Lessons from 20 Years of Inventing: Adam Nelson’s Night Light Story

Adam Nelson left corporate tech with an idea for a children’s night light and no idea how hard the next 20 years would be. In this episode of Better Together, Adam shares what it took to go from an invention to a real product: designing it, manufacturing it in China, protecting it with patents, and surviving the setbacks along the way. He talks candidly about what working across cultures taught him, why communication matters so much in global manufacturing, and how he had to pivot when COVID-19 disrupted exports. He also gets into the mindset side of entrepreneurship, including fail fast and fail cheap, how his relationship with risk has changed, and why unlearning old habits is part of growing as a founder. He credits family support as a major reason he kept going, and he talks about the humility and collaboration that came with learning from his mistakes. For inventors, product founders, or anyone thinking about leaving a corporate job to build something of their own, this one is full of lessons learned the hard way. Watch the full episode and share your biggest takeaway in the comments below. 🔗 Connect with Adam:   / adam-nelson-7107961   Better Together is the 2026 Best Podcast in Maryland winner, hosted by Shawn and Kelly Sundsvold, co-owners of GoldBear Media. Each episode is a real, unscripted conversation with a founder or entrepreneur about the business they’ve built - the wins, the failures, and everything they learned along the way. Better Together is brought to you by GoldBear Media - helping business owners turn scattered marketing into a real, connected strategy. Learn more at goldbear.media. #BetterTogetherPodcast #Entrepreneurship #ProductDevelopment #Manufacturing #Innovation #StartupLessons #AdamNelson #GoldBearMedia