Jason Tiger of Bubble Universe: The Safest Toy Innovations Come From Reimagining Everyday Household Staples

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jason Tiger.

Jason Tiger is a 29 year old entrepreneur who loves disruption. He started his career in Hong Kong for 5 years as Managing Director, running the world’s largest bubbles manufacturing company. There he gained the knowledge to launch Bubble Universe and permanently change how kids, adults and even pets experience bubbles forever.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I really appreciate the opportunity to tell my story. I always knew I wanted to control my own destiny and be the captain of my own ship. I knew I had to start somewhere where maybe I was not the main captain, just yet. I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to go to Hong Kong to live and learn freely on how to run the Asian operations of my family’s large bubble company.

At first many, if not all of the employees there did not want change nor respect me. I began by introducing myself to all managers and department heads. I quickly learned the areas I wanted to focus on. I wanted to implement change to our sourcing/purchasing as well as product development department. I knew if I was able to decrease costs via purchasing I would be able to get the confidence from the US to implement more changes.

As I quickly began integrating into the purchasing/sourcing department, in just a few months the entire purchasing department resigned on me in one day. These were people who had been with the company for 40+ years. I immediately began searching and hiring people like crazy. I was able to bring on better people from much larger companies to align with my vision and build loyalty.

Eventually during my 5 years of similar integration into the multiple departments, I was able to grow the company’s sales 3x and profitability by 40%. I was told I was going to run the entire company including the U.S., but my family decided to sell.

The best way for me to learn was to be thrown into a tough situation at 23 years old and either sink or swim. For me there was no option to sink, only to swim and thrive. I learned how to run a company top to bottom, deal with numerous roadblocks and power through them, thrive in the chaos and ultimately reach solutions. This confidence led me to the opportunity of starting and running my own bubble company.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I started Bubble Universe to disrupt the bubble industry which has been around for hundreds of years and it has not changed. Currently, most bubbles are worse than detergent soap mixed with water from China. We heard from and then partnered with top pediatric allergists who said that kids were coming into their practice with allergic reactions and digestive issues regarding bubbles.

We wanted to solve this issue by creating the world’s safest bubble solution, so safe you can lick it. Our bubbles are made of food and USP (pharmaceutical) grade ingredients, made in the USA, and work with all bubble toys. We partnered with a top natural flavors lab to provide a one-of-a-kind sensory experience of flying food/beverage/candy for kids, pets and adults.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Originally when we purchased the bottles and caps for our bubbles, I did not personally test to see if they would completely seal when twisted on and tightened. I then launched the company and had numerous people saying their package smelled like chocolate, watermelon and other flavors because drops of solution were leaking into the shipping box. It was extremely stressful then, but funny now. You live and learn…

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Some of my mentors consist of my Dad, the CEO of a large tech company, the founder of StartEngine and other entrepreneurs in startups. I would say each person has made an impact on me, but I would say my Dad has been the most impactful. My Dad moved from South Africa at age 18 with nothing to pursue the American Dream. He worked very hard to become a CPA. He left his comfortable job to raise/borrow the money to buy the bubble company. I would say his story of starting from nothing and never quitting to pursue his dream of owning his own large company is what I strive to be. To risk it all for glory. You only live once, so you might as well go for it.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

No matter the disruption there is always early positivity and some minor or even major negative impact. The scale is different, depending upon the speed of the consumer behavior change. I would say an industry disruption is mostly positive when the positive outcome stays consistent incrementally and beneficial longer term. A positive change for the economy, as well as the human environment over time is better. People need time to fully adapt and change. I would say most people do not like change. An example would be the electric vehicle industry. I believe it is the right time to change proportion.

With disruptive technology, job numbers typically have to catch up or change incrementally to avoid more negative impact. This seems to be the biggest negative I have seen. An example could be the dotcom disruption boom. When everyone realized that the internet would disrupt numerous industries, money began pouring in. This happened too rapidly, so people began rushing to invest or change jobs too fast. People also became fearful of losing their jobs, companies, etc., because they could not keep up. Too much optimism on the adoption of the new technology, caused it all to collapse. It had to hit an equilibrium of time and change. Rapid disruption on the consumer behavior rather than incremental change can have rapid negative backlash and impacts.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Never give up. You need to have grit. You can never fail if you don’t quit. I heard this from my Dad at a young age, and it is part of who I have become. I was always underestimated, even as a young kid. I was the shortest in my class and it was tough to be short in my favorite sport, soccer. I was told I could never be on the varsity team because of my height. I ultimately proved the coaches wrong, and scored a header guaranteeing me a spot on varsity. I never gave up even when I was told I physically couldn’t do it.

Build and harbor loyalty within your team, and they will do anything for you. Dustin Castillo, a major investor in my company Bubble Universe and mentor to me, was an army captain. He explained this type of loyalty to me. It has led me to bring on people who are the hardest working, solution minded and aligned with my philosophy that you either grow, adapt, or die. My Bubble Universe team is loyal and will do anything for the success of the company.

To love and be loved is everything in life. My grandpa Siggy who I looked up to because he was married for 55 years and worked till he was 82. I believe the love he received and gave kept him going. His purpose was to make an impact on people.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I believe my next venture will be in 3-D printing. It’s similar to how the computer used to be. Too expensive, too slow, too corporate and not user friendly. This industry is ripe and poised to completely disrupt e-commerce. With the ability to print anything in seconds. I would love to be part of it. It will be a must-have tool for everyone like a computer.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

I truly love and cherish Steve Jobs’ Stanford graduation commencement, so many wise words and experiences to live by.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

It’s hard to pick just one, but two major life lesson quotes are how I run my life.

Invictus: “I am the captain of my ship, the captain of my soul”.

This quote is one of my favorites because it speaks about how life may throw you curveballs but you have the control and will to power through them.

My other favorite quotes are from Steve Jobs’ commencement speech, “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

“Stay hungry and stay foolish.”

You must always follow your dreams and go for it. Keep moving forward. Take risks and follow your gut.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Greatness comes from overcoming difficult and extreme situations. So go out there and take as much as calculated risk as you can to put yourself in a position to learn, fail and repeat, until you are successful.

How can our readers follow you online?

My linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/tigerjason

Instagram @jasontiger

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!