"My advice would be to not give up and keep iterating."
Kenneth Landau is a serial entrepreneur and started his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Co before co-founding Mail Boxes Etc. Latin America. Shortly thereafter, he also co-founded Comerxia Inc., a UPS-backed global turnkey backend software for online retailers, which was integrated into Amazon.com.
He has also co-founded eBox Logistics, a Latin American e-commerce and logistics platform for US online retailers.
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If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffett, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Kenneth Landau: Founded in 2020 by myself and Jaime Lopez, Mytaverse is a platform radically changing how we do business, enabling people to meet in immersive, true-to-life 3D worlds. built to meet the demand enterprises have for innovative, engaging experiences.
Practically anything needed in real-life can be realized in Mytaverse thanks to its best-in-class technology and photo-realistic renderings. The hardware-agnostic approach enables users from anywhere to enter through any device.
What advice do you wish you received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Kenneth Landau: My advice would be to not give up and keep iterating. Creating Mytaverse posed a unique technical challenge because our goal was to allow anyone to enter the space without requiring a cumbersome VR Set or expensive PC.
The key was the unique cloud streaming technology which enables users to enter using only their browser on their PC or Mac — no need to install an app, no need for any fancy hardware. This breakthrough is democratizing remote work so anyone can join meetings, events, or training sessions just like being there — regardless of their computing power.”
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Kenneth Landau: According to one report, employees are excited about the metaverse. 76% of employees said they were keen to incorporate virtual worlds into their working lives as a way to bridge the cultural gaps left by remote work. While 66% said the metaverse could replicate the sense of togetherness employees feel in the office.
This is a great sign for the future of work as the metaverse is solving a need in connecting employees who may feel isolated based on their geographical locations from their colleagues.The metaverse is thereby a great way to digitize a sense of belonging with employees who may otherwise feel isolated.
On our platform Mytaverse, we have made a concerted effort to help companies foster an environment that is diverse, inclusive, and engaging. We know that trying to replicate a company’s culture is difficult, but when there is no other alternative, digital platforms are truly such a tremendous asset.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Kenneth Landau: There is a challenge to separate the metaverse from Meta and make sure people don’t confuse the two. There is real evidence of mismanagement and a lack of vision when it comes to Meta. Unfortunately, the company’s goals for Meta have not come to fruition and the hype has not been sustainable.
It is clear that Facebook has not managed to capture users in a way that could directly result in retention and growth. Another problem with Meta is that advertisers are cutting spending.The company is also grappling with the impact of Apple’s privacy changes to apps that run on its devices which means consumers can ask apps to not track them, costing the company $10 billion this year. All of these factors contribute to the decline in Meta.
2020, 2021, 2022 threw a lot of curve balls into businesses on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past years, how can businesses thrive in 2023? What lessons have you learned and what advice would you share?
Kenneth Landau: Never, never, never give up. Our company was founded during the pandemic as depicted here.
The potential applications are only limited by your imagination. Clients have used Mytaverse’s platform for everything from private jet showrooms and exhibition halls to simulated sales environments and conference rooms.
“We had options,” now CEO Landau told Refresh Miami: wind it down or pivot. Never shy of a challenge, Landau doubled down – and Lopez brought on his wife, customer service expert Juliana, as a co-founder.
“We realized that the world was going to need a very different way to interact – especially corporations,” Landau said. Their solution? A digital platform that creates virtual environments that feel genuine, not gimmicky.
A comment from the Chief Marketing Officer of client Tekni-Plex encapsulates the Mytaverse experience quite well. “He told me that he was happy with a three-day event that we ran because he was able to see and meet people that he had not seen in two years,” recalled Landau.
In Landau’s estimation, this statement was remarkable because this executive had ‘seen’ these employees via tools like Zoom and Google Meet over those two years. But for him, the Mytaverse experience was something different. “That gives you an idea of how exciting this technology is becoming for companies that are able to bring people together when they can not be together in person,” Landau asserted.
What does “success” in the year to come mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Kenneth Landau: Currently, Mytaverse has a dispersed workforce of 37, up from 25 employees four months ago. The team expects to increase to 40 by the end of the year and continue this growth trajectory through 2023.I’m excited for people to continue to embrace metaverse technology – and the fact that we can make them feel something exciting in a way that you cannot imagine.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Kenneth Landau for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Kenneth Landau or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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