Vinny Jordan of Lobaki

June 6, 2025 thetechtribune

**An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Vinny Jordan (founder) of Lobaki, which was honored in our:**

Tell us the origin story of Lobaki – what problem were you trying to solve and why?

While Lobaki always intended to be a VR Development company, with the unlimited possibilities that provides, we weren’t 100% sure which avenue to pursue. An associate of ours had recently done a national study throughout rural areas and found that high school students in Clarksdale, Mississippi had a plethora of tech-leaning skills with few avenues to pursue that field in their region. Our fate was decided: no matter what we ended up building, we were going to build it in Mississippi with local talent. Aside from the few of us transplants that started this journey, our team is almost entirely comprised of MS graduates. We’re doing what we can to help plug “the brain drain” as they call it, because there’s a diverse group of incredibly capable people here, and there’s no reason this state shouldn’t retain the benefits of its talent pool.

What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?

Being so early to the scene definitely proved to be challenging. Mobile VR headsets didn’t even exist when we first got started, so the cost of hardware to even try VR slowed a lot of the adoption. These days, the headsets are so affordable and yet so technologically advanced that the adoption curve is swinging up fast. While experiencing VR has always inspired basically every one of our audience to come up with ideas for simulations, educational exposure, and trainings, the current ease of implementation makes turning those dreams into a reality much more streamlined.

What does the future hold for Lobaki?

Our intention was never to remain the only VR development company in the state. While our main product, the Immersive Institute, contains educational experiences for a myriad of subjects in the K-12 and CTE space, we also continue to work directly with institutions to empower students to create their own VR experiences. Hopefully, in the near future, Lobaki can act more as a central hub for a network of localized VR startups. We can lower the barrier of entry for smaller organizations by helping them bypass hurdles we’ve already cleared and guide them toward the speedy development of quality products. They can even build their own applications using our standardized frameworks and established processes. There really is a lot of room for growth as more and more industries realize how much implementing VR can benefit them.

What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Mississippi?

It’s really amazing – the expansion I’ve seen in the tech space over the last 8 years, that is. Maybe it was always there, but for coming to a place known as a “tech desert”, I’ve been positively thrilled by how many incredibly innovative people I’ve met here. Everyone’s building something, from robotics and digital applications to cybersecurity, telehealth, real estate, infrastructure, AI, VFX, film production and whatever else you can think of. There certainly is a wealth of individuals excited about implementing new technology and creating uniquely capable products and processes. I’m not sure how it was before, but I’ve witnessed a steady explosion in tech and development in the time I’ve been here.

What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Naturally, it’s a bit of a contradiction. My first bit of advice is to have a clear plan. Lay out your objectives as thoroughly as you can and detail every step and milestone you need to reach to achieve them. However, you always have to be ready to pivot. True intelligence is the ability to adapt to your environment, so when the situation demands it, make adjustments and update the plan. It’s important to always be realistic about what you can achieve in the short term, with that long-term goal steadily in focus. Over time, you may find you’ve pivoted so much that you’ve come full circle back to the original idea, only now the rest of the world is ready for you, and you’re that much wiser for having survived the journey.