Latest / Better Together / Lessons from 20 Years of Inventing: Adam Nelson’s Night Light Story
Transcript
- Shawn Sundsvold: Welcome back to the Better Together podcast. I'm Sean Sunsvold, along with Kelly Sunsvold, my co-host and partner in business and in life. No business shows up fully formed. Everyone is a result of a journey most people never get to see, and today's guest has actually lived that journey multiple times through various different roles during his career. Adam Nelson spent years in corporate tech working for companies that got acquired again and again, but in each of those deals, He says he was never really on the winning side. So in 2006, he became an inventor, patenting a children's night light, and learning the hard way what a patent actually does and doesn't protect. After that, he built and merged a software company, spent years consulting for startups, and eventually started Bucket Grips, a simple product that took two years just to find a US manufacturer for, and then nearly got wiped out by COVID a month after its biggest break. So we'll talk through those chapters and about how we got through each of them and what he had to learn, unlearn, and relearn about himself with every version of the entrepreneur he's had to become. So Adam, thank you for being here. Welcome to the show. Adam: Thank you guys very much for having me. I appreciate it. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, I I really appreciate you taking the time and th I this is gonna be a really, really fun conversation. but before we get too far into it, for those in our audience who may not know who you are, give us a short version of your path into entrepreneurship and what you're doing right now. Adam: Well, i it it's funny, I didn't set out to be an entrepreneur. I just always had marched to my own drum, just saw opportunities, wanted to know why we couldn't take advantage of those opportunities, whether I was with corporate America, smaller businesses, I just would see different opportunities. how I stumbled into entrepreneurship was really my oldest son was a terrible sleeper. He just would wake up throughout the middle of the night. When he woke up, he'd wake everyone up. And I I I actually I take that back. I shouldn't say that's how I became an inventor, not really just an entrepreneur. So I tried to figure out was there a product on the market or something out there that would help him stay in bed and sleep, and where my wife and I could actually sleep on a regular schedule as well. And I couldn't find anything out there. And that's when you hear different things happening in the world around you, and those are the aha moments where you're like, If I could do this, maybe this would be the result. And had heard a doctor talking on some show my wife was watching about children with sleep issues. And the sleep issues were things like if you left a closet light on for your kids to help them in the dark, or just different things like that. And I thought, well. He sleeps with a night light and if I could program that light to come on, shouldn't I be able to program it to come off? And that's kinda where the good night light night light product came into play. And then that's a whole nother path of how you take an idea and then turn it into a product and find a market and everything like that. But that's where I stumbled into it, thought, what's the worst that happens? I I learn how to make a product, I fail, I could go back to corporate America, I could go back to sales. So wasn't too worried about it. Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, it's really good. It's funny you mention sales and corporate, because you actually spent years in corporate tech working for companies that kept getting acquired. And you said you were never on the winning side of those deals. what did that teach you before you ever started anything on your own? Adam: it was interesting because most of those companies that I worked for, and and I'll just say software companies, I'll I'll be polite in every aspect of that, but you know, you you realize these were just software opportunities, products they developed. They were entrepreneurs themselves. They were fortunate enough to grow them into real opportunities, turn into bigger companies. And then as these companies acquire other businesses or ultimately get acquired, you realize just that inner circle is really Who is fortunate enough to benefit and learn from all of this, even if there's an exit strategy. everyone else is just part of the business. You know, they're all the spokes that just make everything happen. So when you see it over and over, you're thinking, you know, wow, wouldn't it be great if I could be at the center of this, not just on the peripheral, always helping it get to where it needed to be to get acquired or whatever that turns out to be. So was it was interesting. It was very, wow, this is great. We're getting acquired. I don't know what this means. I don't even know if that means I have a job. I don't know if I have a peer. If, you know, there's there's room for growth. And it was just those over and over that you start to realize, you know, maybe there's something else you should be looking at doing. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, it's it it's always interesting when you start having that realization and you you mentioned it earlier, you that you march to the beat of your own drum. And I I think that's something I've seen across entrepreneurs, right? They they just look at things a little bit differently. They're pri they prioritize things just a little bit differently than than the average bear. you know, as you were doing the the thing getting things going with the night light, you know, you and I had an initial conversation about this and there was a story that you told me that kind of stuck out to me when you were working with a manufacturing partner in China. you know, you designed the whole product, you got it color-coded, you had the visual cues, and then you saw the product and what happened. Adam: good that you brought that up. You know, you don't know what you don't know as an as anyone. You know, until you've walked in those shoes and you learn from those mistakes, you try to do the best you can. So to that story and that point, I thought, okay, I'm gonna go to another country because I feel like it could be more cost effective to bring that product to market. What I really didn't grasp during that process was Learning another culture, learning how other people interact, how they perceive people from other countries. So things simple as, and Sean, we talked about this earlier, simple things like yes, I hear you, and yes, I understand you are not the same, yes. So when I was working with the manufacturer to bring the night light to fruition, I thought, you know what, I'm gonna go above and beyond, and I'm gonna color code this product. So when we're talking, they know. what color I'm referencing. So we're all you know basically all on the same page. What I didn't realize was is they saw that as, this product's going to be colored. So when we produce this, we'll produce this in the colors that he's referencing. I made the assumption that we were gonna be one standard color and the colors were just for reference points. So when I got the product and it was multiple colors, and there's another little part to this, Sean, I'm not gonna forget it as well. I I was almost taken back. I thought I was helping and I was actually making it worse. Now, to add insult to injury and make things worse, there were a lot of assumptions. I assumed when you make something that requires power, that there would be a default, and I didn't have to address this, an on-off switch. And little did I know the first prototype of that nightlight had No on-off switch. It just plugged directly into the wall, and that's how it got its power. I made the assumption that, well, you'll have to power it on and then you'll program it, then you plug it in. So it was learning those things, and there's nothing worse than you are months into this project, you're so excited to get this baby for the first time and see your idea, you know, as a tangible item, and you start to look at it going, wow, I'm a terrible communicator. I really thought I did such a good job and I missed color. I missed the on-off switch. But they were quick lessons that you could pivot around. And once I was able to, you know, rectify those, the product was able to then, you know, speed along in the process. But yeah, what an aha moment. Had no idea. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, it's that's always just such a I know, I've I don't you don't speak in a language, you don't know how they think and you know, you you have this you you perfectly think you have it. And all of a sudden then to just be like, Wait, this this didn't match up I'm what was that what did you have to do in that moment to kind of shift things and r to retake a look at that whole process? Adam: Well, you one of the first things was y you kinda go backwards then. Instead of saying, Well, what did I say? and trying to figure out where the disconnect is. It was more of, Well, what'd you hear? Why don't we go that way? And you explain to me what you heard, and then I can fill in the gaps the other way. I I just saw something recently and it was an actor talking about how they get scripts. And they read the script and then they come up and formulate their own idea of the characters. And this particular actor did it a different way. They make the writer or director read the script to them so they Shawn Sundsvold: Hmm. Adam: can start off hearing what their vision is and then sprinkle in where the changes were. And I thought, wow, that was just a simple thing. But it resonated with me hearing that because I was like, wow, sometimes you just have to explain it and then just let them tell you what their takeaway is or where the the gaps are gonna be. Nothing I went to school for or that you can learn. You're just go go go and I thought I was so thorough on documentation and then realized that didn't matter at all. I just had to start with the very basics. So lesson learned. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah. Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, for sure. I mean, as an entrepreneur, you know, we we learn all the lessons kind of sometimes all at once, little by little. and y you're not a stranger to this. You started multiple companies and each time there's a risk involved. how has your relationship with risk ch ki changed over the years? Are you more cautious now or less? Adam: i i if you're asking me, that's one answer, my wife will give you a different answer. I just kind of go. I I don't really think about too far down the path. The only thing I ever just kind of stayed with was Fail cheap, fail quick. Just start throwing something out there, get the feedback, see where it's not gaining traction, because what I've learned over time and working with other entrepreneurs and small businesses is you're trying to create the perfect anything. The problem is your perfect is not someone else's perfect. And what you think it needs to look like at the end of the day may not what be what it's supposed to look like at the end of the day. You can almost get lost in those details and delay it and add costs when all of a sudden your customer or the market sees something different and you're like, I didn't even think about that. I could have spent more time on X instead of Y and saved money. So, you know, the simple motto was just fail cheap, fail quick, and the family supports that completely. They're like, okay, we see you started something, now it morphed into something else. So that's a that's a good takeaway for a lot of startups. Shawn Sundsvold: For sure. And you mentioned something in there with your family and teaching that them then that process of fail cheap, fail quick. What was it how how was your how supportive was your family as you've gone through this journey of entrepreneurship and putting out a couple different products and you know, what what were those conversations like as you were beginning to take that journey? Adam: great question. You know, cause a lot of times you work with people or you run into people where they don't have that support. You know, why can't you just do this? Why can't one, your support is everything. Your circle of friends, your circle of family, they're the ones that are gonna really question what you're doing and call you out on things and make you say, you know, maybe it's not When you start to see that they believe in what you're doing and they see the value in the product, it's almost like this hidden motivation that you're like, wow, this is great. I think I'm onto something. Instead of, really? You think a nightlight's gonna help and that's wonderful? But when you start to realize that it was a conditioning device and it was really more of teaching visual cues, okay, that was great. Kids loved it. My wife taught me a great little trick, and I don't know if that's just her nature and gr how she was brought up, but I'm allowed to complain about anything I want. One time. If I don't change my behavior, I don't complain about it. your elbow hurts. Did you go see a doctor? Well, it'll get better. Well, okay, I hear ya. But if you apply that same principle to what you're doing, working, all right, this isn't working. I'm running into this issue. Are you doing anything different or are you just stuck in this this mindset? So, you know, having family help and and they've they've looked at some of the things I've done going, really, really that's that's it. But if you can show the market, you can kind of show where you see the value. Not everything has to be a home run. Singles and doubles do just as well. So I appre I appreciate that and I appreciate them all this time. So Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, that's good. so kind of looking back, 'cause hindsight's 2020, right? we look at our mistakes that we make, we move forward, all that other stuff. if you go back and tell yourself one thing at the very start of your very first venture, what would it be? And do you think you would have actually listened to yourself? Adam: I I'll answer the last question first. No, I would have totally not listened to myself. I I know better. when you come up with ideas or you you're launching any business, and again, all these are from just my experience and you know, I don't tell anyone what they should do. I just tell them based on my experiences what I wouldn't do again. You know, in the beginning when I I had different product ideas or I wanted to start businesses. You find you want to include people. And that'll be great. And they sometimes see your vision with you at that time, not down the road, not as you grow as a business. And it's tough. You know, you you want to incorporate people into this passion, this whatever it is you're doing, and it's not always the right decision. Not everyone has to be a partner with you. You have to know when to know how to leverage those people and when to incorporate them into your your business world or even your personal life. I I would say I wish I did s certain things differently and better. I've learned from those. I see some of the warning signs. I see some of the the triggers now. But I still get excited. I still love when people get excited with you and you're like, Yeah, let's do it. Come on, we're all gonna grow on this, it's gonna be wonderful. But You have to take a step back. You have to realize, are they adding value long term or is it short term? And if so, do you know how to differentiate the two? And do you know what that value actually translates into? Is that a partner? Is that equity in the business? Or is it just somebody that's helping you that you can pay for their their services? So those I've learned it it came with some hardships, but you know, that was a valuable life lesson. Still get excitable, still want to do those things, still think, all right, well slow down, take a step back. Let's kind of make sure you're not getting ahead of yourself. So hopefully that helps. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, definitely. And I think for anyone who's listening, there was there there's a huge nugget of wisdom right there of really understanding the value that each person brings to your your business, your idea, your organization, and knowing how to weigh that against where the f the business is at the moment, right? Is it do you need to bring somebody on and give them equity 'cause you can't afford them? Or is it, you know, are the is their their service time limited to just one specific thing or do you want to build a partnership with them? And you you know, you sounds like you've been through that a a multiple times now and just trying to weigh in like where is there value and and where is there not. Adam: Yeah, not everyone's like a managing partner. Sometimes they're just an angel investor. And trying to make them something they're not creates those challenges as well. And then to the point you you said earlier, you know, it's long term. You know, everything's a phase. Are they there for phase one, the infancy, but phase two and three is not their wheelhouse. that was a big lesson for me to learn. I'm not the we get it to X and I should still be running the ship. You know, at that point, I'm chasing the next shiny toy. You should have gotten rid of me on that part sooner. So it's understanding what you do well and even better what you don't do well and how to engage those people. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah. I'm curious, you know, w when we become entrepreneurs, you know, we have this identity, right, of what an entrepreneur should be. And you've been at this now twenty years, as an entrepreneur on some level. What of that identity have you had to unlearn as you've gotten older and more experienced? Adam: It's it's a good question. It's one of those things I still don't even see myself as an entrepreneur. I see myself more as I'm just probably unemployable. If I if I wanted to make it simple. not that I don't want to play by the others, you know, and the rules and everything, but it's again, it kind of goes back to just figuring out what you do well, what you don't do well. How that works, again, I can pivot very quickly on things and change to work on something else quickly where you don't have to follow that rigid process all the time. And and again, it's not answering it directly, but it it it's just one of those things that I've just learned how to do. And it's really finding out. who you are and how you do things. product ideas for me were so much fun. wouldn't it be great if it did this? you know, even when I try to help small businesses and startup businesses, you know, it's like, are you creating a a must-have or a nice to have? And what's the difference? You know, do they self-medicate now? What do they do if there isn't anything like that on there? because nothing's always an option. If it's nice to have, am I limiting my my audience? You know, only certain people are gonna be able to want or afford the nice to have. So you gotta look at your business that way. Cause not everything's a must-have. you gotta have it. Well, not everyone wanted a pet rock or needed one, but you know, those are the types of things so I kinda just I I start to see what I do over and over and you learn from your own patterns and and failures, I guess. Successes are are neat, but they're short lived because I always know there's gonna be another hurdle or something else in the way. So it's you know, how do you react on that? And the good news is there's always gonna be a problem. There's always something. Otherwise it's lightning in a bottle and I have a Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah. Adam: few of those buddies that have done very well doing that and catching it one time. Kelly Sundsvold: Yep, yep, exactly. you know, like even Babe Ruth wasn't a hundred for a hundred, you know. So like Adam: Right. Kelly Sundsvold: we have to look at like statistically, not every idea is gonna land. and then you do have the ones that do and you y you learn from right? I guess you learn from both the failures and the lessons or and the wins. So but looking back at every version of yourself as a founder, working in corporate, the inventor, the consultant. The bucket grip guy, what's the one thing that's stayed exactly the same about you? And about how I would say, tweaking the question a little bit, a little bit of how you operate. Let's go into that. yeah. Adam: That's it it's funny because I I until I started talking with you know Sean and now getting fortunate to talk to you, Kelly, as well. And I talk to different people, I don't come in and say, I'm the founder creator, I've done this, I'm this executive, these things are beneath me. I just go, whether it's Cleanup, whether it's accounting, whether it's the sales marketing, it has always been a we look at doing this. Selfishly, it should be probably more of an I. I did this. I but I don't really see that because I know that I couldn't do those things without the we and the people that helped me do that. So being humble enough to know that you don't need a title. I don't care titles. I still have to do all the other stuff that's involved. And even if it means outsourcing it, I don't have to have a an executive level team only. It's surrounding yourselves with the right people that can fill those little voids and and question you and challenge it. I have met numerous people. Well, you know, I invented this and I I did they had the idea. But they had to get with somebody that helped them take that idea and turn it into something. And those are the things that I've learned over time is I'm never too big for that. Every time you start something new, you're starting at the bottom. The the bonuses with the lessons learned, sometimes I get to start a little bit further ahead. But if it's something I've never done, it's new challenges. the nightlight business, for example. I know of retail. I never sold children's products. I didn't even understand the whole sleep community and all that. That was okay. So don't don't get too ahead of yourself on a product. You don't understand all your audience. bucket grip, same thing. You know, who I thought would be the perfect, you know, consumer of the product was totally different. Missed that mark completely. It was a swing and a miss, but not in a bad way. So I I would say those are the things you just gotta remember is, you still have to do the basics every day. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, and and you mentioned bucket grips and the and and you had some adversity getting that going. We briefly talked about it at the start of the show, but you know, for to give the audience a little more detail, you had just signed two hundred hardware stores at a at a trade show in February of twenty twenty. And literally Adam: yeah, it was the coolest Shawn Sundsvold: a month later, COVID hits. Like what did those what are those first few Adam: It was the cool I'm sorry, go ahead. Shawn Sundsvold: week what did those first few weeks look like? You know, after doing that and just thinking, what am I gonna do? Adam: Well I I thought it And I'll even take you back a little bit. You know, I I started the product, we manufactured it overseas in China. I just wanted to prove the model. So it was such a a learning experience taking a product that was manufactured overseas, finally getting to say, I I it's made in the US now. It's made in America. That's so cool to be able to now talk to retail channels and they're like, well, is it a made in America product? Yes, it is. And we're just finalizing the packaging. getting everything done, signed up the you know 200 plus hardware stores. It was such a good feeling. And then the end of the world was coming and You wondered all the people that were walking around the trade show coughing, my God, where the carriers is, is this spreading? What's gonna happen? are they gonna keep their orders? You know, are they all freaking out? Are we gonna still be in business? Let alone I don't care that I just committed to buying your product. I gotta make sure we're gonna stay open and the lights are gonna stay on and You find out that, well, everybody got into DIY and everybody started doing repairs. And you know what? Maybe this isn't the end of the world, but maybe this is one of those pivot moments. one of the bonuses, and I'm thankful for this, not for COVID in general, but for the lesson I learned from it, was it allowed me to slow down. just a little bit to make sure I was dotting my I's and crossing my T's. And I'll tell you one specific was we'd finalized the packaging, loved it. Everything's recyclable, the product's recyclable, the packaging's recyclable. And it wasn't until I was at that show that people asked, well could we export your product? And I thought, well why not? I mean buckets are buckets. You know, these sh fit most buckets. It should work. But it didn't mean I could export the product because if the packaging wasn't multilingual, it wouldn't clear customs. So it allowed me to slow down. We added French and Spanish to the packaging, which we didn't have prior, had to tweak the packaging, and allowed me to then go a little bit further with the product sooner than later, than having it already mass produced in production and then having to slowly transition it. I was still in the infancy of production of it that I could make that change quickly, which was a bonus that I didn't even expect. Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, for sure. and and that's a a moment where an entrepreneur shift can really make a difference, you know, where you have to kind of be quick on your feet and adjust and not think, you know, definitely think strategy through through it, but don't think on it too hard. is there it's kind of a little bit of a shift because you know, like kind of moving into failure. versus shifting, 'cause I think that's a huge win, even though there was an adversity piece in front of you called COVID. Is there a version of failure you've made peace with and a version you still haven't? Adam: Wow. And I don't even have to lay on a couch for this one and have my therapist walk me through this. You know, there's there's some ownership in what I've had to learn how to do. And the old adage of time heals all wounds, I I don't know if that's an exact, but it does give you a lot of time to reflect and release some of that baggage. it it was tough. I'll give you the night light for one of the examples on it. You know, we had patents filed. We had patents on this product, and I just thought that that was a safety net and protector of all. And it really just to simplify things teaches you two things. You can be sued or sue somebody. That's really it. Those are the only things. And whoever has the deeper pockets, nine times out of ten, at least in the states, again, my experience, can win. And you know, it's hard to see something like that when you're trying to do all the right things, protect your IP, to then realize that wow, that was an expensive life lesson. One that I don't know I do again, do you spend more time protecting your product or promoting your product? I think it was Sarah Blakely said that in so you know for her spanks. I could spend all this money protecting my product and never getting it anywhere. Or I could take that same effort and money and promote it and become a standard, a brand. And you know, you look back at that in the moment, it's no, I I I have to fight for what's fair. But that moment can turn into weeks, months, years. What do you learn from it? What do you take away from it? So it's not that it's a a bad thing to just kind of concede to it and say, wow, that was a really expensive lesson learned, but one that I could never have learned going to school for this, or you know, just in talking to friends and peers. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah. It's I don't know, entrepreneurship is is such a journey and you go through so many things as you're doing it. you know, and looking over your last twenty years of of being an entrepreneur, how has it changed your life? Adam: it's great question in the sense of I always wondered what if? What if I stayed in corporate America? What if I did like some of our friends and you know, that are nearing a different stage in life and have had phenomenal careers and I don't change it. I look at it for myself, I just don't know if I was really wired that same way. Would I be sitting in my corporate office or in my office or my cubicle, I don't know where I'd be, honestly, and saying, gosh, what if I'd just taken a chance and tried doing a product and learning, what that really means. Again, a home run is phenomenal, but seeing an idea go from just an idea to people buy it, people use it, you hear things you never heard. When the Nightlight first launched A mother had written to us that her daughter had pediatric cancer, a brain tumor specifically. And she had read about the night light in Parents Magazine, and it was just getting ready to come to market. And she says, Is there any way I can get one sooner than later? Here's my circumstances. I can't control cancer. I can't control God's destiny for my child. But If I can give my daughter sleep, more sleep, and help her get on a better schedule, it's everything to me. And I was like, wow, had no idea. And the daughter was, probably three and a half at the time. Complete remission now. She's grown up. She's graduated college. Just aged myself. But what a neat, rewarding experience. One that I didn't even know and touched me at that time. And I still remember it to this day. Like, wow, that was a great feeling. Like, I can't replace that with an attaboy or I made quota. That was great. I, I get a bonus and then what have you done for me lately? But that's something, specifically and there's few others like that, but wow, twenty years later I can look back and say, that was a really neat experience. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah. Wow. Thank you for sharing that. That was amazing. Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah. so this has been a great conversation, Adam. what are ways that people can get in contact with you? Adam: I like the airplane banners. If you could fly over the beach with my name and I catch it, I'll follow up with you. Kelly Sundsvold: Love it. Adam: email me Adam at BucketGrips.com. Find me through LinkedIn. Go to bucketgrips.com, search info, the goodnight light. Always excited to to see where I can help somebody in the sense of just from my experience. Again, I won't tell you what to do, just want to understand what it is you want to do, and maybe I have a similar story that we can take from my lessons and create a new lesson for you. So, you know, there's any way you can find me, there's a lot of Adam Nelsons out there, just make sure it's the bucket grips. we have figured that out too. There's tons of Adam Nelson's. Shawn Sundsvold: Definitely, definitely. Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah. Shawn Sundsvold: Well we'll make sure we have all the the right contact information in the show notes for today. And Adam, just thank you for your time and your insight, your knowledge, today. Adam: No, I appreciate it. first podcast. So thank you for having me on here and just love to share my experience. again, it's it's not always what the right answer is, but it's close to just hearing what other people have gone through and how you could take a different path that may save you one, if not several steps and money. Kelly Sundsvold: For sure. Shawn Sundsvold: Definitely. Kelly Sundsvold: For sure. Well, thank you so much, Adam. Adam: Thanks again. I appreciate it.