Strategic Innovation: The Definitive Guide to Outlier Strategies

17. MakieLab: Custom-Made, Born-Digital Toys

One afternoon in 2010, at the Digital Kids Conference in New York, Alice Taylor sat at a crowded lunch table full of conference attendants, so close to each other that she could not help but eavesdrop the pitch of an entrepreneur’s idea to an executive in the toy industry. She then realized how difficult it was to enter the toy industry. As Digital Kids was co-located with Toy Fair, Alice also came across the huge divide between digital and physical regarding education and entertainment for children. That was when she came up with the idea for MakieLab, inspired by the freedom to create embedded in maker culture and in do-it-yourself communities. What if children could use their fertile imagination ...