Alumni get drone company off the ground
by joey |
Before we get any further, watch this knockout video of Cook Inlet.
[embed]https://vimeo.com/140151254[/embed]
Ready to move on? You can rewatch it first. The story will be here.
Permission for takeoff
The video above is one of many jaw-dropping productions from Alaska Aerial Media. It could easily be a commercial for Anchorage real estate or Alaska tourism, but
the video was actually commissioned by the engineering firm that built the road to
that house. The road!
It's one of many surprises in what's been a surprising year for the new company, co-founded by two UAA alumni. After graduating with marketing and management degrees, Beau Bivins, B.B.A. '13 and Tyler Currier, B.B.A. '13 joined with Ryan Marlow to draw up a business plan, purchase a drone and launch their venture. They've been soaring ever since.
Beau and Tyler seemed destined to be business partners. They've known each other since their youth hockey days and, by both declaring the same double major, their course schedules frequently overlapped at UAA. In addition, they both grew up in family businesses, which shaped their drive and determination. "I always had this mentality that if you want something you can do it yourself if you work hard enough," Beau said.
When an upper-level entrepreneurship class put them together for a group project, the long-time friends elevated to future business partners.
The assignment required a complete business plan for a hypothetical venture (in their case, it was a mobile beer garden-their professor's idea). Although that business idea ended with the semester, the assignment still paved the way for Alaska Aerial Media. "It definitely sparked our interest in working together and being partners in the future," Tyler said of the class.
Beau prepares to launch their cameras at a recent shoot at the HAARP atmospheric research station in Galkona. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Aerial Media)
Beau and Tyler earned their diplomas in 2013 and looked to what was next. "We'd just graduated UAA with business degrees. We were on that business mindset," Tyler recalled. Enter Ryan Marlow, their third partner in the business and the tech wizard behind the complicated equipment. The trio talked more and more about drones and business licenses and, soon, they shifted from conversation to corporation. "We thought there might be a good opportunity there and so we went for it," Beau recalled.
At the beginning of the year they tackled the behind-the-scenes particulars of commercially operating an unmanned aircraft. Drones possess so many capabilities, but they've also raised so many public concerns. The result, of course, is so much paperwork, which at least provided a diversion during the deep dark winter.
Tyler, left, and Ryan at the base of Mt. Marathon Race in Seward on an extremely busy 4th of July this summer. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Aerial Media)
Just as the snow retreated and the wildflowers blossomed, as if on cue, the FAA approved their exemption to commercially operate their personal aircraft. It was go time.
"Summer was absolutely slammed," Tyler recalled. "That's when we really hit the ground running, trying to get any contract we could. As a new startup company, your goal is to be busy, and we were. Non-stop." Case in point: 4th of July had them covering Mt. Marathon in Seward in the morning, then hoofing it back to Anchorage to capture footage of Anchorage's 4th of July Celebration on the Park Strip. With only three employees-and all with other full-time jobs-the walkthroughs, location scouts and video shoots ate up most of their summer nights and weekends.
[embed]https://vimeo.com/132616014[/embed]
Drone use is still fairly new-the FAA only authorized the commercial use of unmanned aircraft in 2012-and local companies were itching to implement the technology. Though they founded the company as a media service, they quickly found themselves diversifying to meet all kinds of requests-GPS mapping, overhead surveying, search and rescue, thermal scanning. They're even looking into creating 3-D models of car collisions to unblock traffic quicker. "The range of stuff we've done-and are going to do-is pretty wide," Beau noted.
Earlier in 2015, the company received an FAA exemption to commercially operate their DJI Inspire quadcopter. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Aerial Media)
That includes public outreach as well. Alaska Aerial Media has partnered with AV teachers at South, Service and Goldenview Middle School to educate students on drones. These school visits are an effort to change public perception-many people worry about privacy invasions and aerial collisions caused by drones-but by focusing on the next generation, Ryan, Beau and Tyler hope to educate kids on the safe and legal operation of drones. After all, they'll be an increasingly visible feature of our environment and, in a few years, these students may be unwrapping their own drones on Christmas morning.
Negotiating with National Geographic
The business is still months shy of its first anniversary, but things are quite literally looking up. The operation is collaborative, as each shoot requires several hands on deck-a pilot, a camera operator, and a visual observer who watches the sky for obstacles (like, say, flying snow machines downtown).
[embed]https://vimeo.com/120268999[/embed]
Ryan fills the tech role while Beau handles more business development aspects. Tyler, meanwhile, isn't even in Alaska. He's a former Seawolf hockey forward who played for the Alaska Aces last season. Currently, he's with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL, but he's still able to concentrate on client communication and scheduling from his temporary home in New York. And by the time hockey ends, summer shooting will begin. "Those guys are so good they don't need me up there," he joked of the situation. "Ryan and Beau have been tremendous partners and I wouldn't have picked two better people to work with."
Though both Beau and Tyler grew up in entrepreneurial families, they credit UAA for providing a framework-specifically CBPP professors Al Hermann, Frank Jeffries and Bob Poe for their guidance on necessities like negotiations, entrepreneurship and marketing. "All those guys had a positive impact on our thinking and the way we do things and communicate in the business world," Beau said.
"All those classes rolled together definitely helped lay the ground foundation," Tyler added. "It's nice to practice while you're in school because if you mess up a bid in the real world, it doesn't cost you a bad grade. It costs you a contract."
As their portfolio grows, so do the size of their projects. Right now, they could be covering the Frightening 4K in downtown Anchorage in the morning, then be on the phone that afternoon negotiating contracts with National Geographic Channel and Travel Channel. Despite the growth, all three have, at least for now, kept their full-time jobs-professional hockey out east for Tyler, a marketing job at Pfeffer Development in Anchorage for Beau.
"As you move on, every job gets more difficult and more challenging, but I think all three of us are up to the challenge," Tyler said over the phone from Elmira.
"The sky's the limit...no pun intended."
[embed]https://vimeo.com/144247449[/embed]
Visit Alaska Aerial Media's website to learn more about their business and check out their growing collection of videos on Vimeo.
Want more news on drones? Read how UAA geomatics professor Caixia Wang incorporates the technology into her research.
Written by J. Besl, UAA Office of University Advancement
"Alumni get drone company off the ground" is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
