fickle.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Well, they are things ch. And that's the world of business. Things change very quickly, don't they? So it was a good move into the toy section and people will know about the Bratz dolls and everything else. Did, did you ever think though that it would end up as being, as being as successful as it has become? You are the largest private toy company in the world, aren't you?

[Isaac Larian]

To be very frank with you, I didn't think we're going to be as successful as I am now. But one thing I have learned from my childhood till now is that when you fall, you get up, dust yourself and do it over and over again. And I have had a lot of up and downs in my business life in America. I have had many failures and people only talk about successes. But failures in my mind are foundation of success.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

What was it that kept you going when things were going badly? Where did you get that inner drive to keep going? Because a lot of people give up, don't they?

[Isaac Larian]

They say, yeah, yeah, I'm very persistent. And I looked at this. Every failure I looked at this, okay, what did I learn from this? And now I'm going to do it, find out and do it better. I mean, when the Nintendo, when we had to liquidate that few million dollars of Game and Watch, what they taught me was, okay, kids are fickle and toy business is good business, but it's a fashion business. You don't want to have too much inventory of old products. So from every failure, I learned something and use that to build my business.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Do you still have business ideas? You know, toys have been good for you. Do you wake up in the morning at 72 and think, oh, maybe I should move into this area now?

[Isaac Larian]

Yes, every day. And that's why the people at my company make fun of me.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Do they? What do they say?

[Isaac Larian]

Because, you know, I have insomnia, so I get ideas. And at 3, 4 in the morning, I said, oh, let's make this toy. Let's make this toy. Let's make this toy. And they say, where the hell does he get the energy? Just stop.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Are you going to. Do you think? I mean, come on, you made a lot of money. Don't you sit there some days and think, hey, I don't need to do this anymore. My company's doing well. You know, you've got kids, etc. I just. I don't know, what do you enjoy doing? Go and do that every day instead? Or. Or is business what you enjoy?

[Isaac Larian]

Yeah, no, I really enjoy this. You know, my wife is an artist. And I remember about 15, 20 years ago, we were sitting at coffee table and she was sculpting something, and I on the one phone with China, who. One phone with Europe, trying to do business. It was at midnight. And after I finish, she says, are you going to stop? What's going on? What are you doing? And I said, what are you doing? And she says, well, I'm doing art. Maybe you should take time to learn how to do art. And I said, this is my art. The business is my art.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Will, you've managed to successfully learn that art very, very well. Can I take you back to that point in this conversation where you were telling me about how your dad's business folded and there you are in Tehran going to school, but you're having to work in your dad's business as well. I think you were 8 years old, 9 years old at that time. Go back. I mean, could you, at that point, ever imagine that here you would be a very successful businessman in the U.S. did those thoughts ever come to your head?

[Isaac Larian]

No, it did not. I just wanted to do better than what we were doing and living under. My goal was, you know, I played football or soccer as they call it here. And one of the things that I learned early on is the goal is to push the ball forward. So I always wanted to push the ball forward. And I will not, despite all the hardship and everything else I have had, if I ever come back again in life, I would not change it for anything.

[BBC Presenter Rahul Tandon]

Thank you for listening to the interview. For more compelling conversations, search for the interview. Wherever you get your BBC podcasts, you'll find episodes from AI expert Pami Olson, Syrian politicians Hind Kubawut and Finland's President Alexander Stubb, plus many others. Until the next time. Bye for now.

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