Brian Hoang

Former CEO and co-founder, SURVIVR

BS’19 Software Engineering

  • Former CEO and co-founder of SURVIVR – a provider of immersive and virtual reality (VR) training solutions for military and law enforcement first responders.
  • Featured in publications such as the Dallas Business Journal, Startup Grind, Dallas Innovates, North Texas Inno (NTX Inno), CBS Sacramento, Wall Street Journal, and Auganix.
  • Honors include winning the UT Dallas Big Idea Competition in 2018 and coming in 2nd place at EO GSEA. Later in 2018, Hoang became a Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholarship recipient, was accepted into Techstars Austin Accelerator and MassChallenge Texas. Hoang was also named a 2020 NTX Inno of Fire award recipient,
  • In 2021 SURVIVR was acquired by InVeris Training Solutions a global leader and provider of virtual and live-fire training systems and services for law enforcement customers. After the acquisition, Hoang became the director of VR and augmented reality strategy for the company.

What problem(s) did you set out trying to solve?

Our mission is to improve law enforcement training so that everyone in our communities can go home at night.

When did you realize you were working on something with business potential? In other words, at what point did you know this was something you wanted to focus a lot of your time and energy on?

From day one of the idea, we had insights from a retired police officer. This helped us quickly refine assumptions about product-market fit. Then we quickly spun up a demo, won 1st at the UT Dallas Big Idea Competition, presented at a local police chiefs event, and received interest from over 20 agencies to join our pilot program. At that point, despite it still being extremely early, we knew that we would see this through to the end.

Describe your startup experience in three words.

Profoundly life-changing.

What resources at the university did you take advantage of and how did they help you on your entrepreneurial journey? 

Pretty much everything. I took entrepreneurship electives for fun, received mentorship from the Blackstone LaunchPad, participated in CometX, pitched in the Big Idea Competition finals twice, officed in the Venture Development Center, led the Entrepreneurship Club, and joined the Seed

Fund. The biggest takeaway was the network of mentors I gained. This paid dividends over time by helping me gain access to business opportunities, move faster, and avoid more mistakes. I credit the success of SURVIVR to that, and to this day, I still operate on that foundation.

What insight would you give to a student trying to launch a startup while in college?

Provided that your life circumstances, obligations, and financial situation are not in jeopardy, this is one of the best times to explore. Don’t hesitate to experiment and put something out to the market. But be smart—seek expert mentorship to guide your journey. That will drastically improve your odds of succeeding (or failing faster, which is highly preferable to failing slowly). Regardless of what happens, if you dedicate real time and work, you will grow much more than you think.

What advice do you have for students about using their time, relationships, and opportunities at UTD to prepare for this kind of journey?

Always, but especially at the beginning of your career, invest in relationships. I’ve experienced multiple times where a relationship didn’t “benefit” me business-wise until years later. But don’t approach it as simply “networking” in the sense that your goal is solely to receive help. Even if many of my relationships didn’t produce a business return on investment, that’s okay. Your focus should be on listening and providing value where you can. If you can’t provide value (yet), then just be humble and have good conversations. Be intentional about going to events and shaking people’s hands. And then follow up over time to nurture those relationships. There’s no shortcut to this—you have to put in the legwork.

Has anyone in the UTD network been important to your journey? Why?

Bryan Chambers, the first director of the Blackstone LaunchPad at UT Dallas, was my first mentor back in 2016. In retrospect, I’m shocked at how patient he was with a complete beginner. But I learned an incredible amount of startup street knowledge from him, which helped me quickly launch and grow my business in the real world. Everything that I’ve done and achieved stems from his generosity.

That said, numerous other faculty and staff at UTD have impacted me in various ways. This includes Emily Choi, Sarah Crowe, Dresden Goldberg, Paul Nichols, Jackie Kimzey, Steve Guengerich, Shaz Amin, Gopal Gupta, and more.

What advice do you have for students who want to pursue a venture in your industry?

We’re in law enforcement and military training, so I’ll first generalize that to public safety, and then further to government. The customer budgets are confusing and the sales cycles are very long. It can also be more difficult to raise venture capital. If you want to sell to the government, then prioritize recruiting industry experts who have already done that and can show you how to replicate their success. Get experts on both your core team and advisory board. And since venture capital is more sparse here, pay extra close attention to your unit and operating economics. Plan a lean and quick path to revenue and sustainability. The fundamentals will be critical.

What’s one thing you know now (regarding entrepreneurship) that you wish you knew in college?

Hard skills are obviously important. But you will lose out if you don’t relentlessly develop your soft skills and strategic thinking. Creativity and the ability to improvise are highly underrated.

What’s next for you/your company?

SURVIVR was acquired in August 2021. Currently, I’m in the middle of serving as our acquirer’s Director of Virtual/Augmented Reality Strategy as the adoption of our product accelerates. The future hasn’t been fully decided yet, but I’m guaranteed to start more companies. It’s just too fun to let go of.