I spent years at one of the country’s largest home security companies. We built systems that worked — good systems, professionally installed, monitored around the clock. But they cost thousands of dollars and required specialists to set them up. They weren’t built for the starter home, the rental, the condo with an HOA.
At some point during my time there, someone floated a different idea: a smart light and a camera in one unit. Twist it into any light socket. No drill, no wiring, no electrician. The executive team killed it. Too simple, they thought. Not premium enough.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
A few years later, my family moved to the Chicago suburbs so my son could chase his dream of playing hockey. New city, new neighborhood — and as a husband and father, I was on edge from day one. I went to the hardware store, bought an armful of cameras, and spent a weekend I’ll never get back trying to install them. Drill bits, ethernet cables, app settings I couldn’t decode. I gave up. Left a couple boxes in the garage. The porch stayed dark.
That’s when I remembered the idea that got shelved.
I found LightCam — a brand and a product that had been tried before and hadn’t made it. Most people would have walked past it. I saw a good idea that had been badly executed, and I believed good ideas don’t die. They wait.
I convinced some investors to join me, acquired the IP and assets, and moved my family back to the Mountain West. Going west was going home. We rebuilt the software from the ground up and set out to make the product that should have existed all along.
It hasn’t been easy. There were moments I pushed further than I thought I could go. But that’s the American way — you show up, you stay in the arena, you do it because the people counting on you are worth it.
That’s our commitment to you. We will always show up. Your way of life matters — the front porch and the back one, the quiet street and the busy neighborhood. We’ll keep watch so you don’t have to.
Kids chasing the ice cream truck on a summer evening. A husband and wife sharing a few minutes on the porch after the kids go down. The neighbor who drops off a casserole when things are hard. Your daughter’s date at the front door. Your dad pulling into the driveway.
LightCam is the camera for those moments. Twist it in. You’re done. We’ll handle the rest.
LightCam donates $5 from every device sold, split equally between Warrior Rising and the Sagebrush Network.
The men and women who served this country gave years of their lives to protect our way of life. Warrior Rising helps them build something when they come home — businesses, livelihoods, a new mission. I had the honor of sitting alongside recent veterans as a judge at their startup competition. I left inspired. These aren’t people looking for a handout. They’re builders. They served to protect the life we’re all living on these porches.
warriorrising.org ›My family lives in a Mountain West town surrounded by public lands — trails, high desert, rivers, wide open range. Those lands belong to all of us. There are people in Washington who would sell them to the highest bidder and call it progress. Sagebrush believes those lands belong to the communities that live near them, love them, and depend on them. So do we.
sagebrushnetwork.org ›LightCam shares a name with a 2018 crowdfunding campaign. We acquired the IP and brand assets and rebuilt everything from the ground up — new ownership, new software, new product. We have no connection to the original campaign or the prior company.
