littleBits CEO Ayah Bdeir on Taking Little Steps Toward Dreams
Ayah Bdeir is the founder and CEO of littleBits. littleBits have been referred to as "LEGOs for the iPad generation." Bdeir, an engineer, was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business.
Dreaming Made Simple: So many people think pursuing your dreams is complicated. What have you learned about taking little steps or "bits" toward making something profound?
Ayah Bdeir: Don’t give up. Developing something new that never existed before takes time. And solving real problems takes time. Devote time to your passion. Weekends, sleepless nights, as much time as possible. You will make progress, and when you get close to something happening, you will feel it and become so energized you won’t be able to stop.
Dreaming Made Simple: You say, "I don’t believe in producing products for girls or for boys." littleBits were designed to be gender neutral. How should society neutralize more of the gender playing field for girls and boys when they are young so they can work together without thinking anything of it when they are older?
Ayah Bdeir: Too many products are gender-focused and are segmenting kids before even making or marketing products to them. Girls and boys play differently, yes, but so do American boys and French boys, so do kids of engineers versus kids of artists. There are too many lines to separate people. I grew up playing with electricity sets and chemistry kits and (old-school!) video games. My parents never let my gender come into play when getting me toys. I believe I became an engineer partly in thanks to that. I never thought this wasn’t a profession for a girl.