Advice Line with Carlton Calvin of Razor

**Guy Raz** (0:00)
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Hello, and welcome to the Advice Line on How I Built This Lab. I'm Guy Raz. This is the place where we help try to solve your business challenges. Each week, I'm joined by a legendary founder, a former guest on the show who will help me try to help you. And if you're building something and you need advice, give us a call and you just might be the next guest on the show. Our number is 1-800-433-1298.
Leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and the issues or questions that you'd like help with. All right, let's get to it. This week, I'm joined by Carlton Calvin. He's the founder and CEO of Razor USA. You've probably seen a Razor scooter, maybe you've owned one or bought one for your kids. Carlton built Razor into a hugely successful company, turning an overnight craze into a classic toy. Carlton, it is great to have you back on the show.

**Carlton Calvin** (3:37)
I love being here.

**Guy Raz** (3:39)
We love having you. Well, so you were first on the show back in September of 2025
And as always to anyone listening, if you haven't heard that episode, I'll put a link to it in the show notes. Really great story. And I have to say, as you will hear in the story, Carlton has this uncanny way of knowing what kids want even before it happens, including how about two decades ago, you caught wind of this sleek, collapsible aluminum scooter. It was trending in Japan. You saw the potential immediately. You reached out to a factory that was making them. You locked down the exclusive US rights. And then you brought them to the US. And before long, it was a massive crazy. You were selling a million units at one point every single month. It makes me wonder, Carlton, obviously, trends have changed and it's not a million units a month. And the technology has changed. You also have electric scooters and electric bikes and so many of the products you sell. But do people still buy the old standard aluminum collapsible scooters?

**Carlton Calvin** (4:37)
Absolutely. I think it's still our largest selling item by volume. So close to a million units a year, I would say.