Software Startup Immersive Labs Takes Cue from "Minority Report," Rakes in $1 Million from Believers; Here's How (Page 1 of 3)
Categories: Marketing and PR Sales and Distribution Strategy and Leadership
Here's yet another TechStars alumnus on its way to software fame: New York-based Immersive Labs has now raised more than $1 million from a combination of VCs and angels.
Founded in 2010 by CEO Jason Sosa, Immersive Labs has seven employees, although when we spoke to Sosa he was looking for more. "A lot of who we hire next will depend on where things are with product demand," he says.
Immersive Labs is working on futuristic advertising displays like those in the well-known book and film "Minority Report," which tailor advertising to the individual viewer. The company's CARA software uses cameras and facial recognition technology to determine viewer characteristics like gender, age, distance, and time spent viewing the ad in order to then serve up the advertising most relevant.
Sosa previously founded Mind Spin Research, which was acquired by Troy Research. That one also played to Sosa's experience in advertising; Mind Spin provided research software used by radio stations nationwide.
Here are his tips (and revelations) about starting a software company:
Tip #1: Overnight success might take a few years.
Sosa's biggest surprise as an entrepreneur has been the defintion of "overnight."
"When you're young and reading all these stories about Jobs and Zuckerberg and Gates, you hear about overnight successes, and you think that's way it's going to be." Sosa says.
"What you usually find is it's the 10 years preceding that that make up the overnight success. The job of a successful company is to pay attention every inch along the way."
Tip #2: The relationships you form will make you or break you.
The biggest thing he's learned from his startups?
"The value of people and the relationships you have with people -- that is the most important aspect in bringing 'A' people to the team," says Sosa. "The relationships you form today will be the foundation for tomorrow.
"The guy you meet today could be the guy who buys your company four years from now, or an investor who comes on board. One of our biggest investors fits that profile. I've known him from way back, he's always been a friend and mentor, and when I started building this company he was a key influence. But that assistance and influence began long before he invested."
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