“We are a good example of how a start-up can be approached in a relatively structured way. We first had the desire to found a company, then we both started working: Christoph Pregizer at Siemens, me at Volkswagen. At some point, we were convinced that our start-up idea had the right direction and we gave up our jobs,” says engineer Lukas Posniak. The pair’s goal was to create a training environment for golf with the help of augmented reality (AR). “During this phase, we discussed various ideas, most of which were not so promising. That was different with PuttView: even though the idea sounded relatively crazy, we saw great potential in it,” adds Christoph, who is responsible for the technical side of PuttView. Lukas takes care of the business side.

In good hands

“At the beginning, we needed a mentor for our project. That’s why we approached professors across Germany who are experts in the field of augmented reality and virtual reality. Prof. Dr. Frank Steinicke, from the ‘Human-Computer Interaction’ department at the University of Hamburg, was at the top of the list,” reports Lukas. After a meeting, they realized that it was a good fit. On the one hand, in terms of content, and on the other, Prof. Dr. Frank Steinecke was also keen to put it into practice – he had already had a taste of golf.

The two engineers moved to Hamburg especially to found the company. “We basically came to the university from outside. We thought it was positive that it went so smoothly and that we were accepted in this way. Nils Neumann from the start-up advisory service then worked with us on the Exist applications. Prof. Steinicke then put us in touch with a programmer who was still missing from the team. Of course we had already written some code, but we were a long way from developing software,” explains Christoph.

Personnel search

“Initially, the most difficult thing was finding staff. You only have an idea and no money. Nothing to lure people out with,” says Lukas. In the meantime, PuttView has developed further: The startup now has 7 employees plus six part-timers.

Employees are currently being sought in the areas of software development and sales. “But they are also in high demand on the market. Previously, we were only looking for academics. Now we are also looking for people with training. But where do you find them? You have to go searching like a truffle pig, because someone like that doesn’t just knock on your door. The best way is still to use your personal network. That’s also how we looked for our installer/electrician for the worldwide commissioning of our systems. I simply approached the electrician from the kitchen installation in my apartment. He wasn’t interested in visiting the most beautiful golf courses in the world himself, but he knew someone,” says Lukas with a laugh. Christoph adds: “We contacted the job center and they gave us a pile of 15 people. They were all asked to apply, but only two got in touch with us.”

Who does not dare, does not win

Back then, after their joint resignation in 2015, Lukas and Christoph looked more closely at the hardware side of the project for the first time. However, after just one day, it was clear that the available AR glasses were not even suitable for development: “That was perhaps a bit naive of us. The glasses were just new on the market in 2015 and the marketing promised more than was actually possible. Our mentor, Prof. Dr. Steinecke, also didn’t know these glasses well enough to make an assessment. When we held them in our hands, the world suddenly looked different. But in hindsight, that didn’t turn out to be such a bad thing. Our naivety ensured that we made a virtue of necessity and initially developed PuttView as an indoor version. Although our market forecasts for this were initially very skeptical, we have since been proven wrong,” Christoph continues. They simply thought about how the developed information could get into the player’s field of vision: “In the meantime, we even considered lasers for visualization on the golf course. But you would have had to wear protective goggles,” adds Lukas with a laugh.

After two futile test days with the AR glasses, we first came across the beamer: “Using a projector, we were able to show the finish line, ball course, alignment aid and movement recommendations – but only when putting on the indoor green. For us, this should above all be an intermediate step”, says Christoph.

An important step was the InnoRampUp funding from the City of Hamburg, says Lukas: “Especially for the further development of the projector prototype. Otherwise we wouldn’t be where we are today. We were always very sales-oriented. That is essential. With other start-ups, I sometimes get the feeling that they are scrambling from financing to financing. But when does sales come in? When does the product reach the customer?” Christoph adds: “Because the only currency that counts at the end of the day is turnover. Customers and sales. Everything else is dreaming. Or a bet on the future.”

The development of PuttView

Viewlicity GmbH was founded in October 2015. The name is a combination of the English words “view” and “simplicity”, which is intended to emphasize the focus on applications in the field of visualization and learning. PuttView was presented as the first product in April 2016. This is a system in which the green surface is analyzed and saved as a 3D model. This makes it possible to calculate the parameters for the perfect putt.

“The idea came during the golf training: It was somehow unsatisfactory, because the feedback was missing. Where do I actually have to play the ball? That was very random,” explains Lukas.

Among other things, PuttView helps to read the break and indicates the starting direction and speed. The key point for Christoph: “I’ve been playing golf for almost 20 years and I’m also an engineer. I knew that you can calculate everything. If you train and aim incorrectly or play at the wrong speed, many people don’t recognize their mistakes properly. This naturally reduces the learning success and is also frustrating. The visualized computer calculation gives you a reference and helps you to optimize your learning success. A coach friend of mine who trains high school students only allowed them to putt with Puttview for three months. Nothing else. Most of the students have improved their putting due to the optimal feedback from the program.”

The speed control training in particular makes PuttView an exceptional system: “It is the only training system that can display the speed of the ball when putting,” emphasizes Lukas. This information is visualized for the golfer using augmented reality. The ideal putting line is projected onto the green for the player to see using a projector. Bryson DeChambeau, one of the top 10 golfers in the world rankings, calls this “brain training”. Because what PuttView shows on the green is what should ideally happen in the golfer’s head before the putt. Christoph is convinced that if the player has a concrete image in his head of how the putt should be made, he will usually be successful.

The feedback is positive and varied: “Each of our customers uses the system offered in their own way: Some paint a miniature golf course on their putting green, others only use the lines, are more visually on the move and train the brain. Everyone benefits individually. We want to respond to these diverse needs and not force them into our concept,” says Lukas.

PuttView’s innovative approach is confirmed by various awards, such as winning the Hamburg Innovation Award in the Idea category in 2015 and the Auggie Award, the “Oscar” of the Augmented Reality industry in 2016.

The first customer

But what happened next in terms of business? “At the end of the Exist phase, we had our first customer in 2016: Peter Merck from the Golf Lounge in Hamburg. There was a big press event to kick things off and magazines asked us about it. That really pushed us forward. For us, that was the best showroom ever. We had around three or four customers in the first year, and it felt like a breakthrough every time,” says Lukas.

First the USA, then the rest of the world

Initial contacts were made at the PGA Show 2017 and the first systems were delivered in the USA a few months later. The revolutionary training technology has been enthusiastically received in the golf world: “One of our first customers in the USA was golf pro Bryson DeChambeau. That was in April 2017, an absolute highlight for us! We’ve been working closely with him ever since,” reports Lukas. In the same period, we have entered into several binding partnerships. Including with Englishman Phil Kenyon, probably the best-known putting coach, who permanently has four to five top ten players under his wing and trains them in his putting studio.

One of the most important sales partnerships is with Full Swing Golf, a large golf simulator company: they produce a movable green that can be adjusted with motors (under the green). PuttView took this to the world’s largest golf trade fair in Orlando, USA, in 2018. This gave them a foot in the door of the world’s largest golf market.

Christoph: “The USA is our main market. Especially the tier one colleges and schools, which sometimes put up an indoor facility for 10 to 20 million for bad weather. We will soon have ten of them equipped. If one wants it, the others want it too:

When we installed the first system in Texas, it was for two entrepreneurs who wanted to do their own thing there with an indoor location for golf. In summer it’s around 35 degrees, so nobody wants to play outside. I was skeptical at first, but when we told them they were the first in Texas and number five in the USA, they were absolutely thrilled.”

Convince with performance

“We are not door-to-door salesmen. We see it more as taking advantage of the opportunities that come our way. Most of these have come about and were not planned in advance. We think partnerships should be lived, so we usually do more than is actually in the contract. If the partnership is important to you, you should do that. On the other hand, there were also situations where a certain building block was needed. Then you have to be a truffle pig and dig around until you find it,” Lukas muses.

There are now more than 60 PuttView systems in operation worldwide, the majority of which are in the USA. “In 2018, we had a joint stand with our partner at the PGA Show, and in 2019 we already had our own stand there,” says Christoph, underlining the progress made. In addition to further conquering the American market, Australia and Asia are also on the agenda: “We put the first system into operation in Japan in mid-2018, followed by the first system in Thailand in 2019. However, we are not yet represented in other markets such as China and Korea.”

Lukas: “As a takeaway for other founders: You can make lots of plans, but the most important thing is to adapt to reality. If the distributor doesn’t have the time or inclination at the moment, you can put it on your list no matter how big it is, but it still won’t happen. Then you just do it a little earlier or later. But you should never lose sight of your goals.”

Where the journey is going

The aim was always to bring PuttView from the indoor area to the outdoors: “Our plan from the outset was to bring the system to the golf course with augmented reality glasses,” Christoph emphasizes. A pilot project is already underway in Berlin, and more people are to be equipped with them in 2019. At the Porsche European Open on the Green Eagle GC, the developers were able to project their technology onto outdoor greens with augmented reality glasses for the first time and successfully take the next step in the company’s history.

“Basically, the golf idea is just the first of many possible applications for AR for us: we want to use this technology to create an immersive learning environment that helps people perform complex processes and motion sequences. We see this opportunity in other sports as well. Our long-term goal is that people will eventually be on the court wearing their own glasses. A corresponding app that can be downloaded from an app store for glasses will then provide the supplementary visualization,” Lukas explains the vision.

Capital yes, but not at every price

They don’t want to sell the project in the near future: “Neither of us started the company to flip it after two years. Incidentally, all founding parties should always be aware of this,” says Christoph, both laughing. Of course, that would be an option in the future, but: “You would run your company differently if you knew that it was going to be sold in two years’ time,” says Christoph.

“Many would probably have started looking for capital earlier than we did. For us, opportunities arose here as well, but we were then able to manage it on our own. In the meantime, we are looking for capital, but not at any price. That improves the starting position,” Lukas concludes.

Further information via https://www.puttview.com/