I Was Wrong, Bigger Isn't Always Better

When Disney comes knocking at your company's door, do you open up?

- By Ben Sherry

When Disney comes knocking at your company's door, do you open up? That's the question Paul Berberian, 56, had trouble answering in 2014 when the entertainment giant asked his toy robotics company, Sphero, to join its accelerator program. "They wanted the same terms as if we were a two-person startup, and we were already doing pretty well with around 60 employees and $15 million to $20 million per year in annual sales," Berberian says. But he was hearing from his board that there was enthusiasm for the product at Disney, and he took the hint. "At the last minute," he says, "we committed."