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Adam Wilson
Adam Wilson
00:57

Adam Wilson

Sphero

Boulder, CO USA

"We chose fun, and then we emphasized it in everything that we did."

Career Roadmap

Adam's work combines: Engineering, Technology, and Building Things

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Day In The Life

Co-founder / Chief Software Architect

I'm a total robot junkie in the R&D department of Sphero where I concept, print, mold, cast and design hardware devices.

My Day to Day

My day is typically spent doing a lot of prototyping and experimenting with new hardware devices, product designs, and apps. I develop and manage Android/iPhone/Windows 7 Phone Applications that blend with our proprietary hardware to create a real-world interface to your smartphone. I work to make sure that all products and marketing are in line with the Sphero brand and mission.

Skills & Education

Advice for getting started

Be intellectually honest with yourself. If you don't know how to do something, admit that. From there, figure out if it is something you can figure out or realistically learn how to do in time. If not, get the right person to do it.

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Mathematics, General

    University of Northern Colorado

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Physics, General

    University of Northern Colorado

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Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    Says that because he didn’t grow up with much money, he developed a fascination with taking things apart and trying to build new things with the pieces.

  • 2.

    From there, the natural transition was to learn code, which was essentially an extension of his penchant for building things.

  • 3.

    One summer, he went and lived with a relative who wrote software for airplanes.

  • 4.

    To satisfy his propensity for building things, he worked a day job constructing houses, but every night, he went home and studied physics.

  • 5.

    Eventually, he couldn’t keep up the two lives he was living, so he quit his day job and went back to school, where he met his Sphero co-founder, Ian Bernstein.

  • 6.

    The two came up with hundreds of ideas for robotics that could be controlled by phone, but ultimately, they chose to produce the Sphero robot; Adam says, “we chose to have fun.”

  • 7.

    At one of the competitions that they entered, they won a mentorship by Disney CEO Bob Iger; Iger showed them the prototype for Star Wars’ BB-8 and asked them to develop the robot.

  • 8.

    Says the most uncomfortable thing about running a company has been the interpersonal interactions he has to partake in, but he’s found his confidence in order to enact his vision.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Myself:

    I can't do both. This isn't making me happy.

  • How I responded:

    While I was still trying to figure things out, I worked a day job constructing houses just so I could keep building things, but every night, I went home and studied physics. Eventually, I realized I was burning myself out and wasn't happy, so I quit my day job and went back to school in order to focus more on what I was interested in. It was there that I met Ian and we laid the groundwork for Sphero.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • I am the first in my immediate family to attend college/university.

  • I didn't grow up with much money, so I developed a fascination with taking things apart and trying to build new things with the pieces.

  • I got into a lot of trouble in high school. I was caught stealing, doing drugs, etc.

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