

Startup aims to bring Call of Duty-like tech to live paintball games - ltcoleman
http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/30/startup-aims-to-bring-call-of-duty-like-tech-to-live-paintball-games/

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ChuckMcM
Why we don't see startups from 57 year old folks featured in Venturebeat?

Trust me when I say that isn't snark. In the US and elsewhere we have a large
diaspora of people who held a certain kind of job for a long time, which has
since been made redundant by either the economics of the business their
employer was in, or the skill set they used was replaced by automation. These
people nearly always have high school degrees, many have college degrees. And
we hear stories about how they have sent their resume out hundreds or
thousands of times without a response.

How can we motivate them to throw out the idea that they are going to find
their old job at a new place, and replace it with they can create value by
using their experience to solve new problems? We need folks like Venturebeat
finding those people who have re-invented themselves, and made a startup in
their 'grey' years to inspire these people.

We have stories of people who have been out of work since 2009, that is 5
years now this March. You can get an entirely new undergraduate degree in 5
years, especially if you skip the 'general ed' requirements. How do we
motivate these people to engage?

~~~
nemothekid
Being 57 and starting a company isn't news worthy. There are plenty of
successful, ages entrepreneurs. For example, from the tech crunches unicorn
article:

"""

The average age on our list of founders at founding is 34. Yes, the founders
of Facebook were on average 20 when it was founded; but the founders of
LinkedIn, the second-most valuable company on our list, were 36 on average;
and the founders of Workday, the third-most valuable, were 52 years old on
average.

"""

[http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcome-to-the-unicorn-
club...](http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcome-to-the-unicorn-club/)

If you are asking why, people who has spent the last 10 years of their life on
a job that is not obsolete aren't starting startups, its probably because
starting a company requires a certain amount of skill and risk that they
probably don't have. This 17 year old kid, might have been hacking with
computers since he was 13 - which is 5 years of exposure, on his parents dime.
I can't say that others have that luxury.

~~~
ChuckMcM
I disagree that it isn't newsworthy. I feel that it is important to
communicate to people that creating a new business is something anyone can do,
and while some require "connections" many don't.

I've watched over the years what sometimes _seems_ like a concerted effort to
convince people that their votes don't count and they can't get elected to
office if they aren't rich or connected. Neither of these things are true but
as the 'meme' takes hold people start believing it. They go passive in the
face of terrible representatives.

I would hate for the same sort of effect to occur in the startup world, where
people were 'trained' to believe that it was impossible for the common person
to create a new business, and even trying to do so makes you look stupid for
trying to do something so clearly impossible.

One way to counter this effect is to highlight people who start businesses who
might be related to by someone who is reading/watching/listening to the story.

------
Duhck
It could be just a strange coincidence but I used to own a paintball company
called Gangstar Paintball. I met with JT Sports (at the time owned by Jarden
Group) in Bentonville, Arkansas about selling my company to them as well as a
project I was working on at the time.

It used a series of technologies in the loader to track a user, their rate of
fire, the guns fps and track its location.

I have a Non-disclosure agreement with them around this technology that would
be up for expiring August 2014 (it was signed August 2009 and was a 5 year
agreement).

Granted this implementation varies from mine, it sounds all too familiar. I
was using a series of directional antennas to triangulate the players location
on a field, instead of GPS because GPS's resolution is roughly 10m.

It is safe to say 2 things: 1) This implementation will never work as they are
selling it. 2) There is an eerie connection to my conversation with JT Sports
and this (the paintball world is very small).

Perhaps it begs resurrecting -- if this industry can get some $$ from VC and
crowd funding, my biggest problem starting up (capital) might not be an issue
anymore.

~~~
RaphiePS
Perhaps they could use iBeacons for triangulation. I haven't built anything
with them yet, but from looking at the API, it seems reasonably easy.

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WiseWeasel
Now here's a killer app for a ruggedized Google Glass built into some
protective eyewear; radar HUD and comms. It could come with some gloves that
detect when you're signalling to communicate with 'squad', 'team' and 'all'
with your non-trigger hand, along with signs for pre-determined messages for
silent comms without visual contact.

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joelrunyon
> With Overwatch, players will be able to attach their iPhones to their
> paintball or airsoft guns and then track the real-time movement of other
> players on the battlefield

Seems like it could be an expensive game of paintball if you're putting your
phone at risk of getting annihilated. Are they planning on making their own
components eventually or are they set on the "app" status of it?

Pretty cool idea though.

~~~
overwatchapp
We are currently in version 2 of our rail mount prototype and will be selling
both rail mounts and personal armband mounts as part of the Overwatch product
line. In response to your concern about device safety, our hardware mounts
will support the use of highly-protective cases like Otterboxes, Lifeproof
cases, etc.

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jds375
It's great to see pre-college students pursuing technology and
entrepreneurship. I didn't even view it as a desirable or viable career path
until I started college. I would've appreciated a chance to get started in it
at an earlier age.

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nickstinemates
That sounds like an absolute blast. I want to play with my son immediately.

~~~
ltcoleman
yea, I think it would be a ton of fun. The concern with paint balls may be
warranted but with their case it would take an amazing shot to cause phone
damage. I think the airsoft angle is the real killer. When I was younger, I
always wanted a videogame style play for outdoor play. This could be it.

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goeric
Really clever idea, but $50,000 to bring this to market is way too
unrealistic. He's going to need a lot more.

Could see this being a huge hit, though. Paintball 2.0.

~~~
overwatchapp
The app and hardware are nearing completion, but we wanted to allow those
interested enough in the product to get their hands on it before anyone else.
All contributors will receive the perks they have requested even if we do not
meet our 50k campaign goal.

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joelrunyon
Here's the actual venturebeat article this post is referencing -
[http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/30/startup-aims-to-bring-
call...](http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/30/startup-aims-to-bring-call-of-duty-
like-tech-to-live-paintball-games/)

