Advised by many that no one wanted to read printed books anymore, particularly young people, Jim Marggraff instead trusted his instincts, which told him that children still wanted to hold and read books. His faith in the printed word ultimately paid off when his new educational product, Leapfrog, became one of most recognizable names in US households with young children.
After leaving a company acquired by Cisco, Marggraff designed an interactive system that used a stylus to navigate and transmit information from the written words and images on a page, enabling the reader to interact with the material. LeapPad became one of the most successful learning toys in history, generating more than $1 billion in revenue for the company and penetrating 77% of US households with kids between the ages of four and seven.
Marggraff then left Leapfrog to join a public technology company based in Sweden, raising $21 million from investors interested in backing his smart-pen concept, a pen that would capture and store information written during interviews or in classrooms. By the time he was done, he’d launched and marketed the product, which became the featured offering of Livescribe.
In addition to enjoying the process of bringing innovative new products to market, he also enjoys building a team that shares his vision. For example, he compiles a list of suggested book titles and asks new employees to read a selection of them.
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