The Biotech Startups Podcast 🧬 Building Oculus: Innovation, Grit & the $2 Billion VR Revolution | Michael Antonov (Part 2/4)
May 15, 2025
36:14
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"We were a small team, just a handful of people, trying to solve problems that had stumped the industry for decades. Every day felt like we were building the future from scratch."
In this episode, Co-Founder of Oculus and Founder & CEO of Deep Origin, Michael Antonov, shares the inside story of how he and a small, driven team transformed virtual reality from a niche dream into a billion-dollar industry.
From his early days at Scaleform to the rapid growth of Oculus, Michael recounts overcoming daunting technical and business challenges, the thrill of their record-breaking Kickstarter campaign, and the relentless innovation that led to Oculus’s $2 billion acquisition by Facebook. Listeners get a rare look at the mindset and decision-making behind one of tech’s most remarkable startup journeys, packed with lessons for entrepreneurs everywhere.
Key topics covered:
- The early days at Scaleform and the transition to founding Oculus: Game tools to VR visionaries
- Overcoming technical hurdles in VR hardware and software development: Solving tough VR challenges
- Launching and scaling through the Oculus Rift Kickstarter campaign: Crowdfunding breakthrough
- Navigating rapid company growth and organizational challenges: Fast growth, big changes
- The acquisition process with Facebook and the future of virtual reality: $2B deal, new horizons
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Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Michael Antonov, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelantonov/
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deep-origin/
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deep-origin/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
The History of the Future by Blake Harris: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34017056-the-history-of-the-future
Console Wars by Blake Harris: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18505802-console-wars
Acquired Podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/episode-35-oculus
Voices of VR Podcast: https://voicesofvr.com/745-the-history-of-the-future-book-on-oculus-role-in-the-modern-resurgence-of-vr/
Oculus Rift Kickstarter Campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
Deep Origin: https://deeporigin.com/
Oculus (Meta Quest): https://www.meta.com/quest/
Scaleform: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaleform_GFx
Brendan Iribe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendaniribe/
John Carmack: https://x.com/id_aa_carmack?lang=en
Palmer Luckey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/palmer-luckey-21a16959/
Nate Mitchell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemitchell/
Gabe Newell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabe-newell-0721752bb/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:08 Moving to Orange County & Joining Autodesk
04:23 The Oculus Origin Story: Meeting Palmer Luckey
11:46 Early Prototypes and the Power of Kickstarter
16:31 Fulfilling Orders and Building the Team
20:06 Funding Realities and Internal Seed Round
23:08 Technical Breakthroughs: Tracking and Blurriness
28:33 Collaboration and Competition with Valve
29:43 Deciding to Build vs. Buy VR Tech
32:10 Raising Capital & Facebook’s Interest
34:01 First Acquisition Offer from Facebook
35:15 Outro
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.