As a mentor in the Vocus Upstart accelerator, I’ve been lucky enough to meet some passionate founders of early stage startups. One that stood out to me is Stuart Kidd and his tour product, Everythere. Here is his story.
//SN: Hey Stuart, tell me a little about what Everythere is.
Everythere is a mobile application delivering media to user based on their location, whether indoors or out. It’s primarily used in tours offering visitors a more immersed experience, where users receive video, audio, text, imagery and interaction.
Our unique value proposition is that every tour or experience listed on the platform cross-promotes other nearby attractions. This is where ‘the more the merrier’ really comes into play.
//SN: So where did the idea for Everythere come from?
My partner spent a day of team building running around the city with her work colleagues finding clues written on paper and racing off to other locations to find more.
I thought a digital version could be so much more fun. That was when the seed was planted, the rest happened when WA Museum approached me for an interactive tour for an upcoming exhibition.
//SN: Who is your perfect customer, and what problem or challenge does Everythere solve for them?
A zoo, museum, national park or other tourist attraction, a place of business needing to add a digital layer of media to a physical world object or location. The perfect customer is one who tells you where your product can be improved upon but still invests in it because they know that when it’ll be fine-tuned it’ll be of great value to them.
//SN: You are in the Vocus Upstart program at the moment, how are you finding it?
So far it’s been an amazing learning experience and has opened my eyes to an immense amount of talented startups in the Perth ecosphere. I’ve worked on startups for what seems like forever but seldom ventured out to meet any of these adept entrepreneurs apart from the ones who’d come and visit me.
Perth has a lot of up and coming talent and it’s great to be part of it all.
//SN: What lessons can you share with us in the process to date?
Never be so sure that everything you are doing is totally right, be ready for surprises and ready to pivot.
//SN: If there’s one tip that you would suggest to someone with an early stage startup idea, what would it be?
Only do a startup if you are time rich. Startups require much time, much love and much support from your friends and family who you won’t see as often as you would like.
//SN: Thank you for your time, Stuart, and all the best with Everythere growing to be everywhere (Ooh, bad pun alert).