Projects
I continue to spend my time helping people, cities, and regions realize their full potential. Here’s what’s been keeping me awake at night.
No Experience Necessary
At 23, I had zero experience running a company. No roadmap. No playbook. And most of all, I had no reason to believe I was qualified to build anything at scale.
Turns out, that was the whole qualification.
Over the last three decades, I helped build Spin Master into a global entertainment company. What I discovered changed everything: the very qualities we associate with youth — curiosity, impatience, naïveté, fearlessness — are often exactly what make the extraordinary possible.
My new book No Experience Necessary is about why betting on yourself in your 20s may be the best decision you ever make. And why waiting to feel qualified may be the biggest risk of all.
MEAD
Over time, I’ve come to understand how vital — and fragile — the relationship between the Middle East and North America truly is. For many years, that connection thrived through in-person conferences in Washington, D.C., where trust and understanding could be built through direct engagement. But when those gatherings faded, so did the opportunities for meaningful dialogue.
As a co-founder of MEAD, the Middle East–America Dialogue, I have helped create a space to restore that constructive, nonpartisan conversation between the United States and the Middle East. Together with Yaakov Katz, former Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, and a group of committed partners, we host the MEAD Summit in Washington.
The gathering brings together 250 senior policymakers and thought leaders for three days of candid, off-the-record conversation — no media, no fanfare. Just a trusted environment where relationships can form and ideas can be exchanged openly.
As the Chairman of MEAD, I continue to support its mission of strengthening ties and fostering understanding across regions through dialogue.
Giving Back
Giving back has always been core to who I am. I’ve always believed in the power of play, and how it fuels potential.
Vision for Tomorrow
Every young person deserves the chance to discover what makes them unique and powerful. My goal is to help young people unlock their potential through creativity, mentorship, and play. They’ve been my most reliable tools. They helped me shape my path, and inform all my philanthropic work.
