Story In A Bottle Podcast

Anthony Batt, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President of VR company Wevr, obviously spends much of his time thinking about future innovations. However, it’s this curiosity that has been a driving force through much of his life and career - leading to the creation of products like Craigslist, Buzznet, and Thrash Lab, amongst others. Over La Croix Pure in his amazing office - former home to Dennis Hopper in Venice, CA - he explains his challenge of always thinking many steps ahead while waiting for technology to catch up and how this is especially true now in the lifecycle of VR.

What You’ll Learn:

- Why sometimes being first in the world of tech does not always guarantee your success.

- How solving a problem can lead to creating a product, even when you don’t mean to.

- The challenge of creating content and products that you know are too early for adoption - and the key decisions to make in this circumstance.

Direct download: SIAB_ABatt_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:22pm EDT

Christina Heller is the Chief Development Officer of VR Playhouse, a creative production studio based in LA which is dedicated to creating great content for virtual reality experiences; a company she co-founded in 2014. It’s an industry she’s found by way of her love of storytelling, with a background in theater, political journalism radio, and documentary filmmaking. Over micheladas, Christina shares her thoughts on the budding industry, how it’s suffered because of unrealistic expectations set by those within it, the obstacles that still need to be overcome in order for it to reach mass adoption, and some of her great experiences creating content (which may or may not include a run in with one of her heroes, Ken Burns).  

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why VR is far from “dead.”
  • Insights into developing some of the first VR experiences for Time, amongst others.
  • The future of virtual experiences - and how you can eventually date without leaving the privacy of your own home.
Direct download: SIAB_CHeller_T2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:19pm EDT

Ben Jackson has made a career in tech from figuring things out on his own. He got an early start with technology - tinkering around and teaching himself different coding languages - which lead to a series of IT jobs and the rest is history. Over beers at Fool's Gold in NYC we learned how those humble beginnings were just the start of a path in entrepreneurship, how he's evolved his role throughout, and eventually landing where he is today, helping fledgling companies make strategic decisions with his consultancy company For The Win.

What You’ll Learn:

- The challenges of evolving from print to digital at an agency in the early days of tech.

- An insiders perspective in starting a company abroad - and the circumstances that drive the decision to ultimately leave.

- Why company "politics" are important and shouldn't be considered a bad thing.

Direct download: SIAB_BJackson_v3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:35pm EDT

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