660: Will Farmers Decide First Drone Company Trillionaire?

Martin Garcia. He's the CEO and founder of FLYX.Systems. He's also a mechatronics engineer and co-founder of Ilumexico, a solar power lighting company for rural communities in Mexico. He's got an MSc in drone design at University of Southampton and is an alumni of Singularity University at NASA Ames California, USA and later, a teaching fellow for space and robotics. FLYX.Systems is a company that develops technology for industrial UAVs that aim to improve the productivity of many industries.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – The Lean Startup
• What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
• Favorite online tool? — Noun Project
• How many hours of sleep do you get? — About 8
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – Martin would tell himself to finish every project he started, then move on to the next one

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:22 – Nathan introduces Martin to the show
• 02:17 – FLYX.Systems develops technology that encompasses both hardware and software algorithms
• 02:33 – There are 3 UAVs in history: the military UAVs, the drones that are popular nowadays, and the industrial UAVs
  • 03:22 – Industrial UAVs are going to be the biggest game changer in business
  • 03:31 – Industrial UAVs will be completely autonomous
  • 03:48 – 70% of UAV crashes are caused by human errors
• 03:55 – Martin wants to develop a company that aims to build industrial UAVs for different applications in different industries
• 04:25 – Martin wants to build a combination of both the UAV hardware and the UAV software or the brain of the drone
  • 04:33 – VJA is a company that uses UAVs mainly for photography, but the drones can't be modified easily
• 04:59 – When Martin develops software in a computer that can be used in autopilot, it results to an amazing UAV with a high level of intelligence and algorithms that differentiate themselves from other UAVs
• 05:24 – FLYX.Systems currently has 2 main projects
  • 06:09 - FLYX.Systems provides services to solar companies
• 06:26 – FLYX.Systems is still in the preoperative phase
  • 06:34 – They've raised $100K
  • 06:39 – They've used the funds for the UAV's prototype and the landing platform
  • 06:48 – The landing platform is one of their biggest projects up their sleeves
  • 07:17 – The landing platform will be applied to the solar companies
• 07:32 – Team size
  • 07:46 – Based in Mexico, but thinking of expanding to Columbia
• 08:03 – FLYX.Systems was launched early 2016
• 08:21 – Prior to FLYX.Systems, Martin was working as a CTO, developing technologies for solar applications
  • 08:28 – Martin went to Singularity University's summer camp where he met people in the same field
  • 09:06 – Martin got his masters in UK and it was about the foundation and core of FLYX.Systems, which is the automation of the UAV system
  • 09:27 – Martin was 28 when he entered Singularity
• 09:51 – One of the advantages in having an UAV business in Mexico is that the regulation for flying UAVs is not that harsh or strict compared to USA
  • 10:18 – There's less competition in Mexico, too
  • 10:20 – The people in Mexico are talented and the salary range is lower than in the USA
  • 10:42 – UAVs are not expensive when you know how to build them
• 11:27 – There's a possibility for DJI to move to industrial in the future
• 11:40 – Martin wants to work on localized applications as quickly as possible
• 11:55 – Martin knows his market and wants to build something that is suited for their specific needs
• 12:13 – Martin also wants to combine technologies that DJI isn't developing
  • 12:30 – AI is one of the tools that Martin wants to harness
• 13:00 – Martin doesn't want to depend on companies that sell UAVs
• 13:23 – People usually buy drones, then think of the vale
• 14:00 – Martin's prototype will be launched next month and will be sent to different states in Mexico
  • 14:14 – You pay for the service of the drone, the drone is not yet for sale
  • 14:30 – The pay will depend on the size of the land but it will be around $15-20 per hectare
• 16:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

1. The UAV market is currently a very hot market – if you can combine both hardware and software, the better.
2. Starting a business in other countries has its advantages – in this case, less competition, less cost, and fewer regulations.
3. Don't start multiple projects at one time; finish one before starting another.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• Organifi – The juice was Nathan's life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia
• Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books
• Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives