Why I invested in Visual Labs

I’m really excited to have been able to invest in Visual Labs. Based in Menlo Park, Visual Labs is the body camera company that does not make body cameras. With technology designed by Stanford University computer science graduates, Visual Labs provides “body worn computer” solutions that are hardware-agnostic for police, private security, and sports teams. Their focus is on superior software with unique, critical functionality such as live streaming, real-time location tracking, and analytics.

The company was started by a founder who went to my high school (and college) and who has pursued this vision since his senior project. He has built out a complex product with multiple interworking components and interfaces, and it’s actually being used in production in many police departments and even in this year’s Super Bowl. Having a smartphone (which also happens to have a camera) provides many advantages over a more clunky/dedicated/proprietary hardware device and allows the Visual Labs software to keep improving over time and providing more critically useful functionality to police and security teams worldwide.

I’m personally excited about the company because I believe this sort of focus on software is much more scalable as a business and effective for the end-user over the long run. I love seeing a team work tirelessly over years to get a product out and adopted in the field (especially in difficult, demanding use cases like police/security). I also think the company has a strong positive impact on the safety and effectiveness of the officers who serve our community.

Here is recent press coverage on the company:
CBS, ABC, Fox, Ars Technica, Police Mag

What I love:

• Technical founder passionate about his vision
• Built strong engineering team
• Product built out and working well in real-world use cases
• Great quotes and feedback from customers
• Good traction

Risks:

• Long, tricky sales cycle dealing with government clients
• Potential business model scalability issues
• Market domination by bigger competitors