The one product that MADE Disney a Hit—It wasn't a movie...

When it comes to business ideas and different products, everyone’s got it all mixed up.

We typically look at the flagship products and bestsellers of some massive corporation or impressive personal brand and think: “I could never come up with something like that…”

“I’d have to know exactly what I want to sell, how to put it together and deliver it, and be able to market it well enough to generate thousands if not millions of dollars from it.”

But that’s all bullshit…

We’ve heard the age old stories over and over about absolutely KILLER products that were utter accidents:

Silly putty was supposed to be the worlds next best adhesive—and it soared as some kids toy that picked up newspaper ink like a fucking magnet.

Coca Cola was originally a health tonic with enough cocaine in it to give you one hell of a habit. Now, it’s the number one soft drink sold the world over.

But my favorite of all time is Disney.

An absolute corporate tycoon at this stage, Walt had more than his fair share of difficulties getting the company off the ground.?

Not to mention that his first animation company, Laugh-O-Gram, went completely bankrupt.

And immediately after they filed, he started a brand new animation company based on his own name (Disney) and went to Hollywood trying to sell the last film that Laugh-O-Gram ever made—Alice's Wonderland.

It made some small-time success as it was developed into cartoons but it never lead to any profit for Disney.

Meanwhile, they were working on this new, cheeky rodent to star in their latest cartoons. Walt's wife came up with the name Mickey Mouse and, you guessed it, the rest is history.

Or was it?

When they first aired the cartoon of this lovable little mouse, it absolutely flopped. Nobody gave a shit about Mickey Mouse or Disney and The Depression was looming.

Then in 1931, Walt suffered a complete nervous breakdown. 10 years after diving headfirst into animation and 8 years after starting his second company and surviving bankruptcy, he was done. HE just couldn't break even. They were winning academy awards for short films and making some of the best animations the world had ever seen but Disney just COULD NOT turn a profit.

They tried making more short films, producing full feature-length movies, and even commercials to generate the revenue they DESPERATELY needed...

And then one weird venture turned into the money-making machine that propelled Disney into the behemoth it is today.

In 1933, Disney put Mickey Mouse on a watch. In 1934, that 37mm piece of metal with an adorable little rat on the dial sold over 1 MILLION units at $3.75 a piece. That year saved the company and brought in the profit Walt was grasping at for the past 4 years.

Walt Disney Productions was now the largest watch company in the United States. And only then did they branch out into the revenue streams they're so well known for today.

Full-length blockbusters, TV shows, ENDLESS merchandise, and parks popped up everywhere you can think of over the next 3 years. It all started with one BIG ideas—a cartoon character—and it branched out into all kinds of delivery channels from there.

But the one, entirely unexpected idea that catapulted them to success? That watch is the only reason Disney's still around today.

But, without trying to connect every possible avenue of monetization they could to their big idea, they would have failed just as fast.

P.S

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