The Importance of Focus with Devon Copley of Avatour

Devon Copley is the founder and CEO of Avatour, a company working to share real places in real time without the need for travel. While at Nokia, Devon worked on a similar product bringing VR technology to cameras. However, Nokia ended up scrapping the project and making cuts to the team. Devon, having had experience working at a variety of startups, chose to continue pursuing his vision for VR technology and created Avatour.

Episode Notes 

Finding the right cofounder to partner with can be essential to success [4:11]

A clear division of responsibilities is key to an effective partnership [10:15]                                                                                        

From prototyping a VR product to building a business [13:22]

VR and spacial communicators allow Avatour users to feel like they are physically present in the space, which can be useful for audits and inspections [16:47]

Listening to customers to better understand feedback and uncover use cases. Avatour’s main use cases include presenting “show” and investigating “look” [21:31]

Working with multiple verticles and finding the balance between going broad and going deep with customer discovery [25:28]

Following the customers’ needs and desires to keep up with current demand [30:46]

Marketing to adapt to shifting landscapes, develop leads, and establish the brand [34:44]

Focusing on the problem in order to build awareness, showcase the solution, and generate traction [39:11]

The startup survivor bias — startups that receive press are those that survived, and we rarely hear from startups that failed [48:16]

There are opportunities to grow your business and succeed, but it’s important to define success and remind yourself that your own self worth is not tied to your business’s success [53:21]

You don’t necessarily have to get VC backing to grow an enterprise [57:12]

Develop a strategy and be able to clearly and succinctly explain your company [1:02:14]

Devon’s philosophy on creating an efficient management structure: he provides the goal and removes blockers that the team encounters [1:03:01]

How to pay bills and survive during the initial phase of a startup? [1:05:18]

Devon’s advice — “If you’re looking to get rich, there are much better ways to get rich than starting a startup” [1:09:41]

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