Ian Bernstein
Sphero
Boulder, CO USA
"There’ve been a lot of times when I’m struggling and all my credit cards have been filled up, but luckily it’s all worked out. Just know when to keep going, but know when to quit as well."
Career Roadmap
Ian's work combines: Engineering, Technology, and Building Things
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
In order to launch Sphero, I fully neglected my web design business and wasn't taking any new clients or making any money. It got so bad that I would keep checking my credit card statements to see which one had a few dollars left so I could buy lunch. We had so many ideas that I was pretty confident at least one would work. Out of all of them, I chose to focus on the one that I had the most fun with and that worked. My passion for it helped it succeed.
Here's the path I took:
GED
Bachelor's Degree
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Bachelor's Degree
Computer Science
Colorado State University-Fort Collins
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Since he was a child, he always liked to take things apart, especially electronics, like cameras.
2.
Majored in electrical engineering and computer science in college.
3.
One day, he went to a career fair at his school and found that every job there sounded boring to him.
4.
He decided that instead, he’d start his own company, and started a business doing custom web designs.
5.
Worked at a robotics company part-time; one night, while playing with his iPhone, he realized that the robots he was working with should be able to be controlled by smartphones.
6.
He became fixated on the idea, and started neglecting his web design business to prototype Sphero and apply to tech competitions.
7.
He and his co-founder Adam Wilson came up with hundreds of ideas for robotics that could be controlled by smartphone, but ultimately, they chose to produce the Sphero robot.
8.
Says that the most important thing about running a company is to not get too caught up in things; when he starts to feel stressed, he likes to get out of the office and exercise.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
If we don't make this work, it's not going to be good.
How I responded:
In order to launch Sphero, I fully neglected my web design business and wasn't taking any new clients or making any money. It got so bad that I would keep checking my credit card statements to see which one had a few dollars left so I could buy lunch. We had so many ideas that I was pretty confident at least one would work. Out of all of them, I chose to focus on the one that I had the most fun with and that worked. My passion for it helped it succeed.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
When I was first starting this company, I didn't really have a job where I was making money. I had sidelined my web design business to focus on this and was maxing out credit cards.