The Money Behind Mental Floss Tells Success Story

When two Duke University students approached Toby Maloney to be the "angel" investor in their new venture, he was sold on the name – Mental Floss.

"That's one of the reasons my wife and I invested. You had smart kids, a smart idea and a great name," Maloney said.

Maloney, a Russell Township resident, spoke about the growth of Mental Floss at a Mayfield Area Chamber of Commerce lunch. He said the Duke president suggested the name "Conversations" for the magazine the students were creating.

Ten years later, Maloney, now vice president of business development, doesn't think Mental Floss would be the success it's become without the clever name.

"I think that the name Mental Floss is a fabulous name," he said.

Mental Floss had revenue of $3.1 million in 2010. In addition to the magazine that remains the core of the business and has a circulation around 100,000, Mental Floss has a website and a catalog full of T-shirts, games and other items. A big seller is the "I Heart Math" T-shirt featuring the square root of -1, which is the imaginary number "i."

The main connection between the products is that they're "funny, smart and quirky," according to Maloney.

"The core DNA for the products, all of them, is smart-alecky funny," he said.

Maloney said a key to success is to find something that separates your business from the competition.

"Ten years into it, there's nothing in the marketplace quite like Mental Floss," he said.

Maloney told chamber members not to be afraid to start a new business.

"If you've afraid of losing money or looking silly, you're not an entrepreneur," he said.

Mental Floss has a retail store at 8051 Mayfield Rd., Chesterland. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.