In this episode of On The Line, Jen Gerson speaks with Ronnen Harary, co-founder of Spin Master, the Canadian company behind some of the world’s most successful toys and entertainment franchises, including PAW Patrol.
This episode is brought to you by BioCanRx. We’ve been partnering with federally-funded Canadian not-for-profit BioCanRx to learn how made-in-Canada immunotherapies offer new ways to beat cancer. This September we’re focusing on the “made-in-Canada” part. Since 2015 BioCanRx has supported the Canadian-Led Immunotherapies Collaborative, or CLIC, in building a truly Canadian pipeline so Canadian patients don’t have to wait for cancer therapies developed elsewhere to reach a clinical trial here.
In the first iteration, genetic engineering happened in labs in Vancouver, a lab in Ottawa created a viral delivery system, and a facility in Victoria modified each patient’s immune cells. The resulting therapy was shipped to a research-intensive hospital where the patient received it. More than 100 patients in B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario received treatment. Now the network is growing: new biomanufacturing facilities are preparing to produce cells in Calgary and Ottawa, and new clinical trial sites are being onboarded in other provinces. CLIC technology is being used in three active Canadian clinical trials, with more on the way.
So when it comes to producing made-in-Canada cancer immunotherapies, Canada isn’t starting from scratch. Thanks to BioCanRx for continuing to help us share these stories. Visit
[BioCanRx.com]to learn more.
Harary takes Jen through the early days of Spin Master and the risks that he and his partners were willing to take while they were still young enough — and perhaps naive enough — to take them. They discuss why your twenties can be an unusually valuable time to take big swings, what entrepreneurs can learn from failure, and why intuition and an understanding of history can matter when trying to distinguish a durable trend from the latest industry bubble.
The conversation then widens to Canada’s entrepreneurial culture. Harary argues that Canada has enormous creative talent but needs to become more comfortable with ambition, risk and the possibility of failure. He and Jen discuss the difference between building and servicing, the importance of protecting time for deep creative work, and why a successful innovation economy needs diversity not simply of backgrounds, but of ideas, experiences and ways of thinking.
This episode is also brought to you by the Forest Products Association of Canada. Every budget season brings endless ideas for how Ottawa should spend. But some of the best ways to strengthen Canada’s economy don’t require a massive price tag.
For Canada’s forest products sector, real growth starts with dismantling made-in-Canada barriers: cutting regulatory duplication, fixing supply chain bottlenecks, securing predictable, cost-competitive access to fibre, and creating more certainty for investment.
We can’t control every global challenge facing our industry, but we can remove the barriers created right here at home.
Discover how smarter policy drives economic growth at
[FPAC.ca].
Finally, they look at what Canada could do differently. Harary offers ideas for encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, attracting and developing talent, and creating a culture in which more Canadians are willing to build companies capable of competing globally.
It’s a conversation about toys and business, but also about ambition, creativity, risk and what Canada needs to do if it wants to produce more globally successful companies.
This episode is also brought to you by Cameco. Canada is entering a decisive decade for energy, and the nuclear reactor we choose now matters. Incomplete designs carry real risk of delays and cost overruns, and we cannot afford to spend years designing a reactor before construction begins. That is why Cameco believes the AP1000 reactor is the right choice for Canada. It is already operating globally and ready now, with 100 percent Canadian ownership and strong participation from Canadian suppliers. The AP1000 reactor means job creation and supplier contracts, energy security at home, and significant investment staying right here in Canada.
A proven design, built on time and on budget. That is how we build Canada. Learn more at
[ap1000.cameco.com].
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