With over 40 guests packed into the second floor of Serge, Rhett Power, a top U.S. entrepreneur, took the stage as part of Silicon Luxembourg’s talk show series. Many people were interested to hear just how Rhett went from a consultant to the co-founder of Wild Creations, a toy company that became one of the fastest growing firms in the U.S. Was it luck? Was it hard work? Or was it a mix that allowed Rhett to succeed?
“We definitely didn’t go about every decision the ‘right’ way,” Rhett said to the shock of the audience. “It took some luck to catch a break and a lot of hard work and determination to get to where we are today. All entrepreneurs need courage, and we definitely had that.”
Wild Creations survived and became one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S.
Rhett was an open book (Ironic because he has his own book called One Million Frogs coming out in August!). He shared stories of success, but more importantly, he shared stories of failure. His references to failure reinforced to the audience that it is likely going to be part of the journey and only makes an entrepreneur stronger.
“There was a time when we only had $1,500 left in our bank account,” Rhett noted. “Then we had an employee take the company credit card and go to a strip club and buy a bottle of Dom Perignon. Our company almost ended that night!”
However, Wild Creations survived and became one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S., providing toys to some of the biggest retailers like Toys R’ Us and Wal Mart. In addition, the company now sells its toys in 14 countries around the world. From almost going bankrupt to a huge success, Rhett has stayed grounded and approachable. He answered numerous questions during the Q&A session of the evening and then walked around to meet many of the guests individually during the networking session.
It was a rare opportunity to get a top U.S. entrepreneur to Luxembourg, and both the audience and Silicon Luxembourg truly appreciated the hard work of the U.S. Embassy Luxembourg to bring him to the country. It was clear that all those in attendance enjoyed the evening and learned a great deal from Rhett.
“This was so refreshing!” Polina Frolova – Montano, a business angel and audience member, exclaimed. “He was engaging and provided great advice. It was really nice to hear his [entrepreneurial] story!”
