The Future Is Now: Josh Pendrick Of Rypplzz On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
Being the founder of a technology startup comes with many trials and tribulations. Many others have opinions on entrepreneurship and the risks of starting your own company, but Sarah has always been one of the most encouraging forces and doesn’t question the path I’ve taken. She is constantly pushing me to be the best version of myself in both my personal and professional life. When things do go wrong or I must pivot from my original vision, she is always there to talk about the issues I’m running into and provides me with great advice.
As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Josh Pendrick.
Josh Pendrick is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rypplzz, a technology company that’s revolutionizing the connection between the digital and physical world with its patented spatial operating system. He is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned business leader with a proven track record of driving transformational results for Fortune 500 organizations and startups. Prior to founding Rypplzz, Josh founded and ran multiple successful companies, including leading Social Power Media — a digital marketing agency — for over five years. He has represented globally-known brands like Salesforce, Evite, and Atari, working with top executives on digital strategy for their organizations. Throughout his career, Josh has displayed an uncanny ability to approach challenges through a creative lens, breaking ground and reimagining what’s possible at every turn.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about you. Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
Technology has become intimately intertwined with our lives — so much so that if you were to go to work in the morning and realized you left your phone at home, you would panic and most likely go back to retrieve it. At the same time, the digital and physical worlds are still somewhat separate in a way that most wouldn’t have predicted 10 years ago. Back then, Google Glass had just come on the scene, and though it was not fully embraced and ultimately flopped, the futuristic vision of how the digital and physical worlds could come together was clear. Rypplzz is working on perfecting that experience at the foundational level — the technology and infrastructure to make the real vision of Augmented Reality (AR) truly possible. Current AR applications are predominantly built on infrastructure based on camera vision and GPS mapping, which typically has 10–20-feet accuracy and doesn’t factor in height. Alternatively, Rypplzz’s patented Interlife platform maps the physical world in 6-inch by 6-inch digital cubes, factoring in length, width, and height, giving developers more precision, accuracy, and creative control over the applications they can design. There is a world of opportunity across industries just waiting to be explored, and I can’t wait to see all the fascinating ideas that our platform will stimulate. Beyond creativity, there are whole new streams of revenue that this technology creates for brands, venues, and others that are looking to engage consumers in exciting ways. Furthermore, there are practical applications, like wayfinding, which can help people navigate their environments more safely and efficiently, including the visually impaired.
How do you think this might change the world?
At Rypplzz, we see spatial computing as the next big technological evolution of computing, following the personal computer and the mobile computer (I.e., smartphone). There have been some early experiments with the technology to date, but it’s only scratching the surface of what’s possible. Our platform’s design opens the door to the next big wave of innovation in this space.
Digitizing the physical world is akin to the digital transformation that businesses have been going through for years. As the lines between the physical and digital worlds continue to blur, we will gain access to new datasets that can more precisely measure human behavior and help us better understand the world around us. These insights have limitless potential and can benefit cities, businesses, and everyday consumers in a multitude of ways. Take, for example, something as simple as the rate of change of a traffic light. Rather than relying on an internal clock that changes at set intervals, traffic lights have the potential to be more dynamic based on the location of people and cars at any given moment, factoring measurements like speed and distance into the equation in real-time. Just imagine how much that could improve efficiency. The same holds true for businesses. Having access to a deeper layer of data can help businesses deliver truly exceptional experiences based on customers’ personal preferences. Rather than only having the ability to measure purchases, for example, you can begin to measure micro-actions that can paint a more complete picture of your customers and future customers. This, too, would improve efficiency and allow businesses to invest more wisely.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Like most entrepreneurs, my path has been a winding road with unpredictable twists and turns that have led me to where I am today. If you told my younger self that I would be building a company like Rypplzz, I would have thought you were crazy. That’s what is really exciting to me about being an entrepreneur — the things that happen that you could’ve never predicted. At the same time, it’s the things you can control, like hard work and fully immersing yourself in whatever you’re doing, that can improve your chances of success, no matter what you try to tackle.
When I was younger, I was positive that I was going to be a professional hockey player. I was dedicated and I worked hard at it. As fate would have it, that door closed for me in college, so I decided to challenge myself in a new way. This led me to explore the world of entrepreneurship and marketing. Like hockey, I dove into this headfirst and gave it everything I had, which paid off and continues to pay off. Following my first successful venture, I had the opportunity to do some work for Salesforce, where I was introduced to my Rypplzz co-founders.
As a student of life, I’m constantly learning about new things that interest me and, as you would expect from an entrepreneur, I’m always trying to determine how and if there are opportunities to turn my knowledge into a new idea for a business. Around the time I met my co-founder, I was plunging into this concept of manipulating radio frequencies to create pinpoint geolocation. Through that exploration, I had the realization that this futuristic technology could be used by every industry to create more immersive and personalized experiences — an area that most businesses are grappling with today. From there, I decided to take my experience in building companies to begin developing the InterLife platform, and thus Rypplzz was born.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
For Rypplzz to have widespread adoption, my team and I need to be crystal clear on the vision for the technology, what the future looks like, and the possibilities that exist for our target audiences. From there, we need to communicate that vision effectively to the world, which is the phase we’re currently in. When we first introduce the concept behind the Rypplzz technology to people, their faces typically light up and they start thinking of a variety of ways this technology can open the door to a whole new world of possibilities. At the same time, what we’re trying to accomplish is bold and disruptive. It almost sounds too good to be true. Getting people to invest in something brand new is challenging, especially in our current environment. If you look at the entertainment industry as a parallel, just look at how many movies are sequels, prequels, or based on existing movie franchises or books. Generally, there is apprehension in taking a chance on something new. Of course, there are also those that pride themselves on finding the next big thing and using the latest technology to stand out, so it’s about finding those people and getting them onboard with what we’re trying to accomplish, and then growing from there.
A recent example of someone who dared to step into the future with Rypplzz is Grimes, who leveraged our technology to host the first-ever Augmented Reality Art Rave at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. Grimes is known for pushing the envelope, so she was the perfect artist to collaborate with on this. She’s looking to work with us on future projects, and we have some other great partnerships in the works, which will allow us to showcase our technology further. The more we can do this, the more demand we’ll be able to generate.
We realize that it’s going to take time for this space to mature and reach the level we know is possible today. Just look at the first batch of apps that were available on your phone. Sure, they were entertaining, fun, and new, but as the space matured, there have been more apps that truly changed the game. We are on a journey that’s only just beginning. The future of this space will look dramatically different a few years down the road.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We’re currently laying the groundwork for our platform and we’re in contact with several high-profile people and brands that will be instrumental in raising awareness for Rypplzz. For our platform to truly resonate with people, they need to see the types of applications that can be built on it in action. As mentioned, Grimes was one of the recent artists to do exactly that with her AR Art Rave, and we’re looking forward to doing more with her, as well as others. Over time, people are going to start seeing more Rypplzz-powered applications in the real world. The hope is that those applications deliver the engaging experience that we know is possible, and that the Rypplzz brand becomes synonymous with these groundbreaking experiences that enhance live events and everyday life. We have some fun tricks up our sleeve that we’re eager to share with the world when the time is right.
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 know I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for my wife, Sarah Pendrick. Being the founder of a technology startup comes with many trials and tribulations. Many others have opinions on entrepreneurship and the risks of starting your own company, but Sarah has always been one of the most encouraging forces and doesn’t question the path I’ve taken. She is constantly pushing me to be the best version of myself in both my personal and professional life. When things do go wrong or I must pivot from my original vision, she is always there to talk about the issues I’m running into and provides me with great advice.
I know many executives would agree that having a supportive significant other can make or break a venture, and I’m lucky that I have that in Sarah. Additionally, Sarah is passionate about business and entrepreneurship, so she has had a massive impact on Rypplzz’s success.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
One of the important benefits of the Rypplzz platform that we think will have a strong positive impact on the world is the wayfinding applications, which can help people navigate their environments more safely and efficiently, including the visually impaired. Movement is such a critical part of the human experience, and unfortunately, infrastructure isn’t always designed with everyone in mind. We’re hopeful that our platform can be a step in the right direction towards making our world more accessible for everyone. From a technology perspective, we see several ways for our platform to interact with tech-enabled devices including cars, scooters and wheelchairs that allow everyone to move around in a safe manner and on their own terms. Beyond that, we see wayfinding as a great way for adults to keep track of their children, especially in crowded environments like a stadium, where they can get separated. This can essentially serve as a more precise and personalized GPS for specific locations.
If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say?
Rypplzz connects the digital and physical world like never before. Its multi-patented spatial operating system — Interlife — makes the air around us ‘intelligent’ by allowing you to program air with digital files that persist in exact coordinates of the real world, enabling ultra-precise geolocation and more efficient ways to communicate. It is currently being utilized in multi-billion-dollar markets like entertainment, hospitality and commercial properties to enhance customer engagement and security on campus, as well as drive new revenue opportunities. Rypplzz has a proven management team with multiple prior exits, as well as an elite group of go-to-market clients and partners that will empower the platform to scale quickly. Rypplzz has generated consistent revenue growth to date and is projecting rapid revenue growth this year and in the years ahead.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
The Future Is Now: Josh Pendrick Of Rypplzz On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
