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Tim FerrissTim Ferriss

Taking Responsibility for Your Life, Why Creators Need to Smash Limits, and Dealmaking Strategies

Brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 800M+ users http://linkedin.com/tim, Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement http://athleticgreens.com/tim, and Shopify global commerce platform providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business http://shopify.com/tim Resources from the interview: https://tim.blog/2022/12/16/todd-mcfarlane-2/ Todd McFarlane (@Todd_McFarlane) is an Emmy- and Grammy-winning director/producer and creator of one of the world’s best-selling comic books, Spawn. He is best known to many comic book fans for his work as the artist on The Amazing Spider-Man, for which he co-created Marvel’s top villain, Venom. Todd is the CEO of Todd McFarlane Productions, McFarlane Toys (one of the US’s top action-figure manufacturers), and McFarlane Films. He is also a co-founder of Image Comics, which debuted Spawn in 1992, selling 1.7 million copies of the first issue. In 1997, Spawn was made into an Emmy Award-winning animated series on HBO and a live-action feature film that grossed over $100 million. In 2019, Todd made history with Spawn #301, earning the Guinness World Record for longest-running creator-owned superhero comic book series. Please enjoy! [01:23] The wit, wisdom, and work ethic of Stan Lee. [26:59] Todd’s four corners: video games, TV, movies, and toys. [37:58] Learning the art of toycrafting and beating the industry at its own game. [45:41] Dumb luck at Toy Fair. [1:00:21] Toy marketing and distribution circa 1994. [1:08:04] The play Todd made with a $3 million baseball. [1:15:35] Todd gets in a hockey fight. [1:21:52] Bringing Spawn to TV. [1:25:43] Being the dumbest guy in the room can win you Emmy awards. [1:29:15] Cancellation. [1:30:37] Todd is bilingual — in art and business. [1:37:07] How Todd finds time to create while managing his businesses. [1:42:15] Brand matters. [1:48:25] Making a music video, winning another Emmy, and almost killing Eddie Vedder. [1:55:33] The momentum of success. [1:58:17] The surface area of (dumb) luck. [2:00:19] Building worlds that will endure. [2:07:40] Building characters who will outlive their creator. [2:14:55] Today will not be perfect, so lower the bar and dance if you want to. [2:24:50] Is Todd’s wife married to a monster? [2:31:13] Be the second person. [2:36:23] Parting thoughts. About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 800 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/

Tim FerrisshostTodd McFarlaneguest
Dec 16, 20222h 43mWatch on YouTube ↗

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At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Todd McFarlane on Stan Lee, Toys, Dealmaking, and Lowering the Bar

  1. McFarlane remembers Stan Lee's generosity to fans, his enjoyment of public appearances, and his final years, and cites him as the model for how to treat an audience.
  2. He explains how he built McFarlane Toys by rejecting traditional toy deals, funding the company himself, pricing on value, and exploiting slow-moving corporate giants.
  3. He recounts dealmaking stories, including a Toys 'R' Us buyer stopping at his tiny Toy Fair booth, a $3 million baseball bought to win sports licenses, and an NHL logo dispute settled for $500,000.
  4. He describes his HBO Spawn series and Eddie Vedder music video as proof that asking naive questions, smashing self-imposed limits, and staying persistent opens unplanned doors.
  5. He closes with his personal philosophy: lower the bar, don't wait for others' approval, compartmentalize conflict, and aim to be the best person rather than the richest.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Treat every fan as if they matter most.

McFarlane says Stan Lee made each person feel special in a 20-second autograph exchange, and he holds that up as the model for interacting with fans, who he says are the reason creators have careers.

You only need to add '3% sexy' to existing ideas.

McFarlane says he never invented anything original, and he uses the iPhone's glass touchscreen and his use of photo reference for toy sculpts as examples of small improvements that look like genius.

Big companies' size is also their weakness.

McFarlane says he never tried to slay giants like Hasbro and Mattel; he stayed small and nimble and made products they would not, such as R-rated toys, and he extended this by making new molds for lesser characters.

Take a calculated, attention-getting gamble to get through the door.

He spent $3 million on the McGwire 70th home run ball to get headlines that opened the doors to sports leagues and unions, and says he earned back far more than that through the licenses.

Ask the naive question and smash the guardrails.

On the HBO series he found that experienced people self-censored over limits that cost no extra time or money, and he argues creators should push against walls until executives pull them back.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Everybody who's out there is listening and wants to be an entrepreneur, stop putting the pressure on yourself to think you have to come up with something new and original. You do not. You just have to add 3% sexy to it, and you will now be the genius.

— Todd McFarlane

Lower the bar. Don't raise the bar, lower it. Here's why. Way easier to get over low bars than it is high bars.

— Todd McFarlane

If you've never been the first one on a dance floor, you're probably not built to be an entrepreneur.

— Todd McFarlane

I don't care how they get into the house. I don't care how they come to the party. It's party central inside the house, right?

— Todd McFarlane

Why don't you want to be the best person instead of the richest? 'Cause when it mattered, and we just proved it, you didn't pick the rich person. Be the second person, and you can still make money and be that second person.

— Todd McFarlane

Stan Lee's fan interaction and legacyBuilding McFarlane Toys against industry giantsValue pricing and prototype honestyDumb luck and persistenceSpawn on HBO and the Eddie Vedder music videoFive-ball juggling and delegating talentLowering the bar and entrepreneurial mindset

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