An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

I’d say a background in coding as well as creative arts management, a vision for the future, and a trendspotting and trendsetting mindset. But beside those attributes, you’re also going to need the things that are important to any field. Things like ambition, knowledge about an industry, a willingness to sacrifice, and passion.

The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, we had the pleasure of interviewing entrepreneur Sean Finn.

Sean Finn is an American entrepreneur and founder of the Houston-based real estate investment and development firm, Finn & Company. Over the span of his long and lucrative career, Finn has spearheaded business ventures in the fields of energy, entertainment, real-estate development, and health care, resulting in transactions numbering in the hundreds of millions of dollars. In the entertainment industry, Finn has also aligned himself with a number of production companies, including Cross Creek Pictures when he became an equity partner in such films as Black Swan (Natalie Portman), Hacksaw Ridge (Mel Gibson), and Black Mass (Johnny Depp), to name a few.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I played junior hockey when I was younger and eventually went on to play professional hockey until I suffered an injury that ultimately ended that career. So, I went back to school and then entered the business world, initially by way of the pharmaceutical industry and then real estate. In 2009 I founded Finn & Company and never looked back.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

The book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The idea that people are creatures of their environment, that if you’re exposed to certain things you’re going to grow or evolve into that environment, that really resonated with me.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry? We’d love to hear it.

I had a lot of close friends who are involved in that industry. That’s really what prompted me to get involved initially.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

I got to tour SpaceX one time. That was very interesting. It expanded how I looked at things. Elon Musk is so cutting edge — he’s doing so much in so many different facets of business and life. It can’t help but make you think a little differently.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Well, without naming any names, a few of us were out one time. We were having dinner and drinks and there was this other couple with us. I was talking with this person — very low key, baseball cap, discussing the business he was in, things like that, just hanging out and having fun. I didn’t put it together at first. But then at one point I did. I recognized who this person was, and he was an extremely high-profile individual. It was pretty funny “mistake.”

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I’d have to say my mother. She was a very successful business women who was always teaching us about business, educating us on things in the business world.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I’m involved in a transactional company for cryptocurrency. BitWallet (bitwallet.org). I’m an investor in that company.

Okay super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The VR, AR and MR industries seem so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?

The three that immediately come to mind are the retail, entertainment, and the creator industry. There are going to be virtual stores in the metaverse, in places like Decentraland and The Sandbox, which will be the next generation of retail — virtual shopping experiences. In terms of the creator industry, the heart of that is that individuals can create and monetize content. There are a lot of tools in the virtual world that can help to create, monetize and then distribute that content. In entertainment we’re already seeing artists like Snoop Dog and Deadmau5 putting on fill-fledged concerts in the metaverse. And I can also see people going to movies together and enjoying visits to virtual theme parks soon too.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the VR, AR and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

I think they’re all going to be infrastructure related. Thinks like identity management, fraud detection, and crypto wallet security.

I think the entertainment aspects of VR, AR and MR are apparent. Can you share with our readers how these industries can help us at work?

Places like Facebook’s Workplace are already helping us work in unified locations where remote collogues can meet and work together virtually. I think that’s a good example.

Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?

There are and will be many, but the first thing that comes to mind would be anything that falls under the umbrella of remote meetings, whether that’s for business, personal relationships, or even things like remote doctor visits.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?

That it can all look very glitzy and glammy until you get into the nitty-gritty of it. These are new industries with new technology and they’re not always going to be win-win situations. They’re not always going to be a success.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The VR, AR or MR Industries?”

I’d say a background in coding as well as creative arts management, a vision for the future, and a trendspotting and trendsetting mindset. But beside those attributes, you’re also going to need the things that are important to any field. Things like ambition, knowledge about an industry, a willingness to sacrifice, and passion.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I think education is so important, especially for the youth of the world. The movement I would want to inspire would be along those lines — getting the best education for the younger generations.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I’d love to have lunch Warren Buffet.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!


Makers of The Metaverse: Sean Finn On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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