Fredd
Berne Omolafe from Pryntd
Tell us about yourself?
A technical serial entrepreneur with a passion for immersive experiences and futuristic technologies
What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you?
Resilience, drive, patience
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Trust the process, be patient.
A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?
Incredibly hard, although blessed with incredibly understanding friends and family
Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?
Pygmalion’s spectacles – Stanley G Weinbaum and Jaron Lanier, Snow crash – Neal Stephenson
What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?
Besides our team, having a hybrid (technical and business) acumen allows for better prediction of technologies and their use cases.
How have you found sales so far? Do you have any lessons you could pass on to other founders in the same market as you just starting out?
Build a community first. Be it on social media or within your product, make them fall in love with you, make them understand what value you impart in their lives, and how well you solve their problems.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in your business, and how did you overcome it?
Raising investment. We created our MVP first. That way, the had our facts and figures to present. As an underrepresented founder, investors often have no precedence to go on and therefore may be reticent when dealing with us, we have to come with much more proof of concept to get through the door.
What do you find are the advantages of operating your business in London?
We think London is the best place in the world to start a business. The SEIS/EIS, (R&D) tax credits, community, policies e.t.c makes it so.
Are there any issues with having a London based business? Have you experienced these?
More representation and solutions for underrepresented founders are needed.
How has the higher than UK average cost of living impacted your ability to work and live in London and how has this also impacted your ability as an employer?
That has certainly negatively impacted us as employers, we cannot grow at the pace we would like.
London is known to be one of the most multicultural cities in the world, the true definition of a ‘cosmopolitan city’. Has this had any impact on your business?
It is true from a founder’s perspective; a lot more needs to be done from an investor’s angle.
If you had to relocate your business to another city in the UK, which one would it be and why?
Birmingham/Manchester, if London after very many attempts to run a business there has proven untenable.
How has BREXIT impacted your business (if at all)?
Grants have been severely impacted, domino effect of talents from Europe not easily accessible from London.
What is your vision for your company in the next 5 years?
Be a market leader with immersive experiences, Metaverse, NFTs and 3D printing.
And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?
Go to https://pryntd.xyz and also on Instagram @pryntd.xyz, Twitter @pryntd_xyz
