Will Your Business Idea Make You Money? - Todd McFarlane

Todd McFarlane
Company: Image Comics
Net Worth: Unknown

He was always the best artist in his class. When a teacher needed something drawn on the blackboard, they would call on little Todd McFarlane to help. McFarlane, however, never wanted to become what he is today: one of the most revered comic book and action figure creators in the world. Instead, McFarlane wanted to be a professional baseball player. But, when an injury crushed that dream, McFarlane used his natural talent in drawing to create a comic book empire. Today, McFarlane’s “Spawn” still stands as the most successful independent comic book ever, and his two companies, McFarlane Toys and Todd McFarlane Entertainment, continue to set new standards in the toy and film industries.

“In all honesty, I wouldn’t say that the business end of it came with any kind of ease,” says McFarlane. “It was more Darwinian. You have to learn business if you’re going to be self-employed and survive. If you’re a bad businessperson and you’re an entrepreneur, you’re going to be out of business.” Drawing had always been his passion, but not once did McFarlane consider it a career choice. That is, until an injury forced him to reexamine his life. How did this young man with nothing but a dream in mind and a doodle in hand become the success he is today?

Advice For Entrepreneurs:

“The success isn’t about, “Cool, I can just count money.” The success is a necessity to getting the art out to it. If you go, “I did these last five products with Spawn and they all failed miserably,” the next person you talk to is not going to give me an opportunity. Especially when you’re talking to business people – all they care about is, will this thing make them money? They’re less concerned about the art. So, I must deliver a good artistic product and put it into the right channels and make it successful so that they make money, so that then I can get it into the next channel, and the next channel.”