SummaryIn this episode of the Peaking Podcast, Wyatt Carr sits down with Philip Van Drunen — a self-described accidental entrepreneur and the founder of multiple ventures, including a company that builds interactive exhibits for children’s museums and Captional, a real-time captioning and translation platform for live events.

Philip shares his unconventional path into entrepreneurship, the creative challenges of designing engaging museum experiences, and how Captional is pushing the boundaries of multilingual communication in real time. The conversation explores the business models behind his ventures, the future of accessible tech at events, and his foray into the RV fiber industry — where he’s tackling the challenge of delivering high-speed internet to mobile communities.

Along the way, Philip opens up about the lessons he’s learned: the importance of storytelling in marketing, building a life that supports both innovation and family, and the mindset required to navigate multiple industries with curiosity and grit.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Philipp Van Drunen

01:25 The Journey of an Accidental Entrepreneur

05:10 Building Interactive Exhibits for Children's Museums

12:37 The Business Model Behind Museum Projects

14:19 Innovating with Captional: Real-Time Captions and Translation

32:17 Future Prospects and Business Model of Captional

34:54 Enhancing Event Transcription and Translation

37:30 Diving into the RV Fiber Business

51:22 Innovating Internet Solutions for RV Parks

56:22 Entrepreneurial Lessons and Future Focus