Meet Erik Peterson, Founder @ vr.dev and AidStation.app

vr.dev is a professional networking platform for XR/VR/AR talent to better showcase their 3D skills, as other networking and hiring platforms lack the capabilities to do so. The startup was a semifinalist in the 2025 Silicon Prairie Startup Week Pitch Competition. 

AidStation.app is a planning solution to help organize and manage the logistics behind ultramarathons and other racing events with multiple moving parts, such as volunteers and aid stations. 

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur or support other entrepreneurs?

For some reason, I’ve always wanted to gather people together for some cause, whether that’s a business idea or a band or a club. My first experience with true entrepreneurship was as one of the first hires in a startup in Boulder, Colorado. I was able to wear a lot of different hats, and the pace of building and customer feedback was really addictive. 

Since then, I’ve worked in increasingly larger startups and, today, an enterprise SaaS organization — which has really accelerated my passion for identifying new opportunities for entrepreneurship and engaging with entrepreneurial communities. 

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when you were just starting out?

I would advise myself to think even bigger than I had then (I was already thinking pretty big), and to reassure myself that “imposter syndrome” is real and to not get too worked up about feelings of self-doubt or feeling behind. 

With many years behind me now, it’s clear that a person is never behind and that “today” is always the best day to start learning something new or to try something you might be uncomfortable with. Bill Gates has a great quote: “Most people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in ten.” I love this because, no matter your age (barring unexpected events), you really do have a lot of potential to learn and change and grow into whatever version of yourself you wish.

How do you stay motivated when things feel overwhelming — or stagnant?

When things feel overwhelming, it’s usually because I have taken on more than I can handle — which happens more often than I’d like to admit. In this case, I have to apply ruthless prioritization to my own life and decide what my true goals are and make hard choices.

Another great quote to that extent that I tell myself almost every day is, “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” The ironic thing is, when things feel stagnant, I typically take on more to accelerate the path I’m on or to start sowing seeds for a new direction. 

For example, today I’ve got a full-time job as a product manager, have a few side projects and adjunct teach at UNO’s College of Business. At some point, I will roll back and cut some things out again. And then the cycle will repeat.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome and how did you overcome it?

I’m very fortunate to have had very manageable challenges in my life. The biggest, though, may be losing my dad to a very fast battle with cancer in May 2020. In addition to it being peak COVID time, I had left a full-time software engineering role in January 2020 to begin my MBA at UNO, which I started with a goal of a career pivot. 

I was very fortunate to have really supportive family around me and colleagues at UNMC’s UNeTech, where I was working during my MBA. Like above, it really pushed me to think carefully about my goals and what I spend my time doing.

How can the Nebraska community support you?

I’m a native Omahan and Nebraskan, and the Nebraska community continues to impress me. Yes, we get a bad rap for being a flyover state, but so many people I interact with here are punching up and above their weight class. 

An interesting metaphor applies in the sense of, many people here have connections around the country and the world. So just because people from the coasts may be flying over us, doesn’t mean we can’t have the same real-time access to ideas and connections. 

I’d just ask those in the community to continue keeping an eye open to what everyone else is doing and to offer up those warm introductions when they see an opportunity for partnership or collaboration.