Klutz
Klutz was incorporated in 1977 in Palo Alto, California, by three
friends from Stanford University. They began by selling sidewalk
juggling lessons along with a trio of no-bounce bean bags. A week's
effort earned the group $35. "It was then we realized the sky was the
limit."
John Cassidy, the English major of the group, put the
instructions in book form and titled it Juggling for the Complete
Klutz. Darrell Lorentzen, the business major, wrote up the original
business plan and the other partner, B.C. Rimbeaux, was assigned the
task of getting a bank loan. Mr. Rimbeaux was a psychology major.
The first 3,000 books were distributed via bicycle and
backpack, and sales grew from there. "It really was a failed scam,"
explains Cassidy, who remains the creative force of the company. "Our
dream was to do a book on juggling, sell a bazillion in a couple of
days, buy an island and retire. It didn't work out. After a year of
steady, unspectacular sales, we found ourselves staring down the barrel
of a career."
Today, how-to books from Klutz come packaged with the
tools of their trade (from juggling cubes to face paints to yo-yos),
and are designed for doing, not just reading. "We think people learn
best through their hands, nose, feet, mouth and ears. Then their eyes.
So we design multi-sensory books," Cassidy says. The appeal of this
hands-on approach is borne out by sales figures; Klutz is a fixture on
U.S. book and toy bestseller lists, and is available in 24 countries
around the world.
Having expanded the offerings to include Klutz Toys,
Klutz Kits, Klutz Buckets, Klutz Guides and, in 2001, an educational
product line, Cassidy seems to have an unlimited supply of ideas. The
inspiration? "I marinate myself in children," he says. "Some years ago,
I created a few. With the help of my wife" (Nancy Cassidy, the voice
behind the gold-record-winning KidsSongs recordings).
In 2002, Scholastic Inc., the largest children's book
publisher and distributor in the world, acquired Klutz. For those of
you who collect corporate mission statements, here's the Klutz credo:
Create wonderful things, be good, have fun.
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![Klutz My [not-so] Perfect Life - A Fill-In-The-Blanks Journal](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0052/7152/products/Perfect_Life_1_small.jpg?100050)
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