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Tana Burke and Sky Cycle are taking off · A New Angle

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: This is A New Angle, conversations about how we're doing and where we're going.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Justin Angle.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: This show is supported by the Headwaters Foundation,
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: First Security Bank, and the University of Montana College of Business.
• 0:22
  [music]
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: Hey folks, welcome back, and thanks for tuning in.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: Today, I'm speaking with Tana Burke,
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: founder and CEO of SkyCycle,
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: a Montana-made startup seeking to inject wellness and exercise into
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: the airport experience.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: I used to take my kids to college,
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: and when I dropped them off on campus,
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: I would say, you grow when you're uncomfortable.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm eating my words.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: Tana launched SkyCycle in 2022, and the product is now ready for takeoff.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't resist that, I'm sorry.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: I like it.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for joining me.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thanks for having me.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: So tell us, where did you grow up and what did your parents do?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: I actually grew up in Billings, Montana.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I went to school at the university.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Fun fact.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: But my dad actually was an entrepreneur.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he was a land developer.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Very good.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: So how would you summarize your career prior to this effort to launch SkyCycle?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: I would describe it as raising four children.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: That is a full-time job if there ever was one.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: Before we get into what SkyCycle is,
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: we sort of have to disclose that First Security Bank is one of
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: the presenting sponsors of the show,
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: and you are married to Scott Burke, the president of First Security Bank.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: But my understanding is all we're going to talk about today is pretty much your show.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: You've made this thing from the ground up yourself.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: That is correct.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: It has been my baby from the very beginning.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, fantastic.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, let's get into it.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: What is SkyCycle?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: What was the opportunity you were trying to grasp?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, SkyCycle is a wellness amenity for airports.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: And really that idea came when really my love of travel and wellness collided,
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: I say,
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: because I was a passenger who was frustrated at the airport and I was hoping
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: to have active wellness while I was there.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: And what do you mean by wellness?
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I would say there's Calm, right?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Where there's meditation,
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: the company Calm,
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: and there's Peloton,
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: which is performance,
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: where I would put SkyCycle in the middle of that and call it movement.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the airport experience is awful.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a lot of idle time.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's a lot of hurry up and wait.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then from a wellness perspective, I often see like, oh yeah, you can get a chair massage.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Or something like that.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: And that seems like a cool thing.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: I often walk around if I have a long layover.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: I like to say it's,
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: do you grab a $5 cup of coffee, a $12 beer, or take your suitcase for a walk?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so there is a lot of study behind people want to move in closer near or at their gate.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so it was about designing around the airport a
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: And how did the idea of
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: a cycle come to mind?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it sounds like you, as an avid traveler, were frustrated with the lack of options.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: Before you came up with the idea for a cycle,
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: what were you doing to get your steps or feel wellness in the traveling experience?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if I was traveling with my husband or a friend, I could leave my suitcase with them.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: But really, we all miss a workout, coming or going from travel.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so I would walk, but also I would miss a workout.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it came from I'm not a biker.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't bike.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: I love to run and I love to hike.
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  SPEAKER_01: But the decision making came around how do you build wellness and create safely in
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: a very busy environment.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And for me,
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: this is the part my husband loves,
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: is when I would travel in the beginning days with my tape measure.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I began measuring all of the airline seating height and width so
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: that we could actually design around them.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: You mean the seating in the airport itself?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: And is there any standardization around that?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like some airports you're packed in there and some it's
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: a little bit more spacious,
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: but that might just be a function of how many people are there.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, airports have drastically improved and they have some lounge seating,
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: but their standard seating is actually 22 inches wide,
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: which we designed to sky cycle around.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: It rides actually back and forth so people can set their distance or resistance.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're 5'3 like me or 6'3 like you, you can make that adjustment.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: So it has the recumbent design.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: And yes,
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: I could probably walk into any airport
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: and tell you what company supplies those seats just by looking at them.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: Let's just get more specific about what the product is.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: You described it as a wellness amenity.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: So why don't you describe the physical nature of it?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: I would say what makes it different is it's compact.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: It sits in front of the airline seating, syncs with the airline seating.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: It has an enclosure piece, which covers the moving parts.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then it starts and stops with an app.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: And- That also is a safety feature,
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: but it also means that no staff is needed for the airport to deploy a sky cycle.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a kiosk.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: And is it on wheels?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Can it move from seat to seat?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: We want it permanent just for safety.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: And they can choose whether or not we're creating sort of wellness zones.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it can sit there and be supported,
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: but it can also be mounted to the floor depending on the airport's choice.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: So some of the seats that you would normally sit in would now have this device
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: where you can pedal and get a workout while you're waiting for your flight.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: When we launched last week,
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: we just utilized the seating and the gates that were already there in Missoula.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: So many layers to discuss here.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: I guess we should start with, you have this idea for a product.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: How do you take the idea and make it into an actual physical thing in the world?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: I started cold calling Montana Manufacturing,
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: and I got a hold of Steve Dibdahl,
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: who ultimately ended up being the project engineer,
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: who hired the mechanical engineer, the electrical engineer.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then I, in turn, found the app developer where we started to build.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Little did I know that process would take very, very long.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: And the prototype was actually printed in the Mansfield Library here.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was printed.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: So it's 3D printed?
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: So let's maybe draw this out a little bit.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's one thing to call an engineer and see if you can get some manufacturing going.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: But like, what are the steps?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like you have to design this thing.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: It has to then be, you have to decide on the parts.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: You have to decide on the materials and the other product attributes.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's been through several CAD revisions and a lot of Montana people involved too, PEAK.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Engineering out of Butte,
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: they did the CAD drawing,
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: particularly for the part that was printed at the Mansfield Library.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: But we did, I would say for the mechanical, we reverse engineered a fitness bike.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: And were there attributes that you just knew it had to have?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm thinking of,
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to calibrate like how locked into a particular vision you were
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: and you're like, it has to be this way.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: Or were there, I'm sure there were many compromises along the way.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you always think it's going to move faster.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's a long game,
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: but when you're bringing something new into the world,
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: I had no idea being a first-time founder,
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: the number of revisions,
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: even though each person was an expert in their field,
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: it still hadn't been done before.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: And then this idea of integrating, I mean,
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: you're doing both hardware and software,
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: so you're tackling two difficult things that are very different in their conception.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Are you calling me crazy?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean...
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think probably that's why we're having this conversation.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's a bit of a crazy idea, but it's also something new that the world didn't have before.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Looking in hindsight, it was complex.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: So you got a 3D prototype printed up at the library.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: Just for listeners to understand, that seems like a complicated thing.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's not like a kid with a 3D printer printing up a tchotchke.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's a lot of parts and a lot of time, right?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, because it's the exterior piece, and so that's the piece that's printed for the safety.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: The shell.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: The shell, exactly.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it was difficult.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, we were having a difficult time finding a printer that was large enough to print that.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we had been back and forth with many different people.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: And finally, a shout out to Sarah Trulio.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: She actually said, I am going to work with Glenn at the Mansfield Library.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: And Sarah's from the Launchpad here on the UM campus?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so he configured this and it was actually, it's now in four pieces.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Diversified Plastics is manufacturing.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: But backing up to that, it was printed in 26 pieces of Over a course of three months.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: So Glenn would call me every Friday and I felt like a kid at Christmas coming
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: to pick up my 3D parts.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then I brought them all home and I epoxied them together.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then I brought them to an auto body shop to give them,
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: I just wanted it to look like a fast car.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted it to look new and clean and fast.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: And how are you funding all this as you're putting this all together?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: I did have a loan from First Security Bank.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: They did award me the loan.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: And beyond that, it's been some crazy part-time jobs.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of hustle.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Along the way, a lot of hustle.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because some of these things are probably difficult.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: You have to pay an engineer.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: You have to pay for the printing, the design.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: These are not...
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: And the app development too is probably quite expensive.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: These are big checks to write.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: And you're going out there and you're funding it with part-time hustle jobs?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: Just to hit a number so you can advance the ball?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's a grind.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: So let's fast forward.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: You've had a launch event at the Missoula International Airport.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: Congratulations.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us about that experience.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: What did it feel like to have this product sort of make contact with an audience?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was amazing.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: We had done a lot of testing at the Missoula College.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Overlooking the river there.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we had brought in a lot of people to test.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: And we'd gone through that with inviting friends, family, etc.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Anybody that stopped by,
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: we would have them hop on the bike and So just to be there in
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: that specific environment and having had gone through really pitching
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: the airport director and the deputy director who were so nice and so innovative
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: and supportive of my business.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: But to be in that space and see people, we had organic traffic too.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: I invited people to the event.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: But the organic traffic of people that were coming by and like, what is that?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: And can I ride?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And we caught one guy just riding away on his bike and his wife says, we had two bikes there.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: His wife said, can I ride?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Can I have a turn?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: He said, no.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, he was in it.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yes.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it was really amazing to see it in the space it's meant to be in.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah,
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: and tell us about the feeling of watching somebody with no familiarity make contact
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: with this thing that you've sort of birthed into the world.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: You've made it happen, and then it's sort of out there in the wild.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a hard thing to say,
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: but just to see them enjoying it and realizing that to be able
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: to do something different, an amenity that takes up very little space.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: So let's talk about airports.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Probably had to learn a whole lot about how airports work.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we talked a little bit about the seating and all of that, but...
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if the listener, I mean,
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: I hadn't really considered that until kind of getting prepped for this episode.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, how does an airport make money?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: How do they make choices about, do they need to make money?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: How do they make choices about what products to have, what services to have, et cetera?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they all do, and they all
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: make the decision differently.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, give us Airport 101 as you've learned it.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, gosh.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there are a lot of aspects to it,
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: and going to the aviation show,
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've learned everything from operations to snow removal, et cetera.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, gosh, yeah.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Where I sit is with passenger hospitality, amenities.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: The great thing is airports are really,
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: really upping their game in offering hospitality and amenities and they want
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: that passenger satisfaction.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so that bodes really well for SkyCycle, but also every square foot matters for them.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that's important because
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Airports will purchase the hardware, but we are going to share in the ride revenue.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: So when the passenger rides, they get a portion of the ride revenue.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: The airport does.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's incentive for them as well.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be back to my conversation with Tana Burke after this short break.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: A New Angle would not be possible without the generous support of
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: the Headwaters Foundation,
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: working side by side with Western Montanans to improve the health
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: of our communities.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: And you can't do that sort of work without access to capital and education.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: Two critical catalysts offered by First Security Bank and the University
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: of Montana College of Business.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, this is Ryan Tutel.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: And Colter Nuanes from ESPN Missoula.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: And you're listening to A New Angle.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to A New Angle.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm speaking with Tana Burke about SkyCycle.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: So you mentioned this airports are upping their game.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: Are airports competitive?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like is Missoula in competition with Bozeman or Kalispell for flights for people
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: to book in and out of this town versus other towns?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like Do airports even think of it that way?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, every state is different and every town is different.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think that necessarily Bozun takes away from Missoula or vice versa,
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: but I think it's a known out there to create the passenger hospitality and
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: to decrease their stress in any way,
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: whether it be a wayfinding sign that helps them get from point A to point B
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: or offering an amenity like we are.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would suppose there are a host of reasons to want to lower the stress
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: and have your passengers have a better experience.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: One is you're the first impression and the last impression for a lot of people on an experience.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: Travel is an inherent, well,
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: it can be an inherently stressful activity or there's ways
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: that people's stress gets triggered and they don't act so well often.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: And that can be costly to people, to organizations, et cetera.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: So like doing things to keep people calm is probably a nice investment.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's really important.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's very much spoken about in aviation.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: So you said the airports kind of operate differently and you have this revenue share model.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us about the experience of trying to convince an airport to say yes to SkyCycle.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think a smart move for a startup is doing a pilot test because and I've spoken
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: with other airports in the Northwest and that's sort of my focus
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: where I could service the account.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: We learn from each other.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how can we be better?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: How can we optimize?
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Is it our placement or is it the hardware or software?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's a smart move for a startup to do the pilot because it also was something new.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: It makes the airport feel comfortable.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is it working properly?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Is this financially great for me?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: That type of thing.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's my strategy.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: The first couple,
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: after our event,
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: there were a couple notes that the team and I took that we want to improve on
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: as this summer we're manufacturing that batch, those 10 cycles.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: We want to improve on a couple of different things.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so for us then,
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I've already spoken with the airport after we were there,
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: our next goal would be to deploy them for 60 to 90 days.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: But the key is we have the two demo units,
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: but I really want to wait until we have the perfect,
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: not the perfect product,
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: because they say not to do the perfect product,
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: to put it out into the world where it's safe, that type of thing.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: But you also want to get the consumer feedback about what they want.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: Talk about the app side of the story.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: So you've got to get a customer to,
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just assuming here,
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: you dispel me of this notion,
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: but A customer sees the thing, decides they're going to give it a try.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: So they have to sort of accept this physical thing,
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: but then they also have to download an app and connect.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: And that's the mechanism through which they're paying, right?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: They pay for a workout increment?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really a sit scan cycle.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, they sit and there's a, we have a small screen on the bike shell itself.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so they scan that with their phone that just brings them to the app.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: And from that point, then they enter their credit card and they start their ride.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: And app development.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, how did you navigate that?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: That was the one person that I was in contact with.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: And my son played soccer with the CEO of Sun Mountain, his son.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: The golf company.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, correct.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: So also the head of that company, he invented Finn Scooters.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I remember reading an article about Finn Scooters and realizing they had
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: a very similar business model that we had.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: And it was nine and 18 holes and start, stop, that type of shared revenue with the golf course.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I invited he and his wife over for dinner and just discussed it.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: But what ultimately happened and was a huge savings for me and very grateful
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: to them is that we overlaid the SkyCycle app with the Finn Scooter app
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: and switched it to 15 30-minute rides.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: So you could use some of that existing infrastructure?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: Just the number of things you've had to learn.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: That seems like such a remarkable part of the story.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean...
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: The whole part about putting together part-time hustles so you can get the check
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: to make the next step in the investment, but also just the learning.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: What was the hardest thing to learn?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: The electrical is very complex.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I bet.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I still,
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: even though the project engineer and the mechanical engineer,
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: they've phased out of this phase as we go to manufacturing.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Electrical is very complex with connecting with the app, connecting with HMI.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: He has a lot in the hands of the electrical engineer.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: He really does.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: Does the unit itself have to plug in or does it generate its own electricity?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, it plugs in under the seat.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's complex.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, I want to say maybe it's the multitude of things that make it difficult.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: But I always say I want to learn enough.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: I want to learn enough that I understand it,
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: but to know that I've hired the expert as a contractor.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: I mean,
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: I suppose that's like the key thing is to learn enough to make a good decision
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: with your investment.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: And that speaks to the quality of some of the people
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: that have helped you make this thing come to life.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: You mentioned Montana Manufacturing Extension Center,
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: the Launchpad, which is a great resource for budding entrepreneurs here in Montana.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Mansfield Library, any other partnerships that sort of helped you make this thing go?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you mentioned Finn Scooter a moment ago.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I would say specifically,
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: you know, there were the prototype engineers, which were Lane Gobs.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: He was through MMEC and Stephen Dahl,
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: who's still with me, he was hired through MMEC and Stephen Dibdahl was the MMEC.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: He was amazing, but And of course, Erin with Catalyst.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, marketing.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so she's really helping.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's one thing to invent.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's a whole other thing to commercialize.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: I bet.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say moving into manufacturing, we were able to partner with Diversified Plastics.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a Montana company if listeners don't know.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: With Brad Reed.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a few different times we broke him down probably.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like just kind of, this is what we've got.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we want to do.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: But I was a small company.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Again, it's how do you start small and grow?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: He believed in me and he invested in that and he put together a team
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: and we meet every Friday,
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: but they will be the ones that manufacture the first cycles.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then I have somebody also locally who does all the CAD drawings for Diversified.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: So you mentioned just a moment ago that he believed in you.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: Why do you think that is?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: What have you learned about your energy and your ability to bring people on a journey?
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you have to be, it's a long game.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: You have to,
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've said that already,
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: but you have to be persistent and keep at it through the ups and downs.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I think because I kept coming back and asking questions,
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: and it was even referred to other manufacturers,
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: but I have 100% respect for him because in the end,
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: he is unique in that he is an engineer by trade, but he is also a salesperson.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not gonna lie, he did do the shark tank on me.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: He wanted to be sure I was gonna be able to sell.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: You wanted your pitch.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he wanted to know.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: He wanted to know how I was gonna bring this out into the world.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think it was very much just a great business connection.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: Has that been hard to develop the skills of pitching and getting out there in front
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: of people and telling them, sort of articulating your vision?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Gosh, you get better at it, I guess.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: I know my own story, but honestly, I'm an introvert.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a big push.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like the thinker type doing that.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: When I know something, I can articulate it.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: But it's just a world that I haven't been in before.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I used to take my kids to college.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: And when I dropped them off on campus, I would say, you grow when you're uncomfortable.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm eating my words.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: Taking your own medicine.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm getting better at it.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you have to be.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and also if you're passionate about something,
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think that just it's very easy to talk about and to sell and to,
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: and, you know, just tell the benefits of it because you've lived it and breathed it.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: So you've done the Missoula pilot.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: What's next?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: What does success look like?
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: You've got 10 units in manufacturing right now.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: What does success look like ultimately?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm signed up for the Northwest Chapter of the Aviation Show that's taking place
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: in Missoula in October.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope that aligns with developing our units.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: We need that time.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then I have quite a few conferences slotted for 2027.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: One is the Passenger Terminal World, which is in Amsterdam.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I attended that show just as a spectator this year on my way to Norway.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: So that was great just to see what everybody in the world was doing.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Are there other things like this out there?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: There is.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: And now,
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: aside from tapping into the annual aviation show,
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: there's a consumer experience show in Phoenix.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to go to that because this is all about the consumer and hospitality for them.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: What are some other exciting things happening at airports to get people a little bit
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: of wellness in their experience?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the architecture is beautiful.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's for sure.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: The architecture is beautiful and art, and that's why we want SkyCycle to not be just a cycle.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: We want it to be a little piece of art too.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I think people appreciate that,
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: whether they're from little things to a cutout in the side of the cycle to see
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: the movement, wheels in motion, And things like that.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: Just something to attract the eye.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: But the architecture, I would say, first and foremost, is beautiful.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: I bet.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: So are these conferences you mentioned, are those selling opportunities?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: Are those opportunities to pitch, hey, give me a pilot at your airport?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully sales.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, by then we'll have our cycles.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're going to actually bring one.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: I was in the startup zone at the Los Angeles show and didn't ship.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it'll be so interactive and fun.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll have that at the show.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: I saw a LinkedIn post of yours describing,
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: it is not an easy thing to move this unit around and set up your pitch
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: and wheel your wagon around.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: Talk about that experience of just like, you're kind of a one person show doing this.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: The engineers are spread out, right?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Through Montana.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we have Need something changed, repaired, modified.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: We have to meet.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: We meet at a gas station.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: We meet in a parking lot.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: So it is always me hauling it.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: You can't solve all the problems on a Zoom call.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: No, no.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it takes, everybody has their specialty, right?
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: So mechanical,
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: if they're done and I'm meeting the electrical engineer,
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: then I drive up past Polson to Big Arm.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we meet and he takes it and then I drive back up and pick it up.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes he's traveling through for business.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so we've tag teamed like that for three and a half years.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah,
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: everybody,
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: it is when we test at the university or at the Missoula College,
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: rather, again, the wagon and, you know, but that's what you do.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when we started this podcast back in 2018,
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: one of the founding premises was we want to investigate creativity and hustle.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: And it seems like you, Tana, and SkyCycle embody those two principles.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: So our last question, tell us about the last time you changed your mind.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I didn't leave you alone.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, gosh.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: Last time I changed my mind.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's always changing.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Strategy, strategy.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Everything I learn is not that it's gone far from my original strategy
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: with SkyCycle,
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: but really honing in on the airports and what's in it for the airports,
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: too, because they are the people.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: That is how SkyCycle is getting in, in the house.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: So they're the decider, not necessarily the traveler.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Despite the fact that we did,
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: I realized I was not alone and that wellness is a $6.8 trillion economy worldwide
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: and we did all the surveying, researching.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we know that the passengers want it and that's why we started building.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: But really understanding what the airport wants.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: Hannah, all the best.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for telling us about SkyCycle and how you've made it go.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's an inspiring story and I wish all the best.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for listening to A New Angle.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: If you like what we do and want to support us directly,
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: please consider a subscription at anewanglepodcast.com.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: A New Angle is recorded at Studio 49, a generous gift from UM alums Michelle and Lauren Hanson.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: Our presenting sponsor is the Headwaters Foundation,
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: working side-by-side with Western Montanans to improve the health
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: of our communities.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: We are also supported by First Security Bank and the University of Montana College
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: of Business, with additional help from CED, Drum Coffee, and Montana Public Radio.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: Keely Larson is our producer.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: John Brownell, Jeff Ament, and John Wicks made our music.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks a lot, and we'll see you next time.