The Nested Bean line emerged from a personal need, a “what if?” - and the deep desire to help millions of other sleep deprived parents like me. After almost 10 years of pursuing this idea with passion and determination, we’ve not only created a revolutionary line of infant sleep wellness products, but we’ve recently reached One Million sleepwear products sold to hundreds of thousands of happy customers.

With years of background in information technology, I always envisioned that I’d be a tech entrepreneur.  But like many other women entrepreneurs before me, I chose the path of social good over brining another technology product that just made our busy lives easier.

Before starting this venture, I wondered if my idea was worth pursuing, whether I had what it took to bring the idea into the world and whether people would care enough.

Over the years many young women and men have come to me for guidance, wanting to know how to take their idea to market and if the idea was worth risking it all. As I reflect on my journey, here are some of my thoughts on how I knew that the idea behind Nested Bean products was worth fighting for from the start – and how you too can too.

5 guiding principles when evaluating if an idea is worth pursuing 

 1. It comes from personal experience

When it’s personal it’s more than just an idea, it’s your life’s purpose. It fuels the tireless actions that are needed for the idea to get validated, to convince others to join in the mission, for the idea to come to fruition and be adopted and adored by the countless consumers.

 2. It solves a genuine problem—that’s universally experienced

70% of young parents experience extended sleeplessness during early childcare, as per National Institute of Sleep. Countless women globally, who are mostly the primary caregivers, face isolation when battling sleep deprivation. I wanted to solve the problem for them. My empathy and desire to touch the lives of millions propelled me to take the next step, then the next and kept me going.

 3. It has a wider social impact

During early prototype testing I realized that the infant sleepwear I was designing helped babies sleep longer by up to 2 hours. This made a material difference in the quality of lives and the well-being of parents. The possibility of such a social impact helped me go the distance.

 4. It just feels right

Intuition is at the core of many successful ideas. When an idea that solves a wide spreads problem in a simple way, it is widely adopted.

The idea behind Nested Bean’s gently weighted sleepwear was inspired by the way a parent’s soothing touch never fails to calm their baby. This simple way of solving sleeplessness met the sensibility of the parents who were early adopters, while its scientifically backed effectiveness was the reason for its continued use and success.

 5. It moves the needle by defying the status-quo

There were numerous sleepwear products in the market that claimed to help babies sleep better and longer, but I did not see how they were materially different.

If the idea built intuitively solves and age-old problem but differently enough, it becomes a market disrupter. It has the power to change the conversation. It has the potential to expand into an eco-system of products to meet customers’ growing needs instead of being a one and done idea. 

With any new venture, there are going to be ups and downs along the way but by sticking to these 5 guided principles, I’ve been able to stay the course. I am driven by hearing from our customers how our products are changing their lives. As the company continues to grow and evolve, I feel validated in my passion and determination to explore the problem of sleep quality for families and offer a solution. As a result, my own passion project that solved the need of millions of parents has become my life’s mission.