5 Things I Learned Working for an Early-Stage VR & AR Startup
On January 16th, 2020 I celebrated my first full year at BadVR, an immersive data visualization startup. It’s wild how much I have gained from this experience over the course of the past year. I felt that this milestone provided a great opportunity for a public retrospective.
I started at BadVR during my final year of undergraduate studies at UC Irvine, located in California. I met co-founders Suzanne Borders and Jad Meouchy via a friend and began helping staff their conference booths at local LA events. It was not long before I decided to hand them my resume to see if the position could be made more permanent. Luckily for me, there was room on the team, and I joined!
I came on as a Junior Designer, a position I still hold to this day. As a designer, the main focus of my work is to help visualize ideas and concepts for the team, as well as create and design a variety of internal and external collateral. Since BadVR is a fully remote team, my current position allows me to work from anywhere, although I mostly work from my home in Orange County.
It’s been an exciting journey, especially as someone who just graduated from college. Many of my friends and family have asked me what it’s been like working for an early-stage startup; it’s a topic that many seem to find fascinating.
So — without further ado — here are 5 things I learned working at an early-stage VR startup:
1) There’s rarely a boring day!
As a tech enthusiast, I was enthralled by both the capabilities and possibilities of immersive technology. But, before BadVR, I had never had the opportunity to experience immersive technology, such as virtual or augmented reality. I had never even worn a headset or utilized immersive software until my first day!
The opportunity to work with this technology every day is extremely rewarding for me. I am able to test software on the latest immersive tech, I get to design for software that few have yet to design for, and I am encouraged to let my imagination go wild. With immersive technology, opportunities are plentiful — I get to do something new almost every week!
2) Take advantage of new opportunities
As a small startup (we’re less than 15 people!), we have a very versatile team. With a seemingly never-ending list of tasks to get done, we must wear many hats. I really recommend taking advantage of the fluid nature of a startup position. I find myself one week learning how to construct compelling case studies, while the next week I design concepts for the interface of an immersive signal visualization app!
I see these as opportunities to take me out of my comfort zone. With such a small team, everyone must do their part to chip in and fill in any role. Versatility is key!
3) Think in ways that challenge norms
Immersive data visualization is still largely unexplored. Our company is on a quest to rethink the way businesses analyze big data and large datasets. While others believe bringing 2D assets into an immersive space is the solution to big data analysis, our belief in 3D visualizations top to bottom challenges this concept. And our commitment to immersion is one of our core differentiators — meaning that I am challenged every day to think outside the box.
Working in such a space requires a great deal of creative and unconventional thinking. It also has given me the perfect opportunity to express any new ideas I may have. As a member of a small startup, my voice is amplified tenfold — I like to use it to push the boundaries and challenge conventions! You can’t do that at most larger organizations.
4) A talented team will motivate you to do better
Like I said before, our team is small. Yet, we’re all intelligent and talented in our own ways. Another benefit of a small team are the many collaborative opportunities to work with these great people. Teamwork is definitely not optional in a startup, so I’ve gotten much closer to my coworkers and learned many new ways to communicate effectively, even under high stress or tight deadlines.
This has also given me many valuable critiques of my own work ethic and abilities. My coworkers are truly supportive and offer suggestions that motivate me and push me to be and do better, increasing the quality of my work exponentially. This feedback has been invaluable to improving my craft.
5) Finally, expect the unexpected
One of the best decisions of my career was last-minute agreeing to join BadVR’s trip to Las Vegas for CES 2020. It gave me great insight into our software solutions, as well as the opportunity to learn how to best represent our company out in the field. And this decision happened within the span of 2 days!
Life at a startup requires flexibility. Being prepared to be unprepared leads to many positive surprises. I’ve learned to adapt to curveballs and to make the absolute most out of these moments. With a startup, you learn the future is uncertain, but that’s what keeps things exciting — you’ll never truly know what’s next.
As I enter my second year with BadVR, I’m pleased with what I’ve been able to learn this past year. The 5 lessons above are what keep me motivated to push through each and every day. All of the wonderful lessons learned continue to increase my drive to create better content whenever possible.
Looking forward to a more immersive future with BadVR!
Jason Tam
Junior Designer
Stay tuned for more from BadVR. Download SeeSignal (via Magic Leap World) if you haven’t already.
And if you’re interested in an enterprise demo, please reach out now!
