Wild Planet Toys CEO Danny Grossman has made a career of thoughtful, deliberate decision-making.
Not many CEOs can say that they served as a U.S. foreign service diplomat in Leningrad during the Cold War. And certainly, not many CEOs can say they were kicked out of the former Soviet Union for being accused of espionage. But Wild Planet Toys founder Danny Grossman isn't your everyday, run-of-the-mill CEO.
When Grossman founded the San Francisco-based Wild Planet Toys in 1993, he knew he had to distinguish his company from larger competitors. To do so, he started by identifying emerging niche industry segments. In the process, he discovered something unique about the toy industry.
"The toy industry is all about stories," Grossman said from his surprisingly minimalist office at Wild Planet's headquarters. "It's all about what stories the kids create with the product in their hands."