Let me paint a picture for you. You’ve just finished a Spartan race in which you participated in army-crawling through mud and barbed wire, rope climbing a steep wall, and overcame a multitude of obstacles on your way to the finish line. Earlier that day, you arrived with 5 other friends to prove your strength and physical prowess… only to turn up at the finish line separated from the rest of your group. Without any other way to contact your friends, you are left with no choice but to search the faces of thousands of other Spartans and spectators as they walk by. After a two-hour search in the rain, you are finally reunited with them and make your way home cold, damp, and exhausted. This experience is similar to that of Jerry King, and this inspired him to start his company Primal Sensors.
Primal Sensors provides a real-time location tracking service to amusement venues or recreational events that proves itself useful to both consumers and businesses. The social aspect of any experience has been heightened through the increased level of connectivity we experience in our day to day routines. Many have grown so accustomed to sharing our experiences with our friends, family, and community that we almost expect that connectivity to be available in every situation. At a large event or venue with massive crowds of people, it can be difficult to keep track of everyone in your friend or family circle. Who needs the buddy system when you have live tracking?!? Parents, have no fear. No one will accidentally leave little Jimmy in the gift shop ever again!
From a business perspective, this technology can increase response time to emergencies. Primal Sensors’ live tracking technology can let your team know exactly when and where an accident has taken place. It also gives business owners insight as to what attractions or areas of a particular venue are most popular.
The Primal Sensors platform has plans to launch at select ski area locations in winter of 2015. We caught up with CEO and Founder Jerry King to find out more about his experience with startup life and his company so far:
Why should we Use your Product?
Human beings want to have and share experiences with others. Separated groups aren’t having fun or sharing their experience. Stay connected.
What Encouraging Sign Of Success have you experienced on your startup journey?
The most encouraging sign is always someone that wants to see it work and then having them immediately tell you how they would use this in their life. I can’t tell you how many presentation we have done at networking events and the number of parents or group leaders that raise their hand and start out with “I would use this…” Then they ask a question. Then they tell you another instance for us to use this. Sometimes, it’s all you can do to control the conversation or presentation.
What’s the Weirdest Way someone has Used your Product?
Someone had the idea to track grocery carts. Not really a weird idea. It’s just something different and new. It’s actually kind of brilliant. It keeps with our general value proposition and implementation but expands our market and solves another problem (lost carts). I love talking with anyone and everyone about the Primal Sensors concept. Everyone comes up with their own ideas for what we can use this for.
How do you Keep your Team Motivated?
Beer and food. Base-line needs are always important. Don’t work “Hangry” (angry-hungry). Past that, you have to listen to them and then poke them a bit. Don’t just say, “We gonna do this” and then never talk about it again. Ask questions so that you know what is happening and what the plans are for the future. Usually you “ping” something in everyone’s mind that no one thought about. If a deadline is coming up, ask for a progress report and specifically ask if a milestone is still on time and if there is anything that you can do to support them. Teams may be good at working independently, but everyone likes to know that someone has their back.
How do you and your team Unwind on the Weekend?
I bartend on the weekends. I can socialize with people looking to enjoy a night out with friends. And I can make some extra money. Pays the student loans off faster. Startups are a long game. Every little bit helps to keep your mind focused on building a great company.
What Advice do you wish you had known before starting up?
Some people are gonna get it. Some people won’t. You can’t get everyone on your side.
Image Credit: Flickr/Steve Dunleavy
Christy Torres is an event planner who stumbled upon an opportunity to learn code, She is a self-proclaimed “tech newbie” looking to make her mark in the entrepreneurial/tech community. Currently serving as an active member of the DEC ambassador program, a student of the Tech Talent South code immersion program, and an intern at Tech Wildcatters Emerge program. Among many things she enjoys learning new skills, meeting new people, traveling, food, and cats.
