In Conversation With: Thomas Lipoma

Thomas Lipoma is a co-founder of Rest Devices ( http://mimobaby.com/ ), a company that produces baby onesies with green, turtle-shaped sensors that transmit information from a sleeping infant to a parent's smart phone in order to keep track of things like respiratory patterns, sleep position information, and to prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Read below to find out how Thomas and his team have revolutionized nursery technology and what it is like to work at an innovative start-up company!

1. What inspired you to begin working on a start-up? Specifically, what made you want to work with RestDevices on Mimo Baby?

I was inspired to start Rest Devices mostly by the desire to do something new and unknown. At the time, the exact start-up didn't matter as much, I just knew that I didn't want to work for someone else and that I wanted to work on something where I would always be learning.

2. What is it like working for Rest Devices? What is the biggest difference you notice in working for a start-up compared to working for an established company?

Working for Rest Devices is absolutely bonkers. Every day is completely different and we're always facing new challenges. I think this constant unknown is what makes working for a start-up so different than working for an established company. During internships prior to leaving colleges, I worked at a few different large companies and it was always fairly predictable.. At a start-up, because the team is so small, everything you do has a massive impact on where the company is going. And because you are always constrained by time and money, you have to wear many different hats and take on tons of different jobs. I think this is probably the best part about working for a start-up: you learn something new everyday. I came out of school with a degree in mechanical engineering, but through working at a start-up, I have learned about accounting, R&D, manufacturing, inventory management, the patent process, retail sales... the list of things you will learn is basically endless.

3. What is one piece of advice would you give to students looking to pave the way as entrepreneurs and creating start-ups?

The greatest single piece of advice I can give to students looking to become entrepreneurs is that you should absolutely never give up. People often say that working at a start-up is similar to riding a roller coaster, there are many ups and downs and you just hope you aren't flying off a cliff. It seems like every month or so there is a new crisis where you think everything is lost but as long as you don't give up, there is always a way out. I think that finding a way out of the tough spots is the greatest reward of a start-up. You can look back and know that you were in an impossible situation that no one has been in before, where many would have given up, but because of your ingenuity and creativity you were able to find a way out.