From Zero to Hero - lessons learned from building a global VR business

Three year ago today (September 30th 2016) we were about to launch the global VR Appstore "Viveport" in 30 countries. After a few months of intense work and testing the VR store in China we were ready to launch.... or so we thought! Here are my lessons learned!

The idea with Viveport was to create your "Airport into VR" (for HTC Vive headsets) where you would begin your journey into the Virtual Reality multiverse. In VR you could go anywhere, be anyone and do anything. Our great partner Valve who managed the Steam VR Store was world leader in games, so we focused on beyond gaming only.

We had over 40 titles in the VR store, 20 more on the way and the future was glorious!

Today, 3 years later, the Viveport store have over 2,300 games and apps. We "pivoted" and launched the world's first and only VR App, Game and Video subscription service "Infinity" in over 60 markets. The idea with Infinity is to create "the Netflix of VR", as we believe immersive media consumption will move to subscription models just like how music (Spotify) and video (Netflix) moved from "pay and download" to "subscribe to content". Infinity supports all the leading VR headsets and platforms e.g. HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, Samsung Odyssey and all Wave standalone VR headsets like Focus and Pico.

It is still the "good old days" of VR and the journey from "Zero to Hero" is not yet secured, but here are my top 7 lessons from building a global VR business in just 3 years.

1. Start with WHY

Chances are that you, like me and tens of millions of people saw Simon Sinek's TED Talk "START WITH WHY" where he provides a great framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. For me having a very clear higher purpose for your business is key to attract talented employees, customers, partners, investors and more. If your purpose is to change the world and democratize access to experiences with Virtual Reality you are more likely be successful than if you are selling another VR headset. Lesson: Start with Why and a clear higher Purpose when you launch your venture.

2. Focus on the User

This was the mantra I learned at Google, and it could not be more true for VR. Our early adopter VR users in 2016 where 99% self-identified gamers and mostly customers to Steam game store. At launch Viveport focused on "beyond gaming" content like creativity, education, exploration and art with the ambition to complement VR games from Steam with additional experiences. Lesson: If your customers are gamers, give them games. If customers want unlimited access to top VR games and apps for a low monthly fee, give them a VR subscription service. Know your users (customers), know the magic (your product) and connect the two!

3. Eat your own dog food

It does not matter if you are building a VR e-commerce store like Viveport, a VR headset like HTC Vive, a VR game or anything. Only if you continuously try, test and refine your product or "eat your own dog food" will your product become great. Great quality takes time, patience and experience. Lesson: Do not launch a product unless you really tried it and refined it. Your customers first impressions are hard to change, so make sure you eat your own dog food before launching!

4. Positioning means sacrifice

Someone once told me that positioning means sacrifice i.e. you cannot be all things to everyone. Differentiating vs. your competition is key to success in any business. Are you the best store, cheapest store, best wide selection, maybe deepest catalogue or exclusive selection. In VR most of the content is available across platforms and their stores, which makes differentiation more difficult unless you have exclusive content. Interestingly you can also differentiate on the business model like with Infinity where we moved the business from pay and download to subscription. Lesson: Always differentiate your offering and perhaps consider selling a subscription service rather than selling a product.

5. Launch fast and iterate

A good friend told me that he would rather be "roughly right, than exactly wrong" and in fast moving digital businesses it is key to be able to quickly make data based product design decisions, launch a product update, then revisit the data, and update the product again. This process of "launch and iterate" can be a powerful alternative to massive pre-launch market research and testing if you can manage customer expectations: Lesson: You can get a competitive edge by launching your product fast and then quickly capture the response data, and re-launch an updated improved product.

6. Culture comes from the top

There is an old saying "Meet the mother before you marry the daughter". Founders, CEOs and senior management all shape the culture of their companies. Therefore, it is critical to have a senior management team that all share a common vision, passion and values to be able to build a successful company. Clearly this is not the case in most companies and I found that there are two things you need to do to enable a positive change in culture in any company, these are: i) let go of managers representing the old ways and at the same time ii) hire new people with the attitudes and values you want in your company. If you are not empowered to change a toxic culture then move to a company where you are empowered! Lesson: Hiring your management team with strong culture fit is key, let go of "cultural misfits" early.

7. It's a marathon, not a sprint

I found that I am a restless person, who demand fast action and instant change. However, I learned that businesses, relationships and life are all marathons, not a sprints. To win, to have success, to triumph - you have to have grit! Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term and meaningful goals. It is the ability to persist in something you feel passionate about and persevere when you face obstacles. Only if you have grit and learn from many failures will you eventually succeed. Happiness is a choice, so staying focused on positive things is key to having grit. Perhaps it is the journey that matters most after all, not the end goal. Lesson: Take the long-term view and find a meaningful goal, a purpose worth fighting for, start with finding your "why".

Today we are celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Viveport and Virtual Reality. It is still "the good old days" that we will remember fondly in the years to come. As Winston Churchill once said: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Rikard