Being born in Peru, raised in Latin America and the Caribbean, educated in the United States, and kick-starting his career in Asia before eventually landing in Toronto has taught Max Rangel about the universality of a good idea.
Now serving as CEO and global president of Canadian toy giant Spin Master, Rangel spent the first two decades of his career in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry, climbing the corporate ladder at Procter & Gamble, the Hershey Company and SC Johnson. Through those experiences, Rangel says he’s learned that there are certain underlying needs, challenges and priorities that cut across all political, geographical and socioeconomic lines.
“If you can find one universal truth, and you can be global about it — but target locally to meet that local demand — then you have something that is really special,” he says, adding that the same is true whether you’re selling diapers, chocolate or a cartoon about crime-fighting pets.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this summer, Spin Master launched in 1994 with its first product, Earth Buddy — a model head filled with grass seeds that grew like hair — followed by Devil Sticks, before breaking through with its first hit brand, Air Hogs, in 1998.
Parents today, however, most likely know Spin Master as the company behind PAW Patrol, which grew to become one of the most popular children’s franchises in the world since its launch in 2013.
In late 2020, co-founders and co-CEOs Ronnen Harary and Anton Rabie announced they were stepping down after 26 years, installing Rangel as their replacement in April 2021. Since then, Spin Master has launched a $100-million investor fund and acquired the Rubik’s Cube, Swedish digital games studio Nørdlight and U.S. toymaker Melissa & Doug. Spin Master currently employs about 2,200 globally, about 40 per cent of whom are based in Canada.
The Star recently caught up with Rangel from Spin Master’s Toronto headquarters to discuss his journey to the C-suite, the children’s entertainment landscape in the digital age, being the company’s first non-founder CEO, and what’s next for both Spin Master — and the PAW Patrol gang.
Prior to joining Spin Master, you worked in many corners of the globe for some of the largest brands in the world. What did you take away from that experience?
I went from largest to smallest in terms of company size, from the broadest product categories to a very specific set of categories, and I basically spent half my life operating in the markets, half my life at headquarters, with the last 10 years-plus in the C-Suite.
I’m a lifelong learner, so through all those different evolutions, I’ve always found it fascinating and intriguing and motivating to keep learning.
I’ve learned that a child is indifferent to whether she or he was born in a wealthy household or in the slums. They all want to play, they all want to not be bitten by mosquitos, their parents all want them to be in clean clothes. In a very global business; there’s a lot more that is similar than different.
How familiar were you with Toronto prior to accepting the role?
I had been exposed to Canada and Toronto in every one of my prior professional experiences, because Canada is a big part of a global portfolio. It has one of the largest per capita incomes in the world, and products that are developed on the higher end of the spectrum do incredibly well in Canada.
I had to know the differences between Ontario and Quebec — a person in Quebec doesn’t eat chocolate like a person in Ontario — so I knew Canada well, but I didn’t come here for Canada; I came here for the opportunity to help the founders and the company achieve our ambition, and that was incredibly motivating.
What was the ambition? What were the company’s top priorities when you joined?
When I joined the company had just announced that it wanted to expand into three “creative centres,” which included toys, digital games and entertainment. A leader was appointed for each one, and it was my job to bring the three creative centres into a cohesive activation.
What challenges did you have to confront as the first non-founder to lead the company?
My first challenge, as a 30-plus-year CPG veteran, was to accept that toys are not a traditional CPG. I had been used to seasonality in confection — like Halloween, Easter — or with a CPG product like toothpaste, you hopefully brush your teeth once or twice a day, or you change your child’s diapers a certain number of times a week. You get used to these consumption models that are quite predictable; demand can be predictable, so supply can be predictable, so profitability can be predictable, so capital expenses to drive the machine can be predictable, and you know what levers to pull to drive growth.
If you translate that to what we’re now trying to do, we have a growing portfolio of toys, a growing portfolio of games, and a growing portfolio of IP content.
Before I came, we had not done a movie, so how do you forecast a movie? Before I came, we had a very profitable franchise, now we have three or four in the pipeline and in market. We had one large game, and a growing subscription model. Now we’re going to have 3D games and an even larger subscription service. Doing all that while trying to drive predictability was the single biggest challenge.
I was fortunate to have the founders to impart what’s unique about the toy, digital game and entertainment businesses so I can weave my experience with their input. Obviously, different people had to be brought in to make sure we could take it to where we wanted to go next, and we had some people that wanted to retire or move on, and so they did.
Spin Master acquired the Rubik’s Cube in 2021, Sweden-based Nørdlight in 2022 and U.S.-based Melissa & Doug in 2023. How did those acquisitions further your mandate?
We had growth objectives for each of those three creative centres; some of the growth was going to be organic, and some inorganic.
When I had joined, we had just acquired the Rubik’s Cube, which was an asset deal of an incredible brand that needed the global footprint and the innovation and know-how, which was a perfect fit for what we can offer, and it’s doing really well.
Nørdlight coincided directly with the establishment of the Venture Fund. Back in 2020, the company began to make investments in places where we could learn more about each of our areas of focus, and one such investment was a game studio of ex-Candy Crush developers and creators who were trying to take the genre to the next level. We outright acquired them, established a studio in Stockholm, and they’re the driving force of the game that will launch this summer for the 50th anniversary of the Rubik’s Cube.
Melissa & Doug was a bit different. We knew we wanted more evergreen franchises in our portfolio, and brands like Melissa & Doug don’t come into the market very often, so when it did, we basically gave it an assessment and ultimately decided to bring it in-house.
Is Spin Master done acquiring or should we expect more?
We’re not done acquiring. Our debt equity is in a good place, we are a growth company, we have high ambitions to drive and diversify the portfolio, so when we do come across wonderful IP, or games, or even capabilities, we will be very open.
What’s next for Spin Master, and what’s next for PAW Patrol?
PAW Patrol is and will continue to be the biggest kids’ franchise globally. PAW Patrol is a rite of passage; when you get to that three-, four-, five-year-old stage, we want you to be a PAW Patrol fan. We’re on our 11th season, we’re on season two and have greenlit season three of our first extension, Rubble & Crew, we have greenlit the third movie, which is coming in 2026, we are doing holiday specials, and we have some people coming to play along, like Major League Baseball All-Star Aaron Judge. We have an incredible franchise plan for PAW Patrol, and we want to make sure it’s seen by everyone in the world.
It’s a very special moment for the company as we celebrated our 30th anniversary this year. It’s so monumental, what a Canadian-born company means on the global toy, games and entertainment stage. We’re going to continue to grow, and I think it’s a wonderful story.
