John Meulemans is the founder and CEO of Virtual Audience Influencer. He participated in the previous edition of StartupLeap together with his co-founder Nathalie Brähler.

Tell us a bit about your startup?

We are bringing virtual influencers to live by empowering the audience of brands.

Why did you decide to become a founder?

I love to pursue my own dreams and goals instead of someone else’s.

How did you find the problem and the solution?

Virtual influencers are very interesting but are lacking to fully represent their audience.

What’s the best thing about your co-founder?

Nathalie is very tech savvy and able to combine creativity, business and science.

What surprised you the most about being a startup founder?

How we could turn the COVID-19 (semi) lockdown into a benefit.

What’s the coolest thing about being a founder?

Being able to let my creativity come to live fully, seeing something you believe in grow.

How did you approach your first customers?

Our first customers/founding members were in our existing client base.

What’s your advice on approaching investors?

Make sure you have a very sharp proposition and that you can explain your idea in a short and powerful way.

What advice would you give to an early stage entrepreneur? A thing you wanted to know when you started off?

Grow the team as soon as you can to take the pressure off of your shoulders.