Jamey Bennett was an avid reader, a former book-publishing executive, and a man with an idea. Jamey liked to read at night, but he had tired of his clip-on book light that spilled more light around his book than on it. His stroke of genius was to place a flat lens on the page and shine light through it—lighting the page and only the page. Jamey partnered with BOLTgroup to realize his idea. Jamey had a great idea, but many questions had to be answered. What configuration and form would readers prefer? How would the product be engineered to adequately light the page? And how would Jamey sell the concept to retailers without a risky tooling investment? Innovation sessions with end users uncovered insights leading to the best size, shape, and design for the light. Engineering prototypes cleared the technical hurdles and delivered the most ergonomic design and the best lighting on the page.

The Retailer Pitch Kit

The moment of truth came in the presentation to Barnes & Noble. To help Jamey sell the product before it was born, BOLTgroup completed the industrial design, created the LightWedge name and branding, and designed the retail packaging. The concepts were illustrated in photorealistic renderings as if on the Barnes & Noble shelf. The buyers were impressed—Jamey walked away with an order before spending a penny on tooling.

Zero to Inc 500 in Five Years

Final engineering and coordination of Asian manufacturing were the last services BOLTgroup provided to help bring the LightWedge to market. Within two years the LightWedge was the top selling book light at the three major bookstore chains—Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Books-A-Million. Within five years LightWedge LLC went from startup to Inc 500. The company now offers some 20 different lighting products. “The market’s response to LightWedge has been tremendous,” says Jamey Bennett, now CEO of LightWedge LLC. “It’s a stylish, user-friendly product with a high-impact brand. BOLTgroup really does deliver a complete solution.”