I built an LED framework for ESP32, and started building LED lamps that use it. I’ve sold more than I expected, but made less money than I’d hoped.
It’s taken years and countless hours of my time but it’s really fun and I’ve learned a lot.
The project is expanding into an IDE and online pattern gallery, and all sorts of fun additions. People are joining and making really impressive works with it. But it can be tough to keep the momentum going sometimes.
What has been nice is that even when I was the only person using it, the result was still something I could enjoy - there’s no network effect required to make something cool for my living room.
Turning a side project into a business is tough. I’ve been working with a factory to produce them in quantity. This has been a struggle. “Hardware is hard”, and manufacturers are not fun to work with, at least compared with software.
But at the end of the day the thing is in people’s houses and they like it.
The light looks great in the video and the price seems reasonable.
You should really add more photos and videos though. Or include a YouTube video showing how to setup the light and use the app. I wouldn't mind spending $150 on a light, but I definitely wouldn't buy one based on the two sentence description and the short video you have on the product page. I'm left wondering...
1. Is the app required for setup or can I just plug it in?
2. Do I need the app to change modes, or are there any buttons on on the light? Does it even have an on/off button or does it need to be unplugged or turned off with the app?
3. Does it stand by itself? How thick is it? Can I hang or lean it on the wall? Or is it thick in the middle and I need to hide it in a corner like in your video?
4. The front looks clean and simple, but what does the side and back even look like?
5. Can I have it display a solid white light if I'm reading and don't want all the changing colors? (I'm assuming the answer is "Yes" now that I viewed the editor tutorial)
6. How bright is it? Like a typical monitor?
I can't find answers to these questions, any contact information to get those answers, or any photos of the light. I can't possibly buy it. On a side note...
1. The editor looks really cool. I'm surprised this isn't showcased on the site anywhere, or any examples from the gallery. Once I viewed the editor and some examples, I realized what is actually possible.
2. It looks like your site is unfinished. One of the slides on your homepage says, "Introduce customers to your shop with lifestyle imagery and product photography." I was thinking about that for a while, wondering how this light with only 196 LEDs could display product photography in shop windows. After scratching my head I realized this must be some default Shopify slide, and not something you wrote.
Random marketing strategy...
YouTube/Twitch streamers are obsessed with colorful background lighting. They also love customizing their stream. Get this in the hands of some famous streamers and show them how they can play animations or pixelated versions of their stream logos. They'll get lots of viewers asking where the light is from and how they can buy one. Or, setup a referral program so streamers mention it during their stream or in their descriptions.
Hi! Thank you for this feedback. I totally missed it.
> I definitely wouldn't buy one based on the two sentence description and the short video you have on the product page
Quite right. We've done all our advertising so far through Instagram, which is a much more visual medium.
> 1. Is the app required for setup or can I just plug it in?
You can just plug it in. It'll cycle through its patterns
> 2. Do I need the app to change modes, or are there any buttons on on the light? Does it even have an on/off button or does it need to be unplugged or turned off with the app?
There's one button at the back that does both! Holding it down changes the brightness, and pressing it once changes the pattern.
> 3. Does it stand by itself? How thick is it? Can I hang or lean it on the wall? Or is it thick in the middle and I need to hide it in a corner like in your video?
It stands by itself, and it has a hook on the back. Both look quite nice, but hiding the cable is a little tricky on the wall. I need to figure out white cables.
> 4. The front looks clean and simple, but what does the side and back even look like?
It's a "shadow box". The sides are white, the same as you can see on the front. The back is a piece of hardboard with the controller mounted to it.
> 5. Can I have it display a solid white light if I'm reading and don't want all the changing colors? (I'm assuming the answer is "Yes" now that I viewed the editor tutorial)
Actually yes, the app has a mode where you can set a colour with a colour picker. It makes a surprisingly good reading light.
> 6. How bright is it? Like a typical monitor?
It's brighter than that. It's very bright and eye-catching. Most people run it at about 50% battery.
> I can't find answers to these questions, any contact information to get those answers, or any photos of the light. I can't possibly buy it. On a side note...
The website is much more of a placeholder. We have found that advertising on Instagram is much more effective! We've mostly sold these lights to Instagram fans and friends of friends. Which works great for the quantity we're producing. I wouldn't want to sell too many too quickly and have to support them. It's still a work in progress.
> 1. The editor looks really cool. I'm surprised this isn't showcased on the site anywhere, or any examples from the gallery. Once I viewed the editor and some examples, I realized what is actually possible.
Thank you! It's very powerful. There is actually a demo on the homepage, but it's only visible on medium-to-large displays because of the way it renders.
You know what, I see what happened here. You've hit our Store homepage instead of the main website homepage. https://www.soulmatelights.com/ has much more info for you. I need to do a better job of linking them!
It’s taken years and countless hours of my time but it’s really fun and I’ve learned a lot.
The project is expanding into an IDE and online pattern gallery, and all sorts of fun additions. People are joining and making really impressive works with it. But it can be tough to keep the momentum going sometimes.
What has been nice is that even when I was the only person using it, the result was still something I could enjoy - there’s no network effect required to make something cool for my living room.
Turning a side project into a business is tough. I’ve been working with a factory to produce them in quantity. This has been a struggle. “Hardware is hard”, and manufacturers are not fun to work with, at least compared with software.
But at the end of the day the thing is in people’s houses and they like it.
Here’s the lamp I’ve been making: https://shop.soulmatelights.com/products/square and the IDE I’m building is at https://editor.soulmatelights.com/tutorial